The Discovery Session
Four or five decisions in your first fortnight will shape the next three years. Most families make them on the worst information they will ever have.
The Discovery Session is a 90-minute Zoom consultation with me, Hannah Pirnie of Home Joburg, for families relocating to Johannesburg. You choose the focus: schools, suburbs and housing, your look-and-see visit, or your first four weeks. Within 24 hours you receive a written plan built for your family, wherever you are in the world. It is the way almost every family I work with begins.
Why does the order of your first decisions matter?
Most families arriving in Johannesburg make four or five decisions in the first fortnight that shape the next three years.
- Which suburb, and is it actually safe?
- Which school, and have we already missed the window?
- Rent first or buy, and what does that cost in rand?
- What security setup is genuinely enough?
They make them on the advice of a Facebook group, a colleague who left in 2019 and whoever happens to answer the phone.
This is not a chat about how you are feeling about the move. It is a structured planning session, and you leave with a document.
Who is the Discovery Session for?
You have a landing month. You may not have a suburb, a school place or a shortlist, and every search you run returns a hundred conflicting answers. You want one person who has lived here long enough to tell you which of those answers are true.
It works whether you are 12 months out or six weeks out. Earlier is better, because more of the decisions are still open.
Still deciding whether Johannesburg is right for your family? Start with the free Johannesburg Relocation Guide.
What does the written plan contain?
This is not a summary of the call. It is a working document, built to your chosen focus, structured so that someone who knows nothing about your situation could pick it up and act on it.
A schools-focused plan, to take one example, runs to something like this:
- A profile of your child. Interests, academic picture, learning support needs, sport, what they need to thrive and what would be too much. So that every school gets measured against the same thing rather than against whichever one you saw most recently.
- A must, should and nice-to-have framework. So no school can dazzle you on one thing and quietly hide a gap on another.
- A question set to take into every school meeting. The questions that get you real answers rather than the marketing version.
- A shortlist, with the reasoning attached. Not a list of names. Why each one is on it and what to check.
- A week-by-week timeline from now to the term your child starts, so you always know the one or two things that matter this week.
- A draft itinerary for your look-and-see visit, ordered so your days on the ground are not wasted.
Choose a different focus and the shape changes, but the standard does not. Suburbs and housing, your first four weeks, your look-and-see trip, or leaving South Africa at the end of an assignment.
What do we cover on the call?
Whichever of these matter most to you.
- Suburbs, from established neighbourhoods such as Parkhurst and Craighall Park to estates in Dainfern and Waterfall, and the commute you will actually be driving
- Schools, application windows and grade placement
- Safety, and what a sensible security setup costs to run
- Housing budget in rand, and whether to rent or buy first
- The first 90 days
How does a Discovery Session work?
- You book and pay.
- You complete an intake form. Who is moving, your landing month, your housing budget in rand, the suburbs already on your radar, your children's school stage, and the three things you most need answered. I prepare against it before we speak, which is why the call goes straight to your situation rather than spending 20 minutes on background.
- We spend 90 minutes on your family. Not on Johannesburg in general.
- Your plan arrives within 24 hours, written up properly.
What does a Discovery Session not cover?
It is not immigration, tax or legal advice. I do not give it and you should be wary of anyone in my position who does. What I do is introduce you to the specialists I use myself, already briefed on your situation.
It is not a sales call for something else. The plan is the product. If you never speak to me again you still have it.
Who runs the Discovery Session?
I do. I am Hannah Pirnie, founder of Home Joburg. I moved to Johannesburg with my husband’s job, for an adventure. He was in the office day two. No local network, no idea which suburb was safe, no sense of who to trust. The relocation company handled the logistics. Nobody handled me.
Sixteen years later I still live here, I am a registered Property Practitioner with eXp Realty South Africa, and I make New in Town, the podcast for people arriving in Johannesburg.
My background is in sports events management, including London 2012, Wimbledon, the European Rugby Champions Cup and 12 years at Saracens. It is why your plan comes in the right order, with deadlines attached.
“I looked at over 30 houses before we discovered Hannah. She showed us just one, and I knew from the moment we walked through the door it was the home for us.”
Relocation client“From the moment I reached out, she was so responsive. Previously I had left 101 messages with various agents and it all got very confusing. It’s lovely to have just one person who can take us across a variety of suburbs and coordinate it all for us.”
Leanne Smit, Standard BankHow much does a Discovery Session cost?
Paid at booking. Delivered on Zoom, anywhere in the world.
If you go on to take Global Executive Concierge, this fee is credited in full against it.
Any Relocation Days you have taken fold into the package too, rather than being charged on top. Starting here costs you nothing if you later go further. There is no penalty for beginning with the smallest option, and I would rather you did.
One session. If you want me on the ground afterwards, that is a Relocation Day. If you would rather hand over the whole move, that is Global Executive Concierge. You can compare all three ways to work with me.
Common questions about the Discovery Session
What is a Discovery Session?
What do I actually receive?
Can I choose what we cover?
How soon do we receive the written plan?
When should we book a Discovery Session?
Does the fee come off anything else?
Do you give immigration or tax advice?
That is with me.
I will come back to you with an invoice and a few times that work for your time zone. Once it is paid I send the intake form and we get the call in the diary.
If it is urgent, WhatsApp me on +27 73 429 7485.
Stop researching. Start deciding.
Ninety minutes, a written plan, and the decisions in the right order.
Book your Discovery Session