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Avoid Buying Mistakes
Monday, April 30, 2007 (187 reads)
Buying a house? Common mistakes that could scupper your dream deal include overspending, verbal agreements and others.
Making personal comments about a property while in earshot of the seller can knock prospective buyers out of the running, even if they have the financial wherewithal to afford it.
That's the warning from Mike Bester, CEO of Realty 1 International Property Group, who lists this as one of the most common mistakes made by home buyers.
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Commercial Property Under Pressure
Thursday, April 26, 2007 (199 reads)
There's no denying that commercial property as a sector has had an impressive run over the past three years, with total average returns of 27%/year - a far cry from the paltry 9% to 11% that investors had to be satisfied with between 2000 and 2002.
But a closer look at latest figures from the South African index of international research company Investment Property Databank (IPD) shows that not all sectors of the market performed equally well. In fact, the performance gap between various types of retail, industrial and office properties are quite significant.
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Buyers: New Withholding Tax
Wednesday, April 25, 2007 (222 reads)
Buyers beware – if your seller is a non-resident you have to withhold a portion of the purchase price and pay it over to the Receiver of Revenue.
Amendments to the Revenue Laws Amendment Bill, coming into effect on 1 September 2007, will have serious ramifications for those who buy property in South Africa from non-South African residents, says Bill Rawson, Chairman of Rawson Properties.
"If the purchase price of the property sold exceeds R2 million the amendments to the legislation stipulate that the purchaser, his conveyancer and his estate agent are responsible for investigating the seller's residence status. If they have any reason to suspect that the seller does not have a resident's permit they are legally bound to withhold 5% of the purchase price (7,5% if the seller is a company and 10% if the sale is from a trust) and this amount has to be paid to SARS within 14 days – which can be extended to 28 days if the purchaser is a non-resident.
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Nedbank property talk
Tuesday, April 24, 2007 (279 reads)
WIN A HOLIDAY HOME FOR LIFE WITH THE LASTEST NEDBANK HOME LOANS CAMPAIGN!
The Campaign in a Nutshell
Clients who finance their home loans through Ned bank between 18 April and 30 June 2007 will be entered into a lucky draw in which they stand a chance to win a dream holiday home in one of these luxury South African resorts:
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Golden Rules For Rental Investment
Monday, April 23, 2007 (216 reads)
The market frenzy may have disappeared from the residential property market but investors can still look forward to nearly a decade of serious money making, says Andrew Schaefer, M.D. of residential property manager Trafalgar.
"But there is no more money for nothing and investors will have to relearn the traditional investment rules," he adds. There are five golden rules they should follow
"Firstly, property is traditionally a long term investment," notes Schaefer. "You should focus on building your wealth over decades rather than months or years. But the sure, steady and compounding growth in income will make that wealth certain."
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Credit Act And Juristic Persons
Friday, April 20, 2007 (224 reads)
A leading attorney examines the effect of the national Credit Act on juristic persons and suretyships. How does this affect you? By Grant Herholdt
Juristic Persons as Consumers
Although most sections of the National Credit Act No 34 of 2005 ("the Act") came into effect as of 1 June 2006 and 1 September 2006, the balance of the Act, and more specifically those sections affecting the manner in which credit agreements are entered into and regulated, comes into effect on 1 June 2007.
In an effort to avoid the stringent requirements of the Act credit providers will undoubtedly attempt to take advantage of the exemptions it contains. The most notable of these are specified in sections 4 (1) (a) (i) and 4 (1) (b) of the Act. These sections provide that a credit agreement is excluded from the Act if the consumer is:
A. a juristic person (which includes companies, close corporations, partnerships, associations of persons and certain trusts) whose asset value or annual turnover and those of its related juristic persons equals or exceeds R1 million at the time the agreement is entered into; or
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A Mere Million Won't Suffice
Thursday, April 19, 2007 (244 reads)
The average house price can be R1 million before the end of this year.
According to Absa's latest house price index, the month of March had seen strong nominal growth in house prices which had pushed up the average house price in the middle segment (80 m² to 400 m²) to R902 191, compared to R893 249 in February.
According to Mr Jacques du Toit, senior economist at Absa, this price follows a nominal growth in house prices of 15,5% year on year in March, compared to a reviewed growth figure of 15,6% in February. According to him, the average house price in March 2002 was R339 338, and this growth just shows how expensive houses had become in South Africa over the past 5 years
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Agents Qualifications Enter New Era
Wednesday, April 18, 2007 (232 reads)
Although no final cut-off dates have yet been set for their implementation, the Estate Agency Affairs Board's new compulsory qualifications for all agents will soon become a reality. Those who try to avoid meeting the new requirements will in the end find that they can no longer obtain their Fidelity Fund Certificates and will not be allowed to act as estate agents.
So says Rawson Properties new MD Tony Clarke. Quoting from a report by Jill Corfield, founder of the Corfield School of Real Estate, Clarke said that no jobholder anywhere in the world is allowed to refer to himself as a professional until he and his fellow workers have proved themselves in public examinations to be well trained and knowledgeable.
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Ruling on digs
Wednesday, April 18, 2007 (203 reads)
The Port Elizabeth High Court has ordered the demolition of an illegal guest house, in a move which could mark the end of illegal buildings, oversized guest houses and uncontrolled provision of student accommodation. The judgment is also seen as a precedent setting move against Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality's inability to act on unlawful buildings in the city.
An advocate said Judge Johan Froneman's judgment "can only be interpreted as a message to property owners to stick to title deed conditions and building regulations or be forced to demolish property at their own cost". In his ruling, Froneman described the conduct of the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality over a period of five years as "a failure to act in accordance with the provisions of the restrictive title conditions relating to property". He also said the municipality had allowed building to be done on the property before building plans were submitted or approved.
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Financial Institutions must intensify consumer education to retain newly banked South Africans
Tuesday, April 17, 2007 (221 reads)
The phenomenal growth in the number of South Africans holding Mzansi Accounts is an indication of the progress made by banks in ensuring the financial inclusion of all South Africans.
Finscope has reported a staggering 250% growth, totaling about 3,1-million Mzansi Accounts opened by December last year.
Launched in October 2004, the Mzansi Account is an affordable banking solution for the unbanked in South Africa.
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