immoafrica blog

Good security installations increasingly necessary to sell a home It will come as no surprise to those who track the rise and fall of residential property in South Africa – and the factors which influence these – that for many buyers today, a home security system will be among the most important factors influencing their [...](more...)

The seven habits of accomplished home buyers Buying a new home is especially stressful for first-time buyers but they can do much to look like “old-hands” – and avoid common problems – by following some basic guidelines. The very first of these, says Berry Everitt, MD of the Chas Everitt International property group, is to [...](more...)

Points to consider when insuring residential property One does not like to consider that an accident might happen and that their property will be damaged or burnt down in the event of a fire – and when they do consider such matters they often console themselves with the thought that the property’s value has been [...](more...)

Don’t be fooled by phantom offers Property sellers should ensure that any offers made to buy their homes are genuine – or they will run the risk of delayed transactions and extra holding costs. This warning comes from Fransiska Schutte, owner of the RealNet Wilgers & Surrounds franchise in Pretoria, who says incidents of unscrupulous [...](more...)

Repeat buyers gain ground as home prices increase The extent of the improvement in the residential property market over the past two years is clearly indicated in the latest statistics from BetterBond, SA’s leading mortgage originator, which show that home loan approval rate has risen from 61% in March 2011 to 69% in March this [...](more...)

Should you sell or become a landlord? If you’re a home owner whose job suddenly demands that you transfer to another town – or country – for a while, you could have a tough time deciding what to do with your property. “Many work-related moves these days are only for the duration of a specific [...](more...)

Securing Against Rental Defaults Havoc over the festive season that saw the number of tenants defaulting on their monthly rentals had boosted the interest among buy-to-let investors to adequately insure against potential losses in revenue. Just Letting Property Group CEO John Roberts said typically around 10% of tenants regularly defaulted on their monthly rentals, but [...](more...)

Renting Securely RESEARCH into the behavioural patterns of buy-to-let investors and potential tenants has revealed that both parties were contributing towards stabilising the rental market as a medium to long-term investment prospect. Data collated by property services group Just Letting Property reflected a 26% increase in the number of buy-to-let investors nationally contracting to receive [...](more...)

How to make the best of a CMA The Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) has been around for a long time and by now, most home sellers know that they should ask their agent for one before deciding on an asking price for their property. But many still don’t really know how much information should actually [...](more...)

Taking The Market In Hand by John Roberts, Just Letting Property Group CEO SOUTH Africa has not experienced interest rates at the current levels in nearly four decades. These are not just glib words that call for a celebratory glass of champagne because debt repayments have dropped nor reason to moan the low returns on [...](more...)

Avoid Being Scammed When You Rent For The Easter Holidays. With Easter approaching we would like to warn people that there are scammers trying to make money from people looking for holiday accommodation. Media reports in January told the story how people who had rented accommodation for their year-end holiday had been scammed. When they [...](more...)

‘Deposit drag’  keeps market on a choke-chain. Everyone in the property market knows that the current deposit requirements for home loan approval are among the biggest obstacles to increased home sales and faster property price growth. But just what the extent of the deposit obstacles might be has not been quantified until now, with the [...](more...)

Auctioneering of property now the preferred method for many residential sellers. A major change in the residential property sector is taking place without many people being aware of it, says Andre Piguet and Ursula Otto, franchisees of the Rawson Properties Mossel Bay franchise – and their newly acquired Rawson Auctions Garden Route franchise. The change [...](more...)

Check the title deed before the deal is done. Home buyers should carefully inspect the title deed of any property they want to buy before they sign an offer to purchase. Otherwise, says Neville McIntyre, chairman of Aida, South Africa’s best-known estate agency group, they might be in for an unpleasant surprise. “Title deeds often [...](more...)

With such a large percentage of home buyers at the moment being new entrants to the market – and thus usually novices when it comes to assessing the condition of a property – a mandatory home inspection by an independent, properly qualified person could be a very beneficial, and simple, consumer protection measure. “Such an [...](more...)

Steering clear of dodgy contractors. Transfer costs being what they are, many home owners are choosing to alter or extend their existing homes now rather than move, while others may be making improvements in order to get their homes looking their best before putting them on the market. But whatever the reason for making changes, [...](more...)

According to the annual ‘Home Truths’ article recently published by The Economist, the rate of house price growth in SA is currently the third highest in the developed world at an average of 5%, with only Hong Kong (21,8%) and Austria (10,1%) doing better. “This may come as something of a surprise to those who [...](more...)

Home Buyers’ Advice How to take the hassle out of the great trek The excitement of a new home is usually somewhat tempered by the daunting prospect of heaps of paperwork and then moving your belongings lock, stock and barrel. But, says Neville McIntyre, chairman of Aida, South Africa’s best-known estate agency group, a bit [...](more...)

Many bargain buys still “out there” for the shrewd investor. The South African residential property market can certainly still offer investment buyers bargains at anything from 20 to 50% below their former market value. This was said recently by Bill Rawson, Chairman of the Rawson Property Group, who is still investing steadily in this field. [...](more...)

Knowledge Factory has moved its Property Clock back by one minute to 23 minutes to the hour. The Clock measures high-level national trends in the residential real-estate market. It retreated by 5 minutes in 2011 and by 2 minutes in 2012. Insight* Analyst, Dieter Deppisch, comments: “The decision to move our Property Clock back by [...](more...)