What can we expect from Cape Town’s rental market in 2019?
The Cape Town residential rental market is likely to start picking up steam ahead of the new year when many people will start entering the market.
Property market sentiment declined further in the third quarter of 2018.
Natalie Muller, Sales and Rentals Manager for Seeff Atlantic Seaboard and City Bowl, also expects higher demand due to the weak economy and rising costs.
It is cheaper to rent than to buy, and those looking to cut their household expenses are likely to consider renting now rather than buying. The high traffic volumes in Cape Town and petrol price hikes will also boost rental demand in areas considered to be convenient. The summer months often also coincide with many lease renewals, says Muller.
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Are ‘real-time’ estate agents still relevant?
With more and more online real estate agencies popping up both locally and internationally, the question on everybody’s lips is whether the real estate profession will "go the way of the milkman" - a profession which was rendered obsolete when supermarkets began to pop up everywhere, selling the same product for less. However, unlike milk, property is not something you can simply throw down the drain if your buying happens to turn sour.
“One rule remains constant throughout life: you get what you pay for. Online agencies are only able to offer their services at the lower price because they know that they are not offering the same value of a traditional real estate agent,” says Regional Director and CEO of RE/MAX of Southern Africa, Adrian Goslett.
“The traditional model will not become redundant unless online agencies progress to the point where they are able to offer the same personalised attention and area-specific expertise as the traditional model affords.”
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Tenants: How to spot and avoid rental scams
Over the years, particularly with various DIY advertising portals becoming available to the layman renting out their property, various rental scams have been created, and there now seems to be an increase once again in the prevalence of fake ads and landlords out there.
This is according to Sunell Afrika, rentals manager at SAProperty.com, who says there is one scam that keeps popping up, which one would think has ‘done its time’ and that people would be aware of and not get caught by, but there are still people being fleeced out of sizeable deposits by being far too trusting.
The typical scam is that a property is advertised to rent, possibly at a lower rental than the norm, and when a potential tenant responds to the ad, in most cases via email, the scamster responds saying that there has been a huge response to the advert and that the application, with the deposit, should be submitted immediately to avoid disappointment, says Afrika.
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Everything you need to know about buying property in a trust
Financially speaking, the notion of a trust tends to have connotations to wealth and independence - think 'trust fund children' - but when it comes to property and trusts, it is useful to understand trust benefits and tax law in order to determine if this is a viable route for protecting your asset and optimising your money.
A trust is simply a ‘legal person’ designed to protect and benefit - both legally and financially - the assets that have been placed in that entity. “While this sounds simple, there is no one-size-fits-all answer to the question of whether to put a property in a trust as it depends entirely on individual needs and circumstances,” says Bruce Swain, CEO of Leapfrog.
Swain says they chatted to trust and estate expert Nicolaas Brink, an accredited member of the Fiduciary Institute of Southern Africa (FISA), about what’s important for property owners to know about the benefits and potential pitfalls of putting a property into a trust:
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