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Are you a credit risk?
PayProp - South Africa
Know how you are viewed by credit providers

Being aware of your credit rating and how your personal financial information is analysed and represented is not often seen as a priority for many. However, Colin Habberton, CEO of PayProp Capital warns that this could prove to be a detrimental short coming.

It is standard practice for registered credit bureaux to collect, verify and evaluate an individual’s financial information. “Whenever a consumer applies for credit whether it is to open a clothing account, purchase a car or to rent a property a credit check will usually be done,” says Habberton. In September 2014 PayProp introduced a product specifically designed for the rental industry, the Tenant Assessment Report. This report forms part of the screening of an application for a tenancy and sets out personal and financial information as well as an analysis relating to the tenant.
Are you a credit risk?

Property investment is a ‘good plan’
Chas Everitt - South Africa
Following the 2008/ 09 recession and the huge number of home repossessions and auctions that took place in its wake, many people – estate agents included – have a poor opinion of those who call themselves property investors.

“The reason,” says Greg Harris, CEO of Chas Everitt Property Rentals, “is that these words conjure up an ugly image for them of ‘vultures’ who prey on others’ misfortunes by snapping up repossessed or distressed homes at rock-bottom prices and reselling or ‘flipping’ them for a quick profit.

“In addition, they often don’t believe that investors are a permanent feature of the market, but rather that they will all lose interest once a market turns and the number of distressed properties drops. And to support this theory they point out how much the percentage of properties supposedly bought as ‘buy-to-let’ investments has dropped off in the past few years.”

However, he says, nothing could be farther from the truth, as the vast majority of actual real estate “investors” are – and always have been - owners of residential rental units who have little or no intention of ever selling those properties.
Property investment is good

RDP houses for sale on Gumtree
IolProperty - South Africa
Subsidy houses, formerly known as RDP houses, are being sold illegally for cash on classified sites such as OLX or Gumtree, leaving the beneficiaries to return to informal settlements or the street. Often the properties are sold below market value with no guarantee that the buyers will get the title deed they need to be the legal owners.

While formal statistics are scant, the Western Cape's human settlements department says the illegal sale of RDP housing is widespread, and difficult to prevent. In Dunoon, for example, only four out of 10 RDP houses are occupied by the original beneficiaries.

The national Department of Human Settlements said it was illegal for the recipient of an RDP house, now known as a Breaking New Ground house, to sell it before having lived in the structure for at least eight years.
IolProperty

Two fundamental steps essential if body corporates are to function
Rawson - South Africa
Bill Rawson, Chairman of the Rawson Property Group, has drawn attention to the fact that sales of properties in holiday areas, particularly the coast, are now 8 to 12% up on the January/February period of 2014 – and the majority of these sales are in sectional title units, many of which are new and which are seen in the public’s mind as likely to offer the best growth potential and the securest type of lock-and-go investment. However, said Rawson, with this new trend in sales now gaining momentum it is necessary to remind buyers that certain preliminary investigations should precede any purchase of this kind, particularly in a far-distant sectional title scheme.

These, he said, have recently been covered very thoroughly by the sectional title expert, Tertius Maree, one of the recognized authorities in this field. Maree, said Rawson, has warned that sectional title schemes are only as good as the managements that control them – and to achieve a satisfactory management, two initial steps are essential. These are the setting up of a set of rules for all owners and occupants of the scheme and the appointment of trustees who are competent and well informed.
Rawson

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