Rental property still a good investment in most of SA
The PayProp Rental Index has shown that the average rental in South Africa breached the R7 000 threshold ending Q4 2016 at R7 062.91. The quarterly PayProp Residential Rental Index is drawn from the actual payment data of 1 000 rental agencies administering 85 000 active leases.
PayProp Group CEO, Louw Liebenberg, says the highest percentage growth for the quarter was recorded in December 2016, when average rentals were 7% higher than the same month the previous year.
“The jump to 7% is even more significant as historically the highest growth months have been October and November,” says Liebenberg.
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What's your property really worth?
The valuation of a property is one of the key factors in determining how long it remains on the market, and for a seller it’s crucial that an accurate, market-related price be ascribed to a home - the highest appraisal is not necessarily the best appraisal.
“The goal of a valuation is to determine a property's market value - the most probable price that the property will fetch in a competitive and open market. If it’s priced higher than similar properties in the area, it will be unlikely to sell until the price has come down,” says Barbara Manning, Area Specialist in Bishopscourt for Lew Geffen Sotheby’s International Realty.
“While it may be tempting, sellers should not accept appraisals at face value and opt for the highest simply because it is the highest - they must determine how the agent arrived at the recommended selling price and also do their homework by looking online to check the pricing of comparable homes in their area.”
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Can your managing agent sell your property?
What few people may realise, is that managing agents are in fact also fully accredited estate agents.
This is according to Paul French, the commercial director for Coastal Property Sales and Letting, who says managing agents have first-hand insight and knowledge of sectional title property, and even more so if they are involved in the particular complex or estate.
That, he says, places them in the ideal position to act as the sales and letting agents for the complexes and estates that they manage.
“Managing agents have the same skills and expertise and access to the same marketing tools that traditional estate agents use, but bring more insight and expertise in this particular property class,” says French.
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Tenants and landlords: The rental agreement demystified
It’s time to renew the lease on your house or flat, but did you know that last year’s rental hike isn’t necessarily applicable for the year ahead, that the days of 10% increases on residential properties are all but extinct and that in tough economic times good landlords and good tenants can find ways to negotiate creatively if they value their relationships?
This is according to Lew Geffen, Chairman of Lew Geffen Sotheby’s International Realty, who says until a few years ago, a basic lease agreement was the definitive last word in the tenant-landlord relationship and common clauses included standard annual increases and a seven days’ notice with material breach to terminate, but this is no longer the case.
“The once-straightforward contract has become more complex with a raft of legislative amendments to the Rental Housing, Consumer Protection and National Credit Acts that now impact almost every aspect of the rental arena, and ignorance of their applications can land both parties in very costly hot water,” says Geffen.
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