The appeal of Airbnb property investments - but know the rules
There is little doubt that Cape Town’s CBD and Atlantic Seaboard rank amongst the most sought-after areas for short-term rentals. The arrival of Airbnb has naturally boosted the demand as many property owners and prospective buyers want to get in on the opportunity to earn excellent returns.
Paul French, commercial director for Coastal Property Management Services, says apartments and other sectional title property are especially suited to this type of property rental. While sectional title rentals are quite common, he says there is a notable difference between long-term residential rentals and short-term holiday lets.
In the case of long-term rentals, it is easy to integrate the tenants into the complex and its rules including security and access.
More
What you need to know before buying repossessed property
For home buyers on a tight budget, a Property in Possession (PiP) - or home that has been repossessed by a bank - may seem like a very good proposition because such properties are often available at less than market value.
“Banks often also offer further incentives to buy PiPs, such as preferential home loan interest rates and lower bond registration and legal fees, and a further attraction is that no transfer duty is payable on these properties,” says Gerhard Kotzé, MD of the RealNet estate agency group.
“But there are also potential pitfalls when buying PiPs that make it highly advisable for the prospective buyers to engage a reputable estate agent to advise them before they finalise the transaction.”
More
Savvy investors can cash in on Johannesburg rentals
Provinces with a higher contribution to the national GDP tend to have a heavier impact on the annual escalation cost of residential rental property, according to PayProp’s rental index for the first quarter of 2017, in which provincial rental data was re-weighted and backdated to the beginning of 2015.
Shaun Groves, Gauteng rentals manager for Lew Geffen Sotheby’s International Realty, says the Index revealed that higher year-on-year growth in Gauteng rentals from December to March was largely responsible for a spike over this period, along with double digit escalation in the Western Cape.
“The higher than normal increase in rates in Gauteng rentals is somewhat unexpected, considering how lacklustre rental growth in the province has been in recent years. In fact, the country’s economic powerhouse has been experiencing a slump going back as far as the third quarter of 2014,” says Groves.
More
Buyers, don't hesitate too long when you find the right home
In a residential property market where demand exceeds supply - and this is still the situation in more Greater Cape Town suburbs than most people realise - it is surprising how often keen buyers lose out on the properties they really want for the simple reason that they have great difficulty in making up their minds according to Rowan Alexander, a Director of the Alexander Swart Property Group.
“In residential marketing we regularly come across buyers who, despite ongoing assurances from a reputable estate agent, suspect that if they look around a little longer they have a good chance of finding something slightly better and slightly cheaper - and they will continue to hold on to this idea even when they have found a house that in every way is ideal for them,” says Alexander.
More
Attend the Africa Property Investment Summit and Expo 24-25 Aug
Running for its eighth consecutive year, the Africa Property Investment (API) Summit & Expo will be held this year at the Sandton Convention Centre, Sandton Central, on Thursday 24 and Friday 25th August 2017.
A new reality for the African real estate industry, which has been faced with a number of geo-political and economic challenges over the last few years, is starting to emerge, and investors and developers have already started to look into how they can best redefine this new property landscape.
Kfir Rusin, Managing Director for API Events says: “Providing the industry with an opportunity to embrace this new reality, and create fresh avenues of growth, the API Summit & Expo provides stakeholders with the perfect platform to discuss key issues, while offering insights into how best to reinvent their strategies, realign their models and collaborate with new players in developing Africa’s future property market.”
More
SA residential property market promising despite recession
The effects of the ratings downgrades are beginning to hit home, throwing the country into an economic recession according to Harry Hattingh, Co-founder and principal at Leadhome, who says a significant contributor to the decline was the 2.3% fall in household expenditure, an indicator of just how much consumers are feeling the pinch. This could have a dampening effect on home selling and home buying for the rest of the year.
However, Hattingh says there are three important factors that are likely to mitigate the effects of the decline, making the residential property market - worth R3.9 trillion and growing, according to research by the Property Sector Charter Council - an attractive investment prospect.
More
Leave a comment: