Law does not favour tenants
IolProperty - South Africa
It is not unusual to hear references to South African tenancy laws favouring tenants. Evicting a tenant can be problematic, especially if an unscrupulous tenant is determined to defend the court proceedings. Some dishonest tenants exploit the landowner's death by refusing to pay rentals to the executor of the deceased estate.
This gets complicated if the executor dies before the estate is wound up, because family members do not have the right to collect rentals. Factor in an eviction proceeding and recovery of arrear rentals initiated by the executor who dies before the matter is settled by the court, and the dishonest tenant will continue to occupy, rent free.
Most tenants are not dishonest, they pay their rentals and perform their contractual obligations.
According to statistics compiled by the tenant profile network (TPN), in the third quarter of 2013, the majority of tenants (86%) paid their rentals; 71% paid on the due date and in full; 4% were able to pay within the extended period granted, while 11% paid after the due date (tenants "in good standing"). The third quarter of 2014 showed a similar trend with only 5% having failed to pay rentals at all, the lowest since 2007, when TPN began to compile rental information.
IolProperty
What to do about the eyesore next door
BetterLife - South Africa
It is sad but true that no matter how great your home looks on show day, it is not likely to attract any offers to purchase if the home next door or across the road is a run-down wreck with a yard like a panel-beater's workshop.
In fact, if they spot it first, most prospective buyers will just keep driving - and who can blame them? Old car bodies, eye-high grass and weeds and an overflowing bin of "empties" really don't create the impression of a safe and friendly neighbourhood where people take care of their homes and property values are likely to keep rising.
"The problem is that if that property has been in that state for some time, things are unlikely to change unless you intervene. And that's probably what you will have to do if you want to get your home sold," says Shaun Rademeyer of BetterLife Home Loans.
What to do about the eyesore
Common mistakes made by home buyers, sellers and estate agents
Rawson - South Africa
One of the uncomfortable facts that he has come, with regret, to realize after 43 years in property marketing – and property development – says Bill Rawson, Chairman of the Rawson Property Group, is that the same mistakes by sellers, buyers and estate agents are repeated year after year – despite regular warnings in the property media and an ongoing flow of educational literature from the major agencies, conveyancers, banks and bond originators.
Sellers, said Rawson, still make the big mistaking of appointing, as their estate agent, a person who offers them the lowest sales commission.
“The thinking behind such a decision,” said Rawson, “is quite clearly flawed because the estate agent who is forced to offer a low commission will probably also be less than competent in securing for the seller a good sales price for his home. This fundamental fact is often not recognized by sellers.”
Furthermore, said Rawson, the estate agent who charges a low commission will often be found to be incapable of financing adequate advertising exposure – which in the long run probably results in the home being sold at below its true market value.
Rawson
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