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Weekly Property News
Friday, 06 November, 2009 |
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FROM THE EDITOR |
Have you been taken for a “ride” before?
U.K. resident Scott Armstrong thought he caught the deal
of a lifetime when he saw a posting on website Craigslist.com
for a $600 (monthly rental) Sandyport one-bedroom apartment.
It was an offer he hurriedly jumped at for his imminent Bahamas
move, only to have alarm bells go off later about something
strange in the listing. "I should have remembered the
old adage 'if something looks too good to be true it generally
is'," Armstrong told Guardian Business. "The man
advertising the property purported to be away in South Africa
on missionary work but he kept insisting I fill out an online
application form asking for personal details such as my passport
number, address and age [and] I began to get suspicious. "It
was then I searched the address online and discovered someone
else owned the property." Indeed, Armstrong had stumbled
on the first published case of a rental scam targeting The
Bahamas in the online ad community. Be on the watch out as
South Africa could be next
Headlines: The tourism sector has so far resisted
the financial crisis better than many of the sectors including
real estate. This according to Minister Marthinus van Schalwyk.
BUT there is light at the end of the tunnel; Light at
end of recession tunnel
Market update: After at least a year of falling house prices,
South Africa's residential property values have started heading
up. That's according to Absa, which has been tracking house
prices closely since the 1960s. House prices ticked up by
2,6% in October, compared to same time last year. This is
a little higher than the revised figure for September of 1,3%
year-on-year, according to Absa's calculations; South
Africa's house prices head up
Enjoy!
The editor
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In
This Issue |
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Featured
Property |
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Robertson,
Western Cape
Property Type: Farm - Situated in one of the most beautiful
areas of Robertson, it really is the perfect getaway.
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CyberProp
Property Count: 06/11/2009 |
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Now |
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Properties for Sale: 137,209
Properties to Rent: 10,710
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Real
Estate News International |
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Local
News |
| Light
at end of recession tunnel |
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Economic figures indicate a moderation
in declines across many sectors of the local economy,
sparking confidence that better days are ahead... |
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| Don’t
let big kids pick your pocket |
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Many grown-up children have had to move back
in with their parents to cope with the economic
downturn – but those parents need to ensure
that caring for their children and/ or grandchildren
does not put them at financial risk...
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| Beware
of iffy developers |
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The National Home Builders Registration Council
(NHBRC) has warned potential home owners to be
wary of developers who make promises that sound
too good to be true...
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| Homebuyers
should watch out for water damage |
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Unless it’s really obvious, you will probably
not notice water damage in a home as much as an
overgrown garden, peeling paint or a lack of light.
And yet it can be much more serious than any of
these problems, and consume huge amounts of time
and money to rectify...
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Property
insurance: Tips & traps
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From sneaky exclusions, like electricity surges,
to what the body corporate should cover.
"Most people view insurance as a grudge
payment, a necessary evil so to speak, and insurance
for property is no different," says Dirk
McIntosh, insurance broker at Lyall Morgan &
Associates...
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| A
warning from APKF: insure both yourself and the house |
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The financial difficulties that many homeowners
have experienced over the last year or more have
led to some reneging on their home insurance payments,
but this, says Lanice Steward, MD of Anne Porter
Knight Frank, should be avoided even if it means
making drastic cuts elsewhere...
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| Don’t
sign your rights away |
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Homebuyers should carefully read the mortgage
clause on their offer to purchase or agreement-of-sale
documents to make sure they know what they are
letting themselves in for...
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| SA's
electricity nightmare: You'll pay less for rent |
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These numbers will shock you. Eskom to push prices
above cost of a home
Thousands of tenants in South Africa are going
to lose the battle to meet the monthly cost of
renting their homes unless they and their landlords
prepare properly for Eskom's rapid price hikes,
says Andrew Schaefer, CEO of Trafalgar, the national
property managers...
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Focus
On |
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Search
For Properties |
Search for property in your area
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In
the Area |
The areas we are going to take a closer look at this
week are;
- Port Elizabeth
- Cape Town
- Hermanus
| In
the Area 2 - Cape Town |
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Analysing CT property
The Third Quarter Cape Metro FNB Residential
Property Barometer pointed to a significant jump
in activity levels in the region, after a very
weak second quarter level. This suggests that
the region is beginning to feel the positive impact
of the series of interest rate cuts that took
place in the first half of 2009...
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| In
the area 3 – Hermanus |
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National property group Aida National Franchises
has confirmed its confidence in the Hermanus property
market by opening a new office to serve the needs
of local buyers and sellers...
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To
the editor |
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| Getting
Your Home Ready for the Market |
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A few weeks prior to listing your house,
do an inspection tour, trying to look at
things through the eyes of a stranger. Make
a list of things that need to be cleaned
and repaired and estimate the time, cost
and priority of each chore. Take a particularly
good look at your bathroom(s) and kitchen.
Time and money invested in painting and
refurbishing these key rooms will have maximum
impact..
Send to news@cyberprop.com
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Local
News Continue |
| Why
greens like Eskom |
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There was something like jubilation among delegates
to the SA Green Building Council's second annual
convention in Cape Town. Eskom's proposed 45%
annual tariff rise for the next three years will
give them a huge boost...
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News
From |
| News
from Financial Mail |
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Alternative energy - Look to the sun
The threat of huge hikes in the price of electricity
seems to have scared South Africans into considering
cheaper - and more environmentally friendly -
forms of energy...
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