SINGAPORE (Reuters Life!) - As if rising gasoline prices weren't enough, motorists are being hit by higher parking charges, with London coming up tops as the world's most expensive city to park your car, according to a survey.

Parking your car in the City, London's financial district, costs on average $68.07 a day, or $1,166.87 a month, while parking in the popular West End entertainment district cost $1,135.76 month, according to an annual survey by real estate firm Colliers International that was conducted in June...

LAST month the Constitutional Court heard the case of Walele Vs City of Cape Town where Walele was aggrieved by the approval of building plans for his neighbour’s property, writes Kay Naidoo, of attorneys Livingston Leandy Inc.

The plans included the erection of a four-storey building, which he contended would devalue his property. He was also unhappy that he did not receive any notification of the proposed building works prior to the approval of the plan...

The value of South African recorded building plans passed at constant 2000 prices in May decreased 36.2% year on year from a revised increase of 14.4% (11.6%) in April, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) data showed.

A decline of 19.6% year-on-year had been recorded in March.

Residential building plans were the main reason for the turnaround as they fell drastically to 45.6% from 3.3% in April...

WHEN reporting the First National Bank/Bureau for Economic Research consumer confidence results last week, it was noticeable how sensitive many people were about the “R-word” – recession.

Not everyone has apparently made the jump to such a drastic deterioration in economic outlook and it wasn’t as yet the way to think or generally speak of things.

Give them time and they will come around. We are on recession watch now, purely led by data, momentum and events. And policy choice. South Africa is joining the ranks of the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand, which are also on recession watch...

Regular electricity outages, traffic gridlock, a wave of shocking crimes and general pessimism in South Africa’s financial heartland is driving its residents to increasingly migrate to Cape Town, says Alliance Group Chief Executive, Rael Levitt. “For the first time in many years our offices in Johannesburg have been inundated with enquiries from Johannesburg and Pretoria residents wanting to sell their local houses, businesses and assets in order to relocate to Cape Town,” explains Levitt...

Who will be to blame for people being excluded from the property wealth creation wheel now?

Often, when I hear white people whinging about the "new" South Africa, I have a burning urge to ask them to speed up their packing. I find the negativity tiresome and they are blind to the many advantages they have enjoyed under a black government that has embraced all, regardless of shameful past behaviour...

Tony Clarke, MD of Rawson Properties, has welcomed the amendments to the Rental Housing Act.

“We are happy that the role of the Rental Housing Tribunal has been clarified, giving the rental housing tribunal the powers of a magistrate's court. Unfortunately, the Tribunal is still unable to evict tenants,” said Clarke.

Clarke explains that landlords have been struggling with the unintended application of the Prevention of Illegal Evictions and Unlawful Occupation (PIE) Act, since 2002 when the Appeal Court ruled that it also applies to occupants of rented houses and flats...

The Sectional Title Act requires the Body Corporate to insure the buildings to the value of their full replacement cost. The insurance covers all the sections and all improvements to the common property. The premiums for the Body Corporate’s insurance form part of the monthly levies, it should however be noted that the Body Corporate insurance only covers damage and destruction of the buildings. It does not cover the contents of your section. You must make sure that your furniture, fittings and personal belongings are separately and adequately insured by means of a suitable policy...

Even if you think a home is overpriced, that’s no reason not to view it and possibly make an offer for it.

So says Dr Piet Botha, chairman of the Nationlink estate agency group, who notes that there are several reasons that overpriced properties usually don’t attract offers – all of them mistaken.

“First, buyers usually assume that the sellers know the home is overpriced, and that if they were willing to sell for less they would simply lower the price...

Energy and water self-sufficiency will increasingly become key factors in the marketability of residential property in SA.

So says RealNet property group CEO Tjaart van der Walt, who believes homes that offer a degree of services independence – or are “off the grid” - will have a marketing edge in future...

Gavin Zinn, the newly appointed national manager of Rawson Finance, the new bond origination company of the Rawson Properties group, has joined other high profile figures in the property sector in urging bond holders who are nervous about the future - and in particular the possibility of higher interest rates - to see their banks now with a view to fixing their bond mortgage interest rates. Rawson Finance, said Zinn, can assist them in this as well as in other financial matters.

“Almost all banks,” said Zinn, “are prepared to consider fixing interest rates, even for periods up to ten years. If a bondholder is concerned about his ability to pay a higher rate, this is the time to fix the rate for the foreseeable future...

Energy saving has been treated as a top priority at Redefine Income Fund’s R250 million 16 storey Convention Tower office development at the foot of the Heerengracht on Cape Town’s Foreshore, says Lance Hoffman, development manager at Madison Property Fund Managers, project managers for the development on behalf of Redefine.

“From the outset,” said Hoffman, “Madison decided that on this project they would explore energy efficient methods and incorporate these into the design...

"Set on the banks of the Wildepaardejacht River on the slopes of the Klein Drakenstein Mountains near Paarl, the farm owned by former State President and Nobel Peace Prize winner FW de Klerk is for sale through Lew Geffen Sotheby’s International Realty"

The magnificent Paarl farm owned by former State President and Nobel Peace Prize winner FW de Klerk is for sale...

Call for State to address expropriation fears

Government needs to move fast to allay fears that its new expropriation legislation will not be used to justify Zimbabwe-style land grabs.

That’s the call from Berry Everitt, MD of the Chas Everitt International property group, who says: “I have no wish to be alarmist, but the Expropriation Bill, which was due to be enacted last month but has been withdrawn by Parliament’s legal advisers, definitely does ring some warning bells.”

I am sure most of you can remember last weeks letter to the editor from Zweli;

Hi, I just want to know from you, when the economy in South Africa is as it is, is it time to buy or does signs like these gives a warning to wait? I have a Townhouse in Vanderbijlpark and was thinking of selling and buy in Jo'burg, what do you think?

In response we are placing two of the replies we received;

From Sandro Crosti, CEO RepoList & PropList International

Hi Zweli,

Many top property fundis around the world including Robert Kiyosaki author of Rich Dad Poor Dad would advise you to only buy in this market and only to sell when the market turns up again. He likens the property game to Monopoly! 4 green houses 1 Red Hotel. When times were tough with high interest rates he bought his green houses. When the interest rates dropped he sold the green houses and bought his Red hotel! The income generated from his red hotels now pay for his and his wife’s lifestyle so they don’t have to work anymore.

My advice would be to keep your unit in Van Der Bijl and if possible work on purchasing your second unit. I am assuming that the Van Der Bijl units rent is covering most of the bond and levies. If there is a big difference in the two then you may be carrying a liability which we have to try and get rid of. The idea is when you repurchase to get it at the right price so that you hardly pay anything in the first year and hopefully even out in the second year when your rental increase kicks in.

Happy investing and make lots of money! Remember you are your only limit.

Best Wishes
Sandro Crosti
www.proplist.co.za

From Denis Delmage

In my personal opinion when buying a house at the moment you really have to take a good look at your salary first, what can you afford and how much can you pay in extra with inflation going up each time. Also consider the factors of food transport etc, if you find that you are able to meet all the payment and still have money to spend in luxury items then yes, its a o.k. to buy, but if you can't really afford to get through the whole month then its a bad time to buy, take into account where you are buying from as well, if your a first time buyer, I would just say have a couple of rands set aside that you could use for a deposit.

My wife and I are also at looking to buy a house at the moment, we are looking mostly at affordability and area that we want to buy in, also what we can get for our current townhouse, we would like to buy a house for R750 000-00 we will need a bond of about R175 000-00 if we get our selling price.

So just take into account everything.

Writing out all your expenditures and abiding by a budget helps a lot, this helps us on a monthly basis to ascertain were we are financially.

Just a note, that buying a house with a pool at the moment is not a very good idea, the price of electricity is up as well, a pool requires maintenance so it becomes a financial burden at the end of the day.

Well one thing is for sure though, if you do buy a house and require a pool I say go to solar power to try and keep the pumps going during the day, swop out your old geyser to a solar geyser and try and get some solar panels to carry the burden of day time usage (weekends ) solar power does go a long way. Rather pay up now than later, at least you know you will have power for the day time usage.

Kind Regards
Denis

To respond on this letter email news@cyberprop.com

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Buying and Selling in a Down Market

Many people want to know when is the best time to buy, especially in a down market where home prices are declining. It’s natural to wonder how low the prices will go and whether you should wait.

If you are a seller, perhaps you should sell now as the longer you wait, the lower the price of your home could fall. Then if you are able to find alternative housing for the short term, wait a few months, and then buy your new home. Alternatively, if you buy and sell at the same time, the price reduction on the new one can compensate for the “loss” you’re taking on the old one. The bottom line is that the current trends point to a rise in the number of sellers eager to cut a deal, which is good news that many home buyers have been waiting for.

If you really must sell now, don’t mess around. Price your home to sell. Start by getting a comparable market analysis that considers the price of other homes that are similar to yours in location, age, size, number of rooms, building materials, property size etc. You can normally get this information from a reputable estate agent. Even with the most recent sales information, you may have to consider pricing your home a little lower than the most recent comparable sales. In a market with steadily sliding home prices, if a seller prices the home at or above recent comparables, the seller may have to repeatedly lower the price in order to be competitive.

Selling amidst a major market slowdown is tough work. Make sure you choose the best estate agent that will market the heck out of your property. Make sure they have a track record. Ideally, you want someone who has weathered previous market downturns. I chose an estate agent from one of the largest groups, not only because they would have a list of existing potential buyers, but because she was the only agent who actually worked between Christmas and New Year. My reasoning told me that if she is willing to work over that period, she must really want to sell!

Consider all credible offers. In a down market, financing is often tight for buyers as even creditworthy borrowers get rejected because of rigid underwriting. So, if your property is selling for less than other comparable houses, you have a better likelihood of getting it sold. Don’t assume there’ll always be another offer coming around the corner.

Buyers are requesting all kinds of enticements to spice the pot. If it will improve the salability, consider throwing in some of your appliances, curtains or even that plasma TV or pool table. Consider in advance how far you’ll be willing to go, as you can always replace these items if you get the right price.

If you don’t have to sell now and the offers you’re getting are ridiculous, then it may be better to ride out the storm and wait for the market to turn. Alternatively, you could rent out your house while you wait out the slump.

Article by: Cheryl Marais – Direct Marketing Manager - Betterbond

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