How to pay off your Bond in 10 years

If you’ve just bought your first home, the day your mortgage will be fully paid off and the property is really yours probably seems a long way off. 

Even if you don’t have a spare room to rent out, you can perhaps still make some extra cash to put towards your ‘bond liberation day’ by renting out a storage space, garage or carport.

This is according to Shaun Rademeyer, CEO of BetterBond, who says the good news is that there are tried and tested ways to bring that day much closer, and save yourself tens of thousands of rands in the process.

“Did you know, for example, that if you have a home loan of R800 000 at an interest rate of 9.25%, you could drop your bond repayment period to 17 years instead of 20, and save R178 000 in interest, just by paying an extra R500 a month into your bond account?” Read the rest of the story here...

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Top tips for selling your house

Selling your property can be quite an emotional process: approaching sales advisors, agreeing on a selling price and finding a new home, all add to the stress. But by taking some basic measures you can remain relaxed and start preparing for your new home.

  This is according to Craig Hutchison, CEO Engel & Völkers Southern Africa, who says that probably the most important aspect would be to approach a trustworthy local sales advisor from a reputable real estate company, preferably one with a long and successful track record in your suburb.
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Hutchinson says sellers should ideally consider a sole or exclusive mandate, which maens that one agency is awarded the exclusive rights to the marketing and selling of your property.

Invest in property and build a portfolio

The residential property market is currently in an upward cycle and we are seeing a strong resurgence of investors entering the market.Looking at medium to longer term investment options, there are essentially three key factors to bear in mind: risk, return and growth.
Property has always been perceived as a relatively stable and safe investment class and indeed when one considers the market cycles, it is interesting to note that many nodes in South Africa have achieved the same sales value this year as was the case in peak of the market in 2007.
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Interest rate stays unchanged

Consumers are able to enjoy the current interest rate for a while longer, as Reserve Bank Governor, Gill Marcus, announced today at the third Monetary Policy Committee meeting of the year that the prime interest rate would remain at its current 9 percent says Adrian Goslett, chief executive officer of RE/MAX of Southern Africa. Read more on this post

5 Reasons to buy property now

 

Several current indicators are providing sensible reasons to buy property on the Cape Peninsula right now, says Mike Greeff, chief executive officer of Greeff Properties, an exclusive Affiliate of Christie’s International Real Estate.
Greeff points to five reasons why buying now makes sense: Read more on this post....

 

Now is the time to buy property

According to Tony Clarke, managing director of the Rawson Property Group, the best time to buy property was 20 years ago and now.

Thirdly, he says demand in many house price categories now exceeds supply, ensuring that year-on-year house price growth remains not far below 10 percent and this will also ensure that rentals continue to rise at around 7.5 percent per annum (above the inflation rate).

Clarke points to several reasons such as the fact that the US economy is steadily recovering slowly and this bodes well for South Africa because, like that of almost all other countries in the world, South Africa’s economy is heavily influenced by the US’s economic performance.

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