5 Property Buying Tips
If you are planning to buy a house, be prepared and well
advised in order to avoid the pitfalls and make a successful
purchase. Buying a property would be one of the important
decisions you make in your life and therefore I am sure you
will agree that all aspects should be considered before going
ahead with your purchase.
1. How Much Can you afford?
The first thing you have to think of is how much you can
afford when buying your new property. Decide on the amount
you will be able to put down as a bond deposit and also the
repayment amount that you can afford to pay every month until
your loan has been completely paid off. Get together with
your partner and write down all your monthly expenses and
a little bit extra for an emergency and deduct this amount
from your monthly joint income or if you are single, the income
you earn monthly.
Keep in mind that the maximum bond a bank will allow is where
the repayment is not more than 25% of your monthly salary
and this should never be more than what you can afford to
pay the bank monthly (as calculated above). You don’t
want to be overcommitted now, will you? Since the rates of
interest keeps varying from bank to bank shop around to find
the best deal before you commit yourself.
2. Finding a Good Property
You can do it in the old fashioned way by registering with
as many agents as possible in the area and be patient until
something suitable comes your way or do it in the comfort
of your home by using technology and go online to access the
vast number of properties advertised on the internet.
3. Transfer costs and Other Fees Payable
When setting aside money for your purchase, remember to make
provision for duty on transfer and conveyance fees which normally
has to be paid by the buyer. The Transfer Duties at present
are:
- Nil for properties valued at less than R500, 000.
- R25, 000. For properties valued at less than R1 Million
- R25,000+8% for those valued over R1 Million
While conveyance fees will be around R20, 000. You can avoid
having to pay legal fess if the property you hope to buy has
not been previously registered in which case there will be
no transfer fees to be paid either.
4. Getting your Loan Approved
Unless you know exactly what you’re doing, it might
not be easy to get your loan approved due to extremely stringent
measures adopted by banks recently. You should therefore get
expert advice from professional loan negotiators before applying
for a loan to buy a new property or home.
5. Location of your Property and Security in the Area
Everyone would have like to have their home close to the
shopping areas, school and subway if possible. The price of
real estate in such location however tend to be high. Look
at the possibility of down scaling the size in favor of a
convenient location. Once you have seen a house or property
which is to your liking, make a few runs through that particular
area at different times during the day and night and also
make inquiries from residents and the police to ensure that
there is no criminal activity taking place.
By being patient, yet diligent and on the look out for a
good opportunity, you will undoubtedly be able to find your
dream home or property at an affordable price with everything
else such as your loans, interest and repayment terms etc,
falling into place comfortably.
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