South Africa
How to make your rental home feel like your own…
Tired of feeling like a stranger in your rental home? Although living in a house that doesn’t belong to you may leave you with a long list stating what you can and can’t do to the property, there are many ways in which you can personalise the house and make it at least feel like your own. Jan Myburgh, General Manager of Harcourts Real Estate South Africa, gives some tips on how to feel at home in a rental house.
Although it is very seldom that tenants find their dream home within a rental property, small changes can make a big difference. Unlike many buyers who purchase their home with the intention of altering the existing property, most tenants do not want to embark on costly renovations to a property that ultimately does not belong to them.
“Before deciding to make any permanent alterations to the rental property it…
Preparing to make an offer on a property? What you should know…
Falling in love with a home, and coming to the realisation that this is where you want to put down your roots and make special memories is an exciting moment; however, there are many important aspects that need to be taken into consideration before making an offer that will essentially bind you to the property. Below are a few tips that will aid you in taking the next step towards becoming a home-owner.
According to Richard Gray, CEO of Harcourts Real Estate South Africa, “Understanding the market as it is at present should play an important role when determining the value of the offer that will be presented to the seller. Establishing whether it is a buyer’s or a seller’s market is key.”
He continues, “Buyer’s need to remember that in a buyer’s market, sellers will be more open to offers as there are fewer buyers and therefore…
Tags: CEO, charity, Estate Agent, growth, harcourts, Harcourts Foundation, Harcourts International, harcourts real estate, Homes, Houses, marketing, real estate, Richard Gray
Determining Real Estate value: What factors influence the asking price of property?
When putting a house on the market, there are many factors that play a role in determining the asking price for the property. Both buyers and sellers should be aware of the factors that influence real estate marketability as they ultimately determine the value of property. Some of these factors include those of demographic change, progression and regression, and supply and demand.
According to Jan Myburgh, General Manager of Harcourts Real Estate South Africa, “An important factor that determines price is the demographic change within a neighbourhood, be it negative or positive. All areas experience transformation, either in the form of growth or decay and these circumstances will severely affect the value of a property when it comes time to sell.” Extreme examples of these are suburbs such as Hillbrow and surrounds.
In circumstances where the demand for property far exceeds the amount that is available in the market…
What to do if I cannot pay my bond anymore? Know your options
With such tough financial times at present, more and more people are finding themselves in debt or financially strained. Failure to pay home loan instalments can lead to the involuntary sale of one’s home – but this last resort and a lifetime filled with debt can be avoided as there are schemes to support people who find themselves in difficult financial situations.
According to Richard Gray, CEO of Harcourts Real Estate South Africa, “It is so important for those individuals facing financial pressures to know the options that are available to them. Harcourts works in partnership with a number of banks which aim to assist such individuals and lead them out of debt.”
Reaching the stage where an involuntary sale or sale of execution is mandatory can be devastating. It involves a legal process by which the Court grants the bank authorisation to sell their client’s property in…
Tags: CEO, Harcourts Real Estate (SA), mandate, marketing, news, Press release, Richard Gray
Evicting a tenant: The Do’s and Don’ts
As a landlord, one of the worst situations to find oneself in is with a problematic tenant that does not comply with the terms in the signed lease agreement. There are many reasons for wanting to get rid of tenants, such as causing major damage to the property, staying on the property after the lease has expired, continuously breaking rules of the contract, but the most common reason for wanting to evict a tenant is due to late or no payment of rent money.
There are a number of laws within South Africa that govern rental agreements, including the Rental Housing Act (Act 50 of 1999), Laws of Contract, common law, Consumer Protection Act (CPA) and the Constitution. However evicting such tenants is not a simple process, and there are certain do’s and don’ts dictated by law that all landlords should be aware of in order to follow the correct…
Tags: CEO, Harcourts Real Estate (SA), mandate, marketing, news, Press release, Richard Gray
Harcourts defies industry norms
Data recently released by Harcourts Real Estate South Africa revealed that the growth of the national franchised real estate company has far exceeded that of industry standards.
“In the past two years we have experienced phenomenal growth, which is especially significant at a time when many real estate groupings are shrinking, and the industry as a whole has declined quite considerably,” explains Richard Gray, CEO of Harcourts.
Whereas the residential property industry reported a growth of only 5% year-on-year in 2011 compared to 25% in 2010, Harcourts has experienced a year-on year growth of 27% in 2011 and 45% in 2010. “Furthermore, Harcourts’ aggregate sales growth in the last 2 years is a staggering 87%,” confirmed Gray.
The value of residential transactions nationally increased from R151 billion in 2010 to R158 billion in 2011, which represented an increase of 7000 property deals in 2011 from…
Tags: CEO, Harcourts Real Estate (SA), mandate, marketing, news, Press release, Richard Gray