Author: Editor

Here’s what property buyers need to know about the way forward after SA’s lockdown.

Questions around the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on the residential property sector have been rife – and with good reason as property is a sector that contributes significantly to the GDP. More than that, property is inextricably linked to accommodation and shelter, one of our most fundamental needs. Both buyers and sellers are concerned about whether they will be able to transact in the coming months, while buyers in particular are asking questions about the stance banks are likely to take around lending money for home loans.

It’s useful to consider the broader context, before addressing the question of home loans specifically. Even before Covid-19 and lockdown the market conditions were that of a buyer’s market in which supply outweighs demand, giving buyers both more options and more room for price negotiation. All conditions suggest that a buyer’s market is likely to remain the status quo, which helps those looking to buy. The lower interest rate – the lowest it’s been in 47 years – also goes a long way in making property investments more affordable and more attractive to potential buyers. Add the fact that the threshold on transfer duty was raised to R1 million earlier this year and that the price of property in general is likely to come down somewhat as a result of the overall strain on the economy. All of this makes the outlook rather positive for those who can afford to buy at this time.

Affordability is king

While always important, affordability is set to be an even more pertinent consideration going forward and buyers are therefore advised to keep all accounts in good standing and save as much as possible for a deposit.

At this stage, it is unknown exactly how banks will respond to home loan applications after lockdown, but there is a strong likelihood that it will be with caution and that the qualifying criteria will be more stringent.

While the economic recovery from lockdown is likely to be slow, it’s important that the banks continue lending money in a responsible manner as a means of stimulating the property sector. Whatever the economic situation, people still need accommodation, which means there will be buyers and sellers looking to finance these transactions.

Having said that, it seems unlikely that banks will grant 100% home loans as readily as in the past and, because the cost of funding loans will be more expensive, this could potentially also result in lower interest rate concessions than we have seen in recent months. Furthermore, banks may potentially re-price their future offers, as well as re-assess approvals in cases where the applicant’s circumstances have changed, such as when someone’s salary is reduced owing to business slowing down.

Buyers’ market

In the coming months, we’ll see a situation where buyers are in a very favourable position to purchase property but, with lending criteria set to be more stringent, it’s a good idea to work with a bond originator who has the experience and expertise to help ensure buyers get the best deal possible. At BetterBond, for example, consultants are expertly versed in the requirements of the various banks and what their different home loan products offer, which means we can easily tailor an individual application such that it has the very best chance of being approved and thus increasing the likelihood of obtaining the home loan.

Source: Private Property

As we go into lockdown in South Africa (and Ireland where I am) I thought to post some thoughts.

These are trying times for us all. Many of us will go through similar cycles of fear for our own well-being, and for our family; concerns for our jobs or income, and worry about how the financial markets will affect economies and ultimately impact us.

As we should all know by now being in lockdown and adhering to it is vital to “flatten the curve”, to reduce and delay the peak of the epidemic and protect healthcare capacity. The majority of us, if we catch this virus, will get through it with slight to moderate symptoms. However, we all need to play our part by staying home to ensure that the more vulnerable in our society – the elderly, those with certain pre-existing health conditions, our healthcare workers, and the poverty-stricken – are shielded from this virus.

At the end of 2018 I sold my house in Cape Town as I was moving to Ireland. Although I have been in Cape Town real estate for over 35 years, I was still shocked at what banks wanted to charge me for transferring my money overseas.

If an international exchange of funds is involved in your property transaction you should pay close attention to the exchange rates you will be charged, as well as how long the transfer is likely to take and whether there are tax implications or clearances required.

With immediate effect, this Website will subscribe to the #PositiveFacebookPage criteria of no longer covering any negative reporting on issues.

We have unprecedented challenges ahead of us. This is NOT ABOUT SUGAR COATING community news but about playing a positive role in an unprecedented time of national crisis. This is now the calm before the storm and its time NOW to adjust our mids to what attitudes will help us all prevail till this has passed.

Let’s all embrace the need to share things responsibly and positively. Be a #PositiveFacebookPage and share humour share positive ideas and be a source for encouragement and inspiration.  We will.

Within a week everything so much changed! Like every business, real estate companies are scrambling to understand and make changes that are sure to be required due to the Coronavirus measures being implemented.

Here are seven common-sense measures all agents and sellers and buyers should follow for showhouses:

1. Buyers should view the property online first and shortlist those for viewing as opposed to randomly popping in to see properties they have no idea will or will not be suitable.
2. Buyers should consider not bringing children or additional members of the family on multi viewings. Of course, if a home is selected or shortlisted for a second viewing then a full family visit can be arranged where children are closely monitored.
3. On entry to the property, a warm welcome should not involve any handshake.
4. If there is a good attendance people should be asked and prepared to wait until there are fewer people inside the house doing a viewing – the fewer the better.
5. On entry to the property, a hand sanitiser should be used and if there is no alternative an appropriate spray wash and paper towel dry.
6. Buyers should be reminded to avoid touching anything – and doors to rooms should be left open for viewing and not closed. Door handles should be wiped with an appropriate product before and after the showhouse.
7. The agent should discuss related issues to the opening and the closing of the showhouse with the seller.

   Let’s talk and be sensible about solutions!

   Want to share an idea? Email: andre@capetownshowhouses.co.za

A new website www.CapeTownShowhouses.co.za has all the showhouses in all of Cape Town every Sunday with a focus on those in Cape Town’s Southern Suburbs and False Bay.  It also has a Showhouse Blog that will provide additional useful showhouse related information.

STBB Claremont has a useful guide to who pays for what in the transfer process that property buyers and sellers will find useful.  It is intended that the site will be expanded in the next few weeks to provide the most comprehensive showhouse resource available.

This week’s featured showhouse is in Glencairn Heights for R2 900 000.  The featured showhouses module has been exclusively secured by Chas Everitt International’s Cape Town South franchise for six months.

PLEASE SHARE THIS WITH FRIENDS ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Contrary to our earlier observations and statement we now have strong evidence to suggest that the potentially fatal Canine Parvo Virus (CPV) initially confined to the De Waal Park area of Cape Town CBD and limited to a tragic isolated incident has regrettably spread to a number of other neighbourhoods in the Southern Suburbs.

The virus is so potent that it is able to be carried and transmitted by unwitting 3rd party vectors on the soles of their shoes or clothing and it is a myth that it is confined to any specific sector of the community. All dogs and puppies are at risk regardless of demographics.

We subsequently urge all pet owners to vaccinate their pets and to be extra vigilant.

There are several affordable and practical bio-security precautionary measures that pet owners can take including dunking the soles of their shoes into a strong bleach solution to disinfect their shoes before entering their property and avoiding walking in areas frequented by potentially infected dogs (especially those areas where dog walkers tend not to pick-up their dogs faeces) until the situation normalises.

Worrying signs to look out for include diarrhoea (gastro type symptoms), listlessness, loss of appetite and lethargy.

Any dog or puppy displaying any of the above negative symptoms or that appears to be “off colour” should be seen by a veterinarian without delay.

An affordable snap-test will quickly confirm whether or not the pet has Parvo Virus.

Pet owners should also be aware that the virus can survive for many months on an infected property and are strongly discouraged from acquiring another dog or puppy for at least 6 months.

In one case brought to our attention yesterday, the distraught owner claims that her dog was fully vaccinated and never left their premises yet it contracted the virus. The dog is currently in Intensive Care fighting for its life at a Pinelands Vet. It is very likely that this unfortunate dog was unwittingly infected by one of the occupants of or visitors to the premises who must have walked in a contaminated area or come into contact with another infected dog.

Last year CPV claimed hundreds of dogs and puppies lives in the Garden Route, Khayelitsha and areas of the Cape Flats and required a Herculean effort to stop it from spreading and claiming more lives. To halt the spread of the virus in the Philippi Horticultural Area the Animal Welfare Society of SA in partnership with Carecube.org vaccinated over 500 vulnerable dogs and puppies owned by Philippi farm labourers and rolled out an educational campaign to educate owners about the necessity to vaccinate their pets. The legacy of this campaign is a massive reduction in the number of preventable dread diseases within the beneficiary community.

We see between 10 and 20 CPV cases every day. This is nothing exceptional. It is the tragic norm.

In almost all of these cases, the owners neglected to vaccinate their pets, had them vaccinated by a dubious person or bought them unvaccinated at a reduced price from unscrupulous breeders.

Heartbreakingly almost all of these pets have to be humanely euthanized to end their pain and suffering.

Anyone thinking of skimping on their pets primary veterinary care and animal husbandry is courting disaster.

– Animal Welfare Society of South Africa

#animalwelfare #parvovirus