Home and House renovations


Guide to Building	back to home... Welcome to the Home Warehouse, Using the menu below, you will find an in-depth list of service providers and products within your area. These trusted Companies are the best in their areas of expertise and offers quality workmanship. Guide to Property Above you can find a professional estate agent in your area. Below we will look at different aspects of buying and selling. When you are in the market of either buying or selling, you have two options: You can do it on your own and deal with everything yourself or you can make use of a professional estate agent that will deal with everything. If you choose the 1st option, then there is only one website that I can recommend that will guide you through every process. Visit SA's busiest property website! Click Here If you choose the 2nd option, please make use of our menu above to find a professional estate agent in your area now. When you are looking to buy a new home, using the services of an estate agent can be very helpful. In fact we recommend you use the services of one, as they will advise you on all the aspects of buying a home. Just bear in mind that the seller usually hires the agent to sell his/her property, and therefore the agent is obligated to best represent the seller interest's. But don't let this concern you, as all agents are bound by law to deal fairly and ethically with both the buyer and seller, so working with a good agent can save you a lot of time and a lot of headaches. When you sell your home privately. You do not pay commission. This is the biggest advantage, people who sell their own homes receive by not hiring a real estate agent. Some agents charge a flat fee while others take a percentage of what the selling price is. By selling on your own, you could save anywhere from R20 000 to more than R80 000, depending on the value of your house. Home showings take place around your schedule. You can set up scheduled home showings and have open houses to fit the needs of your life, rather the needs of a real estate agent. Additionally, you know that you are home for the showings, and you do not have to worry about someone entering your house when you are not there.
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Buying - we recommend a bond originator What is a Mortgage/Bond Originator? As a bond originator, Betterbond�s function is to acquire home loan applications from estate agents and submit them to banks for approval and processing. We aim to source the best interest rate for you and also offer a free household removal quotation service for all Betterbond clients to make use of. However, Betterbond�s value proposition extends way beyond this. Betterbond has an array of value-added offerings available to you. Choice Restricted to the offering of a single bank, clients of bank mortgages have little choice of product, interest rates and credit terms. Once the interest rate is quoted, it is difficult and often intimidating for clients to negotiate with the bank and "shopping around" is time consuming. Betterbond arbitrage these products and credit criteria to the benefit of the client. Mega trends, such as consumerism, individuation and best advice, ensure the rapid adoption of this attribute of choice by clients. Convenience Though the banks have largely matched this attribute, Betterbond has national, mobile networks. Allowing the client to conclude without signing the application form has meant that the client no longer has to visit his or her branch and endure the queues, parking and security hassles which are so often associated with this visit. Betterbond concludes transactions over the phone or at a location of the client's convenience. Integrity The purpose of raising this attribute is not to make a judgement call on which institution, bank or originator, best portrays it but rather to posit that Betterbond as an originator, need only position equal trustworthiness for the client to feel confident to deal with them. This has proved fairly easy for Betterbond as we have recruited most of our sales and service personnel directly from the banks over the years. Clients value bank-trained consultants managing their home loan application. Negotiating Power As we have catapulted in size, it has been an obvious progression for Betterbond to claim the ability to negotiate better interest rate concessions from the banks for the "little guy". In turn, banks are channel agnostic when it comes to competing on interest rates. Betterbond contracts with banks on the basis that the latter will not apply preferential rates in their own channels e.g. branches, mobile sales forces and virtual platforms. One-Stop Service Common sense suggests that the Betterbond consultant could provide a one-stop service for the client, namely: home loan finance, life assurance, short-term insurance and bridging finance. However difficult this has proven to achieve in practice, Betterbond is positioning itself for this service and banks seem to be condoning or even encouraging the activity. Entrenched, this service would greatly enhance the image and stature of Betterbond. Electronic Submission Banks have encouraged the originators to submit digitally, using pricing incentives. Betterbond has obliged and the client has enjoyed the benefit in speed and efficiency. The banks, on the other hand, could engineer seamless, paperless processing. In these integrated systems, the banks could allow Betterbond to access such facilities as their credit scoring and valuation technology to make the process even more efficient. The Process - step by step Calculate now You can use calculators offered by all the banks to work out various bond repayment scenarios. You can calculate the maximum bond you qualify for based on your monthly income, the costs involved in buying a property and many other calculations. A home loan pledge or pre-approved finance guarantees you the maximum amount that they are prepared to lend you. The pledge is issued subject to normal credit approval. It is valid for six months from the date of issue. Should it expire, you must apply for a new one. House-hunting Once you have decided how much you can afford to buy for, you need to determine what you are looking for in a home. Sign offer to purchase Once you have decided on the property you would like to buy, you will need to complete an Offer to Purchase document. This document is sometimes also known as an agreement of sale or deed of sale. Basically, it is a written agreement, stating the terms and conditions under which you agree to the buying and selling of the property. Offer to Purchase Seller accepts offer The offer to purchase has to be negotiated. It is advisable to note which fixtures and fittings that will form part of the sale. All the permanent fixtures and fittings such as light fittings, carpets, tiles, curtain rails and pelmets, and built-in cupboards, are included in the sale unless the buyer and seller agree otherwise. Any movable items included in the sale must be negotiated between the buyer and seller. Once you have negotiated the offer, the seller will accept the offer to purchase. Approach a Mortgage Originator or Bank for a home loan You will need to provide a copy of the offer to purchase that you and the seller signed before they can finalise the approval process. They will confirm requirements Once they have the offer to purchase, they will do a final credit evaluation Property valuation They will carry out an assessment of the property before approving the loan Decision taken They will decide whether to grant you a loan taking into consideration your income and credit standing. They will also assess the property. Letter of grant A letter of grant will be sent to you, the estate agent and the branch that notifies you that your loan has been approved. Registration attorney instructed to register the bond A registration attorney is appointed to attend to the registration of your bond. You sign the necessary documents at the attorney's office and pay the relevant costs You will be requested to sign all the necessary documents at your attorney's office. The transfer and bond registration fees must be paid in full before the bond is registered in your name at the deeds office. Extra loan cover can be taken for these fees. Documents sent to deeds office for registration in your name Once all fees are paid in full the documents are sent to the deeds office Home loan registered in buyer's name at deeds office by registering attorney Registration attorney confirms registration Seller's bond is cancelled and settled Funds paid to relevant parties The amount you owe will be shown on your home loan account They will confirm your instalments in writing They will confirm your installments as well as once-off payments. Your first monthly instalment is due within 30 days of registration date Your repayment is due 30 days after the property is registered in your name. For convenience, arrange for a debit order to be put in place so that your home loan instalment is paid on time each month For building loans: your first instalment is due within 30 days after 90% of the loan is paid out or on occupation. Attorney sends title deed and mortgage bond documents to them for safekeeping And guess what..... you are the owner of your new home! Well not quite, it still belongs to the bank unfortunately, until you have paid for it. Selling One of the main reasons why a property doesn't sell or takes a long time to sell is because it is priced too high. If you are considering selling your home you may be wondering how to settle on an asking price for your property. Pricing to sell Pricing your property realistically at a market-related price is one of the most important factors for a successful sale. Buyers shop for a home by comparing your home to other properties on the market - both in terms of price, position and what the property has to offer. Starting with a realistic asking price creates a demand and allows you to maintain your negotiating advantage. It is important to remember that price is the main negotiating factor for your buyer and that the first impression makes all the difference. The pitfalls of over-valuation are that unrealistic pricing results in over-exposure and prospective buyers are quickly lost. If you receive little or no interest in your property there is a good chance that your price is too high with the danger being that your property may become stale. This wastes valuable marketing time, creates much stress and ultimately if the sale becomes urgent you may end up accepting an offer at a much lower price. If you are deciding whether to sell privately or use an estate agent you should always be careful of an unscrupulous agent promising you an unrealistic price. They may want your sole mandate so might be telling you what you want to hear. While we are on the topic of a sole mandate, let me give you my opinion. Sole Mandate Take the following in consideration. When you try and sell your house through 3 agents, the following will probably happen. They will not spend any money on marketing, because the other agents might get the deal. They will come to you with every offer, hoping you will take it, to get the sale before the other agents do. I feel in the case where you give an agent the sole mandate to selling your property, they will spend the extra buck to sell the house and try and get an higher price as well. That is just my opinion. Pricing to sell cont...... It is advisable to stick to one method of marketing your home. If you choose to sell privately through Private Property then give it at least two months before exploring other avenues. Marketing your home through a number of channels can end up giving buyers mixed messages, which is something you should definitely avoid. Your first offer is often your best offer. Be careful not to assume your property is under-priced. In many cases early offers are turned down and sellers eventually end up selling for less. Tips for helping you establish the price of your property Online valuation tool Many people rely on an estate agent to guide them, but what do you do if you have decided to sell privately? If you decide to sell your home privately through Private Property, a consultant will provide you with a comparative market valuation to help you establish what price to market your property at. This includes a SPI (Sold Price Index) report, which is Deeds office information, as well as data on properties in the street or area that have recently been sold through Private Property. Click Here to join Private Property For a small fee of R34 per report, which can be paid online using your credit card you can select one or more of these reports: Street History, Suburb Transfers, Suburb Proclaimed Town Transfers and Sectional Title Scheme Report. These reports only give you information on properties that have already been sold. They do not give you a breakdown of the property features, but are useful in helping you establish what properties in your suburb, street or complex have recently sold for. You would need to match this information with your knowledge of the area and the research you have done on similar properties that are currently on the market. In other words, compare attributes that the property has to others on the market. By using this and other information in the report, you will be able to gauge the current market value of similar properties in the area, so that you don't overprice a property you want to sell or pay too much if you are buying. Local knowledge Local knowledge of the area is a useful starting point and it is helpful to begin by comparing the property you are interested in to other similar properties in the area. Look at newspapers, property magazines and property websites to get some idea of what the asking prices are for homes with similar features in the same area. Visit show houses in the area to gauge how similar properties on the market compare. Another good way to determine a market-related price for a particular property would be if you identified five properties for sale in your area with similar features and compared the asking price. Somewhere in the middle or slightly below would be a good place to start in setting the price. Added value features Identify the distinguishing features that the property you are interested in has, such as four bedrooms, a flatlet, brand new kitchen, study and so on. Then look at what the property offers that could be considered to offer 'extra value'. All these 'extra' features can be assigned a monetary value. For example, what would it cost to add on a fourth bedroom and third bathroom? What would it cost to build on a study or add on an entertainment area? With a general market slowdown in progress it is even more important to make sure that you price your property right the first time. John Loos of FNB Property Finance says that the second quarter FNB Property Barometer indicates that 75% of homes are currently being sold below their asking price and that the average time it takes to sell a house is now 10 weeks. So do your research, get to know your local area, and when you put your property on the market make sure the price is realistic.
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What is a Mortgage/Bond Originator?