The rising popularity of sectional title ownership
Sectional titles have become a staple in the real estate industry over the past decades. And with all the benefits that come with it, it makes sense. Heightened security, lower insurance costs on buildings and outdoor areas, shared maintenance costs with other owners, becoming part of a community, no cleaning the pool on Saturday mornings – it sounds like any […]
Buying a property in your 20s
The property market has been a more advantageous ground recently than it has been in the past few decades. Especially if you are a millennial, whose news feed keeps you updated on just about everything that goes on in the world, it’s not something that has gone unnoticed. This has brought the question of whether to purchase a house or to go […]
Buying or renting: Which is best?
The property market was labelled a buyer’s market for most of 2020. Even though the year proved to be disastrous in many respects, many factors were beneficial for property buyers. From the historically low interest rates and the adjustment of the property transfer threshold, to lowered property prices, the market opened its doors to buyers (at least figuratively speaking for most of the year due to lockdown regulations). Now at […]
The benefits of honesty in house-hunting
Estate agents play a vital role in the efficiency and ease of most real estate transactions. They are guides, advisers, companions, gurus, and partners to buyers, sellers, landlords and tenants alike. The strength of this relationship, however, is built on a foundation of open communication and transparency. When your estate agent is working off of lacklustre information, half-truths and muddled facts, the results […]
The facts of property auctions
Buying and selling properties through auction has always been a staple of the real estate market. And to this day, it remains one of the best ways to purchase properties at bargain prices. Unfortunately, numerous misconceptions around properties that go up for auction also exist, some of which are entirely unfounded and can be easily dispelled. “Only properties that have been repossessed by the bank go on auction.” Voluntary auctions are events where […]
Have you outgrown your current home?
Knowing when to move is not always as straight forward as one might think. At times, the need for a change is apparent and unavoidable, but other times, it grows over time and may even go unnoticed. Let’s have a look at a few of the biggest indications that it might be time to move house. Growing pains A […]
A walk through the Deeds Office
The deeds office is a vastly complex and daunting system to master. It takes conveyancers years to fully understand not only the process of conveyancing but also the internal workings of the office. This is a brief overview of the process we as conveyancers follow when we arrive at lodgement and beyond. Step 0: Instruction […]
Living in a mixed-use building: What to look out for
Even before the pandemic changed the way we see our home and work environments, with many finding for the first time that these two could be the same place, centrally located accommodation had already been taking the real estate world by storm. In international cities such as New York, London, and Paris, these all-in-one lifestyle centres have gained popularity over the years, with cities such as […]
Ensuring the well-being of the community
Finding the right home is not only about finding an architectural structure that meets your requirements (three bedrooms, sun in the afternoon, a yard for the dogs, access control for the kids, etc.). The search is as much about finding a community you want to become a part of. For many residents, the community that surrounds them is governed by an […]
Demystifying “non-refundable deposits”, “rouwkoop” and “penalty clauses” in sale of property agreements
1. Non-refundable or forfeiture clause Sellers are sometimes sold on the idea of including a non-refundable deposit clause in the Contract of Sale. More often than not, sellers are under the impression that they will be entitled to all of the non-refundable deposit or monies already paid to the conveyancer on account of the purchase […]