Bridgeview News

On the 27th September 2009 at approximately 04h36, there was an incident of break-in on site.
The control room received a panic signal from Bridgeview and the armed reaction officer was dispatched with a back up. On their arrival, they made contact with the guard Alain G2119 and Bongani G1993 and
they have arrested two guys that had broken into unit 323 and stole 2 laptops, they broke the window and gained access into the unit. The police were called and the suspects were taken away by the police.

The landlord's responsibility is to ensure that the property is in a reasonable good condition

Question
 
My new tenant complained that a switch wasn't working and insisted I bring in an electrician. The electrician told me the tenant hadn't turned on the switch. Who pays the call out fee in a case like this?

Me or the tenant? Can I deduct this amount from the deposit?

Answer

The landlord's responsibility is to ensure that the property is in a reasonable good condition to live in before letting it out, says Mike Spencer, Realestateweb.co.za guest columnist.

The tenant is responsible for keeping it in good order. If the tenant fails to turn on the electricity switch and gets the landlord to call an electrician, the tenant must therefore pay for the call out. Spencer says the landlord ought to send the tenant an account and insist the tenant pays it.

My advice for landlords is not to deduct it from their deposits because when they move out, and there is not enough funds in the deposit to cover the outstanding repairs or unpaid rental, it becomes a problem for the landlord, says Spencer.

He adds that landlords should always have a written lease that sets out clearly the responsibilities of the tenant. The landlord can also let out the property through a good managing agent who will have list the tenant's responsibilities in the lease and would ensure that the landlord fixes what they should and the tenant does what is expected of them.

Extensive checks should be done on prospective tenants before a property is let out to them. Get rid of problem tenants as soon as possible, he says.

Spencer says it is important for a landlord to inspect the property together with a tenant when they move in or move out. This will assist the landlord in cases where the tenant asks the landlord to fork out money for a call out when in fact they were at fault in the first place. He says a landlord should make a note of all repairs attended to during the course of the lease. -denise@realestateweb.co.za

 

Develop a network

Experienced landlords find their properties in a variety of ways. Some hunt for foreclosures, making friends with city hall clerks or bank employees who know which properties are about to be sold. Some run ads in local newspapers. Others work with real estate agents who keep their eyes peeled for possible buys.

 

Regards,

BRUCE THOMSON

Blue Label Real Estate Solutions
2 Ashley Lane Rivonia 2028 South Africa
Cell 083 262 3867 Fax 086 660 0969

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Some Rules to Investing in Property

If you know what you looking for you can still make “serious money” in residential property, say property experts.“There is no more money for nothing and investors will have to relearn the traditional investment rules,” said Andrew Schaefer, MD of property management company, Trafalgar.

Reasonably priced properties (that are good value for money) are becoming more difficult to find and require a lot of legwork, adds Anton de Leeuw, CEO of YDL property educationalists.

Here are five golden rules to finding them:

Long-term investment. Property is traditionally a long-term investment and you should focus on building your wealth over decades, rather than months or years, reckoned Schaefer.If you take the long view and see property as a conservative, steady, income investment then short-term fluctuations in the market should not concern you too much, maintained de Leeuw.

Property players warn of get-rich-quick property schemes offering returns that are too good to be true. Income not capital growth. Concentrate on income rather than capital growth. “Having a piece of land is not wealth but having steady income from a portfolio of flats is,” he explained. Investors underestimate how important cash flow is - it is one of the most important rules, said De Leeuw.

Don’t rush. Slowly accumulate a low-risk portfolio reckons Schaefer. “The days are over when you could make quick money by buying off plan - prices aren’t rising by 30% a year anymore and you must take your time”, he added.

Specialise. Choose a niche and become an expert in it. Schaefer advises investors to choose a city suburb or even a street of shops and flats. “The property market is imperfect because information is not easily available so you can quickly dominate your chosen territory.”Educated investors will know that the property market is not one uniform mass of houses and buildings – it is made up of thousands of local markets, each with its own characteristics, maintained De Leeuw.

Bigger is not always better. A home with a big bond is not an investment, warns Schaefer. “People tend to buy bigger houses and take on bigger bonds as their jobs improve but this just means paying larger monthly instalments,” he said. It will make far more sense to live in a smaller house and invest in buy-to-let properties with tax-deductible bond payments, reckoned Schaefer. But, he added, you can use your house to a limited extent to raise a deposit to buy an investment property.

RentSure - Great News

Rentsure is one of the greatest companies to hit the CBD. We are in the process of working with Rentsure. One of there requirements is that your tenant signs a debit order. We are still sorting that issue out with our bank. Once our banking items are fixed we will be partnering with them and offering this insurance to our landlords.

Keeping At It - Colosseum

We are having a rough time find tenants for the Colosseum. Our biggest hurdle seems to be that Landlords have let their units out for R2500 and the tenants have got this as their bench mark.

Two new developments have been completed in the area and this over supply is also putting pressure on the rentals. We are aware of the frustration of not having a tenant and the financial stress that it causes.

Colosseum Electrical Challenges

We were seeing a problem with the electricity bills for a lot of our owners.

We have had a long chat with Trafalgar to find out what is the problem with the electrical accounting.

The Colosseum was converted from a high-end commercial building into residential, much of the mechanical and electrical services have been carried over into the new building.

The buildings electricity charge needs to cover the (1) consumption of the unit, (2) there is a portion boiler and (3) for the airflow (ventilation)


This meant that each unit will have a charge:

• Metered consumption for your unit;
• A portion of the boiler charge & the airflow consumption servicing the units’ floor;

The dilemma is that even if the unit is vacant these charges will be raised on the invoice.

The one advantage is that there is a possibility that we can attempt to pass these charges onto the tenant.

It just seems to be one thing after the next with this building, this development has really upset a lot of landlords and we hope that it does not leave a sour taste in their bank accounts for too long. Once the building is full we will start to see a positive increase in the rents.