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.

The Gloss is Back on Braamies

STUDENT accommodation, yuppie lofts, shiny corporate buildings, restaurants and night clubs, all underlined by the efforts of the City and private sector, are bringing the vibe back to Braamfontein.
More... http://www.joburg.org.za/content/view/4050/266/

Gautrain CBD

Gautrain enters Joburg with a bang

Some 350 kg of explosives was used in the demolition of a block of buildings in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, to make way for the construction of an underground parking area for the Gautrain rapid rail link at Park Station.

How well do you know Braamfontein

The name Braamfontein dates from at least as early as 1853, when this farm to the north-west of Randjeslaagte belonged to Gert Bezuidenhout. In that year he applied to the government to have his farm surveyed. Barely five years later, in 1858, Gert sold his farm to FJ Bezuidenhout.
Like so many farms on the Witwatersrand, Braamfontein was subdivided early on, indicating a fairly dense population in the area. Two other Bezuidenhouts, Gerhardus Petrus and Cornelis Willem, each purchased one third of the farm in 1862, and a third part went to Frans Johannes van Dijk. Between 1862 and 1886 different portions were further subdivided, at escalating prices.
Three other well-known owners were Johannes Jacobus Lindeque, who in 1884, bought a section where the Country Club was established in 1906, and Frans Eduard and Louwrens Geldenhuys, both personalities in Afrikaner circles in Johannesburg.
The first suburb established on the farm Braamfontein in 1888-1889 was unofficially named after the farm, in reality being an official extension of Johannesburg proper. Today this area is still called Braamfontein. There was, however, an earlier but unsuccessful effort to create a suburb prior to this.
Source: Early Johannesburg: Its Buildings and Its People