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.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Saturday, September 26, 2009
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.
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.
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.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Trouble in the CBD
The Stress at Colosseum continues….
We were using the services of Cephas Iredia to assist us with getting tenants for Colosseum. It turned out to be more trouble than it was worth.
We have disassociated ourselves with him; we have found that he has been putting tenant into units in his own capacity with out telling the landlords (on other occasions collecting money into a Standard Bank account in the name of LT Dude). We have discussed the problem with the agent from City Bridge and have formally disassociated ourselves with him. We will do all that we can to see that if there are any units with a problem, they are rectified.
As there are a number of letting agents finding tenants for landlords it is had to know what units have been let and what units should still be vacant, we would like to request that you please check and see that there is no one staying in your unit.
City Bridge is no longer giving Keys out to letting agents; the landlords are to be required to sign. This is to help eliminate the problem of unauthorized having access to the unit.
We were using the services of Cephas Iredia to assist us with getting tenants for Colosseum. It turned out to be more trouble than it was worth.
We have disassociated ourselves with him; we have found that he has been putting tenant into units in his own capacity with out telling the landlords (on other occasions collecting money into a Standard Bank account in the name of LT Dude). We have discussed the problem with the agent from City Bridge and have formally disassociated ourselves with him. We will do all that we can to see that if there are any units with a problem, they are rectified.
As there are a number of letting agents finding tenants for landlords it is had to know what units have been let and what units should still be vacant, we would like to request that you please check and see that there is no one staying in your unit.
City Bridge is no longer giving Keys out to letting agents; the landlords are to be required to sign. This is to help eliminate the problem of unauthorized having access to the unit.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
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/
More... http://www.joburg.org.za/content/view/4050/266/
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
July News Letter
Good Morning Investors
It has been quiet a biting winter, those of us with tenants in our units have not felt the cold as much as those who are looking, June/ July is always a quite time for landlords. Things have not been that quite on our side,
We have refined the way that we are looking after CBD units, with a big emphasis on our staff training. There have been one or two complaints about our agents not giving you, the landlord, the service you deserve.
Our business is to look after your unit so that you don’t have to worry about it. Our agents are paid for taking care of your needs, your feed back is very important to us. Our agents are aware that if we have any landlords that are not happy it is an opportunity for us to solve the issue; we are on hand to remove tat stress.
We are very excited about the CBD and believe that our landlords will see the rewards for there bold move. Despite the global financial crises our CDB’s have shown some resilience, with modest but steady rental growth across all of the major metropolises. In the first quarter of 2009, rental growth in Johannesburg 6%. In the other metropolises such as Durban (9%), Port Elizabeth (7%), Cape Town (6%) and Pretoria (5%), rental growth was also been slightly effected by rising vacancies
Given consumer inflation of 8, 4% for the first quarter of 2009 and real rental growth declined across the country we are still doing ok.
For those of you that don’t feel comfortable coming into town into the thick of the action, the next best thing is see it and hear it for yourself – on video. Get the City news, feel the Jozi vibe through these live action film clips. Read more
Lets not forget the 2010 Soccer, we are current perusing some options and will inform you of our progress so that we can arrange leases accordingly.
More than 55 000 soccer fans are yet to book accommodation for the 2010 Soccer World Cup and Seeff Properties and football icon Gary Bailey have joined forces in an innovative joint venture that will see South African property owners score by letting their homes to alleviate the crisis. Read more
It has been quiet a biting winter, those of us with tenants in our units have not felt the cold as much as those who are looking, June/ July is always a quite time for landlords. Things have not been that quite on our side,
We have refined the way that we are looking after CBD units, with a big emphasis on our staff training. There have been one or two complaints about our agents not giving you, the landlord, the service you deserve.
Our business is to look after your unit so that you don’t have to worry about it. Our agents are paid for taking care of your needs, your feed back is very important to us. Our agents are aware that if we have any landlords that are not happy it is an opportunity for us to solve the issue; we are on hand to remove tat stress.
We are very excited about the CBD and believe that our landlords will see the rewards for there bold move. Despite the global financial crises our CDB’s have shown some resilience, with modest but steady rental growth across all of the major metropolises. In the first quarter of 2009, rental growth in Johannesburg 6%. In the other metropolises such as Durban (9%), Port Elizabeth (7%), Cape Town (6%) and Pretoria (5%), rental growth was also been slightly effected by rising vacancies
Given consumer inflation of 8, 4% for the first quarter of 2009 and real rental growth declined across the country we are still doing ok.
For those of you that don’t feel comfortable coming into town into the thick of the action, the next best thing is see it and hear it for yourself – on video. Get the City news, feel the Jozi vibe through these live action film clips. Read more
Lets not forget the 2010 Soccer, we are current perusing some options and will inform you of our progress so that we can arrange leases accordingly.
More than 55 000 soccer fans are yet to book accommodation for the 2010 Soccer World Cup and Seeff Properties and football icon Gary Bailey have joined forces in an innovative joint venture that will see South African property owners score by letting their homes to alleviate the crisis. Read more
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