Once the elation of buying a new home has worn off, the reality of the monumental task of relocating all your belongings from one residence to the next can be rather daunting. With all the packing and planning that comes with such a change, it can be easy to forget to do essential tasks that are necessary for the change of address.

According to Jan Myburgh, General Manager of Harcourts Real Estate South Africa,
“Moving houses is far more complex than simply packing your possessions into boxes and sending them to the new property. A useful tip to those planning on moving in the future is to work from a ‘Moving Checklist’. A methodical weekly checklist will help to establish everything that needs to be done before the big day arrives. ”

Examples of important tasks that should be done well in advance are things such as the…

As one would give their appearance more attention than usual when going for an interview, one’s home deserves the same attention when preparing to show it to potential buyers. In effect, this viewing closely resembles an interview and therefore the property has only one opportunity to make a good first impression. With an estimated 50% of property sold before the potential buyer even enters the home, this first impression had better count.

According to Jan Myburgh, General Manager of Harcourts South Africa, “Our agency has some simple presentation tips that we feel are beneficial to share with clients when putting their homes on the market. By following these useful guidelines it will ensure that their home is presented to its best advantage, which will ultimately lead to its successful sale.”

As the exterior is the first contact that the potential buyer will have with the home, this area needs…

In the not too distant past property in South Africa was considered a gem, with the years between 2004- 2008 seeing the doubling of property values. Property was in great demand, with many people even moving out of rural areas and looking to purchase homes within cities. However, the recent years have resulted in a dramatic change within the property market and it is interesting to find out whether buying property is still a good investment.

Glancing over property trends from the past twenty years, it has been filled with fluctuations- increases in price have been followed by decreased prices, and visa versa. At present, the global recession has resulted in people having less disposable income which has affected investment opportunities. The introduction of the National Credit Act (NCA) has also made it significantly harder for people to be granted bonds.

Current trends in the market reflect that the percentage…

Not satisfied with your home as it stands, and seriously thinking about renovating? It is completely understandable to have visions of your home with a remodelled state-of-the-art kitchen or a newly revamped Moroccan-inspired patio. Such thoughts may have you scrambling to the bank and spending thousands of your hard-earned money on excessive alterations to your property. However, homeowners should take some important aspects into serious consideration before jumping head first into preparations for a new and improved home.

Firstly, the most important thing that needs to be determined is whether the property that the homeowner is going to be spending large amounts of money on is actually worth the expense. At this stage, the selling of the house – in order to find a more suitable one- should be put up for discussion. Once the decision to remain in the house has been made, homeowners need to ask themselves three…

Wanting to sell your own home and avoid paying the high cost of commission to an estate agent? It sounds like a great plan, but think again…There are a number of challenges that should be considered when partaking on this much-harder than anticipated endeavour and when all has been said, it appears that the benefits of using an agent far out-weigh the commission fee at the end of the day.

There is far more than meets the eye when selling a home privately. “The first challenge right from the very start is establishing a price at which to sell the property. With no experience in this field, little knowledge of what similar homes in the same area are going for and lacking objectivity on the matter- this first obstacle is a tough one to tackle” comments Richard Gray, CEO of Harcourts South Africa.

Outlining some of the major…

Deciding to give a sole mandate to a real estate agent may be a tough decision to make as a home-seller. Giving the exclusive responsibility of selling ones property to a single agent may be a difficult concept to wrap one’s head around. However if the seller is equipped with the right know how there are many benefits in choosing this option…

In opting to use a mandate, the home-owner is entitled to reward commission to the specific agent, if the property is sold within the specified number of days declared within the mandate. “When entering into this legal contract between seller and estate agent, the seller needs to bear in mind that the mandate does not guarantee the sale of the property, it should rather be regarded as a commitment from the agent to perform at the highest standards and exhaust all resources in the pursuit to sell your…