House hunting tips

> Is it dangerous?
Not dangerous, just looks untidy

> Not sure what you mean here?
Bottom part should have about 2 bricks showing before plaster starts when people renovate a house they go and plaster right to the ground. My experience has taught me that when you do this you then get water creeping up the plaster and causes the paint to flake off.

> This is the second of the two cottages - I guess its floor level is lower than the ground?
Yep and that means that the damp proofing is also lower than ground level. If the walls that is below ground level is not damp proofed then you can get water seepage.

> Not sure, wasn't mentioned. My gut feel would also be no!
Yeah first get owners permission to look up the plans at municipality and then go get a copy. Maybe you are in for a shock and it is actually approved.

> Thanks for your advice!
Pleasure.
 
cbrunsdonza said:
Stay away from thatch as it will increase your required home insurance. Its the once question that got asked everytime for both my house and bond insurance (?) if there is any thatch on the property. One insurance confirmed this would have increased my monthly premiums.
Click to expand...
That is the very reason I got rid of mine, dropped my premium with R300 odd, so 2 years and the replacement would have paid for itself.
 
Ok yeah, if plans are not passed on the extensions, then stay the fek away...

And biena picked up the water issues and rot that I hadn't in my first cursory glance.. they're bigger issues that will cost a lot to fix.

You say the house is listed at R1.75m? I would be suggesting that with the work required, an offer of R1.2 - R1.3m would be in range (given the premium put on their own properties of about 10%)
 
biena said:
29 can even name them all wrote everything down in a binder. Took about 3 months. Had some fail conditions if a house met any of them then I did not even go and see it, if an agent took me to one in any case then I just refused to waste my time looking (flat roof/thatch, big pool, adjacent complexes/open fields, on these I were not willing to budge. semi fail were plastered houses (I like the low maintenance of facebrick))
Click to expand...

Why is an adjacent complex bad?

Serious question for when I start to look.
 
biena said:
...

> Not sure what you mean here?
Bottom part should have about 2 bricks showing before plaster starts when people renovate a house they go and plaster right to the ground. My experience has taught me that when you do this you then get water creeping up the plaster and causes the paint to flake off.

...
Click to expand...

And now I learn't something new today. Was wondering why they did that yesterday with my house, thought it had to do with some styling from the 80's as I don't see it much on newer houses.
 
cbrunsdonza said:
And now I learn't something new today. Was wondering why they did that yesterday with my house, thought it had to do with some styling from the 80's as I don't see it much on newer houses.
Click to expand...

There are newer products that can combat the rising damp issue.... I have the rising damp issue at home, and I'm going to have to damp proof around the entire house to stop it. But I'm replastering anyway, so it will be done then.
 
1. Location location location.

2. Is the property in that area generally on the up in terms of value? I.e. good area, centrally located vis a vis schools, malls, access to highways, etc.
 
Of the two properties you've sent through now, the one in SilverPine LOOKS the best.. it still needs redecorating...

The one in Mostert looks like it has some random issues, like what the hell is that Green thing in the bathroom (looks like a rifle safe to me)
 
ToxicBunny said:
Of the two properties you've sent through now, the one in SilverPine LOOKS the best.. it still needs redecorating...

The one in Mostert looks like it has some random issues, like what the hell is that Green thing in the bathroom (looks like a rifle safe to me)
Click to expand...

I agree. It is a safe of some kind, just not sure what it supposed to hold.

The only thing I dont like about the silver pine one is that its bedrooms are a teensy bit small, but then I suppose I had just seen the Mostert house before that, which is enormous.

Also I find it a bit weird that the lounge does not open onto the pool. Its unusual.
 
EDIT: While you guys are at it, you want to look at some more?
http://www.sendspace.com/file/8bagz1
http://www.sendspace.com/file/q7bd3c
Click to expand...

Sure, I actually like doing this. Kind of fun.

96 Silverpine
DSCF2495.jpg here you see what I mean by the 2 bricks showing.
Looks like the kitchen sink was replaced or maybe painted ?
Love the vent holes that you have, closed doors and the rooms will not get stuffy. (don't often see them anymore)
Yeah bathrooms looks dated but very livable.
Place looks like they kept up the maintenance
Need photos from the back of the house and of the roof especially of the barge boards at the edges (looking for woodrot)
Pity about the huge pool, I actually like this place.

19 Mostert
lol @ safe in bathroom, don't bargain on storing documents/guns in there if it is not fireproof (moisture from showers/bath would love it)
wtf were they thinking in second bathroom (hey here is a narrow passage lets put in a toilet+shower+basin)
kitchen is usable but needs a redo, see lots of skew doors.
P1000805.jpg water problems, see the paint peeling in lower right
P1000806.jpg mmm lower left if that is paint bubbling up you have got major water problems
Big pool again /sigh
Approval for wendy house ?
Thatch also needs replacing, looks like the birds are taking it for nesting material
Place needs new paint on the outside.
Garage looks like it has a sink roof ? then probably an addition. (need to check the plans once again)
Yeah here I would stay away, I see too much damp at various places. Probably caused by the slope of the plot, also see that some of the paving was made into channels (P1000806.jpg) trying to channel water away from the house.
 
biena said:
Sure, I actually like doing this. Kind of fun.

96 Silverpine
DSCF2495.jpg here you see what I mean by the 2 bricks showing.
Looks like the kitchen sink was replaced or maybe painted ?
Love the vent holes that you have, closed doors and the rooms will not get stuffy. (don't often see them anymore)
Yeah bathrooms looks dated but very livable.
Place looks like they kept up the maintenance
Need photos from the back of the house and of the roof especially of the barge boards at the edges (looking for woodrot)
Pity about the huge pool, I actually like this place.

19 Mostert
lol @ safe in bathroom, don't bargain on storing documents/guns in there if it is not fireproof (moisture from showers/bath would love it)
wtf were they thinking in second bathroom (hey here is a narrow passage lets put in a toilet+shower+basin)
kitchen is usable but needs a redo, see lots of skew doors.
P1000805.jpg water problems, see the paint peeling in lower right
P1000806.jpg mmm lower left if that is paint bubbling up you have got major water problems
Big pool again /sigh
Approval for wendy house ?
Thatch also needs replacing, looks like the birds are taking it for nesting material
Place needs new paint on the outside.
Garage looks like it has a sink roof ? then probably an addition. (need to check the plans once again)
Yeah here I would stay away, I see too much damp at various places. Probably caused by the slope of the plot, also see that some of the paving was made into channels (P1000806.jpg) trying to channel water away from the house.
Click to expand...

Thanks! You guys could charge for this!

So what do you think about Silver Pine? Potentially good buy?

Pretty sure the garage is a recent addition - hows this, the house has two entrance gates. One for visitors and one for the owners. So, the second entrance gate was probably added later. Maybe they were having wild parties? EDIT: <- relates to Mostert, not silver pine.

The pool at Silver Pine is big, but in the context of the yard, its fine.
 
Last edited:
Chevron said:
Why is an adjacent complex bad?
Serious question for when I start to look.
Click to expand...
If you are a single homeowner and living next to a complex then whenever you have problems with neighbors you then need to deal with a body corporate, so what happens is the following scenario
Talk to owner
Owner shrugs and points to body corp
Body corp shrugs and points to owner
And you want to scream.

cbrunsdonza said:
And now I learn't something new today. Was wondering why they did that yesterday with my house, thought it had to do with some styling from the 80's as I don't see it much on newer houses.
Click to expand...
Newer houses have other product that did not exist in that age, but when people remodel they do it on the cheap and don't put a damp coat underneath before plastering down (that damp coat the stuff that works is freakish expensive R30k+ for this size house, and this R30k price I have in my head is from about 5 years back)

ToxicBunny said:
There are newer products that can combat the rising damp issue.... I have the rising damp issue at home, and I'm going to have to damp proof around the entire house to stop it. But I'm replastering anyway, so it will be done then.
Click to expand...
Yup see above.
 
Ancalagon said:
Thanks! You guys could charge for this!
Click to expand...
Oh the bill is coming don't you worry ;)

Ancalagon said:
So what do you think about Silver Pine? Potentially good buy?
Click to expand...
All depends on location and price, I do not know that area at all can only comment on what I see of the house itself.
Randburgh right ? Looking at the map you have a connection to the N1 not too far, Quite a few schools within a reasonable distance,[-] the one thing I am not finding is a shopping center that is close by.[/-] Nervermind that I see that Brightwater commons is pretty close and they seem to have what you need.
 
Last edited:
biena said:
All depends on location and price, I do not know that area at all can only comment on what I see of the house itself.
Randburgh right ? Looking at the map you have a connection to the N1 not too far, Quite a few schools within a reasonable distance,[-] the one thing I am not finding is a shopping center that is close by.[/-] Nervermind that I see that Brightwater commons is pretty close and they seem to have what you need.
Click to expand...

They are asking about R1.6m.

Yeah, Randburg. I think the closest shopping centre might be brightwater commons, if not that, then maybe Cresta.

I think I'll carry on looking for a bit. Its a nice option, but I must say, I'm not a massive fan of having everything in the front garden. The pool should be behind the house.
 
Ancalagon said:
They are asking about R1.6m.

Yeah, Randburg. I think the closest shopping centre might be brightwater commons, if not that, then maybe Cresta.

I think I'll carry on looking for a bit. Its a nice option, but I must say, I'm not a massive fan of having everything in the front garden. The pool should be behind the house.
Click to expand...

Hate it when services is not working, we could have seen what the city values the property at
http://www.joburg.org.za/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2291&Itemid=168

Found the correct url and it works Silver Pine is 2 word
http://coj.evaluations.co.za/VM_Public/Search.aspx

Valuation of municipality is R 1,260,000 and the size is 1502 sqm.
Keep in mind that the city valuation is most of the time lower than current market value. So that said 1.6 sound much too high I would say 1.3 - 1.4 at the most.

Actually a nice function on that site that list sales in that area, go have a look and drive past the previous sold properties to get a better feel for the value.
 
Last edited:
Yeah, also don't know the area too well.

Its close enough to some schools it seems, and easy access to freeway... the lack of a big shopping centre is not necessarily a bad thing, as long as there are smaller shops nearby (that aren't in brightwater commons)
 
One other thing that came to mind to consider is how easy the property would be to rent. Potentially you may want to leave the area or city, upgrade and want to keep it as an investment, etc.

Things to look into are the rent-to-buy ratio in the area, and the cost and complexity of maintenance (renters are generally not that good at maintaining unwieldy properties). In a down market you don't want to sell to move on if you can avoid it. So far I haven't sold any of my properties - just moved on and rented them out.
 
Don't live near poor people. So don't buy close to poor neighbourhoods.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X