Things to look for when considering a property

Some great comments here, to add:
I paid someone (many companies out there) around R2k a while ago to do a pre inspection report prior to signing. They provided close to a 100 pages report with pictures of all their checks including faults and estimates to correct. They also utilised infrared etc to check moisture levels/damp. All houses will have issues but its the structural ones that are deal breakers in my opinion. Obviously, you cannot do the above for every house you see and need owners permission to do so beforehand which can be tricky (many cite security concerns).

In addition, and with the land issues at the moment I would rather purchase in a well built city far away from large vacant land, and ideally in a secure estate.
 
saturnz said:
I will never sell my flat for a house, the maintenance on free standing properties is just too much.
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I for one cannot wait to get out of my flat. The levies are too much, and instead of maintaining just my own properties, I need to do 35 other ones as well. A nightmare!
 
Wide said:
Some great comments here, to add:
I paid someone (many companies out there) around R2k a while ago to do a pre inspection report prior to signing. They provided close to a 100 pages report with pictures of all their checks including faults and estimates to correct. They also utilised infrared etc to check moisture levels/damp. All houses will have issues but its the structural ones that are deal breakers in my opinion. Obviously, you cannot do the above for every house you see and need owners permission to do so beforehand which can be tricky (many cite security concerns).

In addition, and with the land issues at the moment I would rather purchase in a well built city far away from large vacant land, and ideally in a secure estate.
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Great tip, thank you!

If I wanted to look up such a company, what terms would I put into Google?
 
newby_investor said:
I for one cannot wait to get out of my flat. The levies are too much, and instead of maintaining just my own properties, I need to do 35 other ones as well. A nightmare!
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I have super cheap and fast internet because we collectively bought an uncontended line straight from the ISP, a 10 minute walk away.

and many other benefits, but yeah my BC is relatively healthy compared to other stories I've heard, but thats a long discussion
 
saturnz said:
I have super cheap and fast internet because we collectively bought an uncontended line straight from the ISP, a 10 minute walk away.

and many other benefits, but yeah my BC is relatively healthy compared to other stories I've heard, but thats a long discussion
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Indeed. It's undeniable that there are benefits. But there are also drawbacks.

The wife (and kids) want a garden, I want to be able to put up solar panels. I also don't want to deal with semi-constant plumbing problems (my fault for being a trustee I suppose, but I also don't trust the other owners to manage the BC's finances by themselves). So at this stage in my life a flat isn't really a fit for me.
 
newby_investor said:
Indeed. It's undeniable that there are benefits. But there are also drawbacks.

The wife (and kids) want a garden, I want to be able to put up solar panels. I also don't want to deal with semi-constant plumbing problems (my fault for being a trustee I suppose, but I also don't trust the other owners to manage the BC's finances by themselves). So at this stage in my life a flat isn't really a fit for me.
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yeah look my point was that I wouldn't sell my flat, I don't know all the nuances of your situation

but just based on what you have stated, you can still live in a house where you rent, and the landlord incurs the maintenance expense, and you let out the flat and the levy becomes tax deductible

a flat is more liquid than a free standing house, especially in a good location
 
saturnz said:
yeah look my point was that I wouldn't sell my flat, I don't know all the nuances of your situation

but just based on what you have stated, you can still live in a house where you rent, and the landlord incurs the maintenance expense, and you let out the flat and the levy becomes tax deductible

a flat is more liquid than a free standing house, especially in a good location
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I've rented and owned both houses and flats at various stages. Right now house ownership is definitely for me. Yes, I could rent and have the owner take care of the maintenance but then I'd have to get his permission and / or wait for him to get anything done.

Property, largely because it is highly leveraged, is generally a really good investment too. This is a point one can't ignore. I've recently sold my house to buy a new one and made a healthy profit over the 8 years or so that I've owned it.
 
saturnz said:
yeah look my point was that I wouldn't sell my flat, I don't know all the nuances of your situation

but just based on what you have stated, you can still live in a house where you rent, and the landlord incurs the maintenance expense, and you let out the flat and the levy becomes tax deductible

a flat is more liquid than a free standing house, especially in a good location
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It's true, I did consider that. The problem is that I would need to sell in order to be able to afford a place that I want. My salary isn't high enough to cover a 100% bond on a R2M house which is what I'm looking at right now.

I hadn't really considered renting but I suspect the problem might extend there. My brother has rented a few different places and always had hassles with landlords not doing maintenance on time. It puts me off.

If I weren't thinking of staying more than 3 years or so I'd probably rent but I want to settle down for the long term, and make a home of it.
 
Mista_Mobsta said:
Just to add - if roof is pitched, climb into the ceiling space and check for any mould/ripped plastic/dodgy electrical cables etc etc. Went to look at a fairly decent place in Pta East lately - climbed into the roof space and immediately told the wife it's a no-go!
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Yeah that's good advice, had to redo my roof and add the plastic back as it was all ripped. That apparently helps stabilize wind from lifting roof tiles
 
newby_investor said:
It's true, I did consider that. The problem is that I would need to sell in order to be able to afford a place that I want. My salary isn't high enough to cover a 100% bond on a R2M house which is what I'm looking at right now.
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this is not really a problem, many ways to skin a cat

newby_investor said:
I hadn't really considered renting but I suspect the problem might extend there. My brother has rented a few different places and always had hassles with landlords not doing maintenance on time. It puts me off.
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I have a maintenance schedule and budget allocation for maintenance that I make available to the tenant so that we understand what to expect.

newby_investor said:
If I weren't thinking of staying more than 3 years or so I'd probably rent but I want to settle down for the long term, and make a home of it.
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there is a rule good landlords live by- look after good tenants
 
Lupus said:
Yeah that's good advice, had to redo my roof and add the plastic back as it was all ripped. That apparently helps stabilize wind from lifting roof tiles
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The plastic in my roof has all degraded. That's what the heat does. You need to ensure your tiles/roof are/is in good condition. All that plastic does is try and make any leaks run off somewhere else. If you need to rely on the underlying plastic, it means your real defence against outside weather conditions is faulty.
 
saturnz said:
but just based on what you have stated, you can still live in a house where you rent, and the landlord incurs the maintenance expense, and you let out the flat and the levy becomes tax deductible
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But, duh, you are also still responsible for the internal maintenance expenses of the flat you let out.

Edit: And while the levy is tax deductible, you have to declare your rental income. *cough*
 
Splinter said:
The plastic in my roof has all degraded. That's what the heat does. You need to ensure your tiles/roof are/is in good condition. All that plastic does is try and make any leaks run off somewhere else. If you need to rely on the underlying plastic, it means your real defence against outside weather conditions is faulty.
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That's why we had to redo the roof :( lifted broken tiles, the plastic degraded and a few other issues.
 
Lupus said:
That's why we had to redo the roof :( lifted broken tiles, the plastic degraded and a few other issues.
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I don't know who you had as a contractor, but the underlying plastic has absolutely nothing to do with the tiles.
 
Lupus said:
That's why we had to redo the roof :( lifted broken tiles, the plastic degraded and a few other issues.
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Lets put it this way - the reason I know about roofing and tiles is because I had a big leak that caused thousands of rands of damage.
 
Splinter said:
But, duh, you are also still responsible for the internal maintenance expenses of the flat you let out.

Edit: And while the levy is tax deductible, you have to declare your rental income. *cough*
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well ofcourse you can only deduct the levy expense from the rental income Captain Obvious
 
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