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Stand on the shoulders of professional real estate giants

Welcome to the first edition of South African Real Estate INVESTOR magazine. Our mission is simple. We want to help people build personal wealth through property investment. We want to serve as a conduit to pass on the wealth of expertise from experienced individuals and investment groups. Their goal is to help investors make wise investments in residential and commercial property.

By Neale Petersen and Erina Botha

With hindsight Pierre van Wyk is kind of grateful that his childhood dream of becoming a Springbok rugby captain did not materialise. He thought he was well on his way when he was playing centre for the under-21 Falcons team. But a serious shoulder injury got him off track. Looking back, it turns out that misfortune in actual fact got him back on tra

By Leverne Gething and Erina Botha

Johannesburg (affectionately known as ‘Jozi’) is undoubtedly the powerhouse of the African Continent and generates nearly 20% of South Africa’s GDP. At just under 18km² in size Jozi’s inner city is the largest urban development zone (UDZ) in SA and its numerous precincts pose varying challenges in terms of inner-city regeneration. To give some idea of scale, pict

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Investment Hot Spots

By Erina Botha

Johannesburg Mayor Amos Masondo

Johannesburg Mayor James Masondo is leading the inner city revival and wants as many investors as possible to enjoy a piece of the pie.

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Property’s phenomenal leveraging power

By Dolf de Roos

By Erina Botha

A well-planned strategy is key to building a property portfolio that will create sufficient residual income for your needs. An important part of that strategy is to decide whether individual, company or trust ownership will best suit your purposes. It’s a decision you need to make before you acquire a property.

By Neale Petersen

You’ve decided to become a property investor. There will be many choices to make along the way. Do you want to invest in residential or commercial property, or both? Are you going to invest anywhere you can find a good buy, only in high growth areas, or in just one specific area? Are you also going to have a global approach and hedge yourself against the Rand? Do you want to invest hands-on or hands-off?

By Dolf de Roos

All over the world people are enthralled with the TV programme “Who wants to be a millionaire?” which was broadcasted in the UK, America, Australia and South Africa.

‘Weighing up’ buyers’ estate agents

A sole mandate from a seller is what most estate agents have in their sights. What you want in your sight is an estate agent who represents the needs of investors.

Sell-side and buy-side agents have a completely different approach to a sale. A good seller’s estate agent will concentrate on the lifestyle and emotional aspects of a residential property. They will note the beautiful kitchen, the modern bathroom, the stunning view

The law favours tenants – landlords need to protect themselves

In this second article in our series addressing the six main risks residential property investors face when managing their property portfolios, we consider legal risk and how investors can manage it.

Mortgages the bond origination way

Choice and real competitiveness in mortgage financing were ushered in with the advent of bond originators in 1998. Until that time when you approached a bank for mortgage financing, they pretty much laid down the terms and conditions of the loan. Your options were limited to taking it… or leaving it.

These days, you as a bond applicant have access to all mortgage providers from one point via a bond originator. Bond originators make finance exper

Stack the odds in your favour

You’ve done it! You’ve secured your first investment property. Now for the second half of the equation; you need to keep your property occupied to make the investment profitable. No matter how many properties you have, at this stage everyone faces this same challenge. However, there are steps you can take as an investor to stack the odds in your favour and keep your properties full.

Even with a brand new property, maintenance problems will soon arise. Keeping your end of the bargain increases your chances the tenants will keep theirs. If you choose to manage the property yourself rather than using a property manager, compile and maintain a list of reputable repairmen and contractors. It will save you and your tenant(s) time and frustration when something needs attention. 

Shop around for insurance and save up to 20%

Images of flood and fire damage flashing across our TV screens are a reminder to property investors to make sure they’ve got adequate insurance cover.

Shopping around for the best cover at the best price can save you up to 20% on your premiums, now that the National Credit Act (NCA) no longer allows banks to force you to sign up for their in-house property home owner’s cover (HOC) products. Should you experience any form of pressu

Team Hands-off Management

You’ve been managing your own small portfolio of income-producing properties. Your family assists you with the filing of your leases, income and expenses and other paperwork. And a bookkeeper comes in every once in a while to help you capture your income and expenses using the bookkeeping software suggested by your accountant. You’ve been advertising your vacancies and signing up tenants, after doing some credit checks – and using some gut feel.

First impressions matter

By  When it comes to the value of your property, first impressions matter. Most homebuyers decide whether or not to look inside a house or take it seriously based on its curb appeal – what they see when they drive by or arrive for a showing. Often the first look they get could be a picture on the internet and an unappealing picture is unlikely to attract good tenants or buyers. You can help make sure they get as far as the inside of your house by spending s

Take the stress out of selling Part I

It’s natural to be nervous when you’re selling your first property. But don’t let the experience turn you into a nervous wreck. Whether you’re selling the home you’re living in or you’re trading the first property you’ve bought and fixed, one of the best ways to calm your nerves is by learning from other people’s experience.

Our guidelines will help you determine the value of your property yourself

Does the retail sector offer opportunities for the smaller investor?

According to recent research findings by IPD (Investment Property Databank), retail property appears to be the best-performing commercial property sector, both long term and on a global basis. 

The data shows that over the long term retail property has outperformed all property – office, industrial, and residential. Over a 13-year period, the South African reta

Get a stake in booming Oz property market

Australia is roughly the size of the whole of Europe, and has just hit the 21 million population mark. Which would mean a lot of room per person, except for the fact that 80% of the population choose to live at the coast. It is not surprising then that Australia’s major cities – Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth and Brisbane – are all at the coast. Most South Africans who choose to live Down Under end up in Sydney (50%), Perth (30%