Did You Know ???

When buying a home for the first time you need to check all details on the offer to purchase:
* The description of the property
* The purchase price as agreed upon
* The Estate agents Commission is inline with what was agreed upon
* If you are a deposit, the deposit must be held in an interest-bearing trust account - and you get the interest.

AIP - Approval in Principle

I re-read the article that was posted yesterday about "My first home loan" and realised that it was kinda like reading an article about the latest computer technology available. "You know the latest MP3 trends in Audio Visual technology is the MPEG4 format which is compatible with most converters.... WHAT?!? "

So lets elaborate on some of that mortgage/bank jargon that we've heard before but been to afraid to ask about:

abbreviation: AIP
Approval in Principle

An approval in principle is a confirmation from the banks (that you applied to for your bond) saying that IF you are clear as a client and all credit checks come through clear PLUS your salary has been verified with your current employer, that the banks "in principle" are happy with granting you a bond. This is the first step in the bond process.

Buying my first property!

We managed to get Storm Diss to write an article for us about her experience purchasing a house with regards to the bond application. I think that the way in which it is written will probably answer alot of peoples questions and will be alot more useful than putting some silly little How-To document together.

Article By Storm Diss:
"The best feeling in the world is to be a proud owner of your first house or apartment. It's nerve wrecking but when dealing with the best bond originator, who puts your mind at ease, it's an absolute pleasure.

The bond application was submitted to the all the banks(ABSA, Nedbank, Standard Bank or FNB) by the bond originator with all the supporting documents. Supporting documents consist of the following: A copy of your ID, your latest payslip and 3 months bank statements. The bond then takes 5 - 7 days to be fully granted. By day 3 I had an approval in principle status back from your originator which is subject to a satisfactory valuation of the property. The banks then sent out an assessor to assess the property.

Once the valuation of my property was successful with ABSA bank, they had to approve the final bond application. All instructions were then sent through to the attorneys who drew up all the relevent documents for us to sign. Once this is complete the bond application goes through to the deeds office which was then registered in our names. The entire process took about 2 months. The key point is to have a very good attorney (I can reccomend one if needed), this helps speed up the process.

My first bond experience was very exciting and pleasant. Thanks to Wizard Midrand for always making mortgage magic!!"

Introducing Bruna "The Queen" - FINALLY!

Hi 'world'...

I'm the 'mature' member of this home loan family, why, cause I'm the eldest and the dumbest when it comes to technology...but....dont underestimate this "Queen"!
I pump with ideas in the home loan industry and with the clothing business that I run as a sideline.

What is it about me that makes me different...?

I was born in Italy in a small village called Ripatransone,whose claim to fame is that it has the smallest street in Italy and the best food, wine and oil, hence.. I am obsessed about using 'the best' ingredients when cooking. Family dinners are the best time of my day and they mean the world to me.
I love life and the mystery that life is and things like meditation make sense to me and form part of my life.

Stay tuned for 'the queens' home loan tips and property articles.

Si parla Italiano, la lingua piu bella ed romantica del mondo.

Top 5 ways on how to make that agent earn their commission

Do no try to please or befriend an estate agent

Beware the "Big Lie". An agent will often inflate the price they say they can sell the property for to get the business

Interview several estate agents and make sure they know you are doing so

Sign nothing before thinking carefully and getting independant advice

Remember, the estate agents commission is huge, make them earn it.

That's it!
Happy Buying!

Myroof.co.za

Online property listing site specialists

A great little website I came across the other day called Myroof.co.za. They are a property listings company, not an estate agency, kinda like Private Property. They currently deal only in the Pretoria area.

Due to the fact that they're 100% online property site, and all their business is one via SMS and Email it makes it virtually impossible for estate agents to compete with their pricing structures i.e. you don't pay those exorbitant commission charges.

SALE OF PROPERTY

1. Myroof's process package includes; property evaluations, electrical certificates and change of ownership
   
2. MyRoof advertise your property their database of buyers via email.
   
3. MyRoof randomly rotate your property to the front page of our website under a featured property section.
   
4. MyRoof informs all of their buyers should you plan to show your house.
   
5. The MyRoof team will help you set up and sign a contract and guide you through the rest of the selling process to make this as smooth as possible.
   

BUYING PROPERTY

1. Myroof keep you updated on new properties listed on their site (myroof.co.za) via email to ensure you’re always up to date using our My Alerts section
   
2. Myroof make it easy for you to keep track of and rate properties you’re interested in. They have a appointments and email reminders feature to make sure you’re on time for viewings.
   
3. After viewing a property you can add pro’s and con’s to each property on the My Favourites section, making it easy for you to compare properties you’re interested in.
   
4. The MyRoof team will assist you through the whole process of acquiring a property, from helping you find it, to making an offer, getting a bond and transfer of the property
   

This is an exciting site and they have great potential. So if you're looking to list your property online and you can't afford the astronomical estate agent costs, call MYRoof.co.za

WizardMan Out!

The Adventures of Rick and Jimbo (Chapter 3)

So Jimbo, I take it there’s not much to do out there in the Bush, so far from everything?

Au contraire, au contraire Rick, there’s the Hoedspruit Endangered Species Centre where you can see rare and endangered species of animal such as Cheetah, Mholoholo where they rehabilitate injured animals, The Blyde Club where the food is awesome and the swimming pool is out of this world, African Summer Spa where the wife can have her facials and all that girl-stuff, I can have an amazing massage by an amazing true Hoedspruitian, the kids can play Splattball and ride their Quadbikes at Forever Resorts Swadini and so much more, all nearby.

Cannell Jumbo, I think I need to come down and visit you and Joan sometime and spend some time exploring the area with you.

Look forward to that Rick, bring Pearl and the kids and come down next weekend, we’ll braai up a storm and I’ll show you around…………

Compliments of Jordan Properties
Click here for Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 of Rick and Jimbo's adventures!

Win R1000000 with home loans from ABSA

ABSA home loans are offering a great little incentive. If you apply successfully for a home loan before the 31st May 2007 you stand a chance of winning R1000000 in cash prizes paid directly into your ABSA home loan account. For more information see http://www.absa.co.za/.

South Africa Property Blog Updates!

Good evening all...

Firstly, thanks to all of those visitors who've been returning to my site on a daily basis, you guys have managed to inspire a whole lot of people who thought this BLOG would be a FLOP. I'm not saying it's been successful (yet) but we've got a constant stream of visitors in and out and that's enough to get my jingles tingling!

Secondly thanks to all of those other BLOG sites, especially Live The LIFE, South Africa BLOG and Back to SA who've not only linked to our site but given us a little article as well...

I thought it would be fit to give you an update in the world of property BLOG South Africa. As of today I (WizardMan) am officially unemployed. Believe it or not this makes me one of the happiest people on the planet right now. I will however be joining Wizard Midrand FULLTIME as of Monday morning.

We plan to make loads of changes to this BLOG. Postings will be coming fast and furious (Going to have to switch on some real creative minds here). Keep a sharp lookout over the next couple of weeks as well. We're going to be running AWEsome competitions from this BLOG and some great tips will be posted daily!

What we'd really like from everyone who reads this site is "IDEAS". Tell us what you like, what you don't like and what you'd LOVE TO SEE! Email us at wizardmidrand@gmail.com or look to right of this page and SKYPE us if you just want to chat.

WizardMan Out!

The Adventures of Rick and Jimbo (Chapter 2)

So Jimbo, how was your weekend?

Great Rick, we had some rain the other nite and the bush is looking really good!!!

Now Jimbo, I seem to remember you playing quite a lot of golf when you lived in the city, don't you miss it anymore?

Hey Rick, I've left the city, not the Planet. There's this amazing club, it's called Drakensig Club, which is only about 2Km from Hoedspruit. Not only do they have an amazing floodlit driving range, so I can really keep up with the game, which reminds me Rick, what's your handicap, apart from your wife?

Funny ha-ha Jimbo, it's actually 7 funny man, what's yours???

Well Rick, after all these years of playing golf, it's unfortunately still a "FORE"!

TUNE IN NEXT WEEK FOR THE NEXT EPISODE OF "The Adventures of Rick and Jimbo"

Compliments of Jordan Properties

Google Base - Real Estate Search

Will Google buy Trulia Search



read more | digg story

Is the CREDIT Bill wrecking you?

This is supposed to be it? You and I will be protected from "WRECKLESS" lending for homes and cars and the like. The banks will without doubt decline anything that looks like "WRECKLESS" lending as well...........AND the Credit Bureaus (Yes the same ones who nail you for not paying your Edgars bill on time) will for the first time be regulated....whoohoo!

Does this affect you and me. For sure. This means that each time I want credit of any kind, I need to do my home work properly and make sure I can afford it, not only now, but also down the road when we get one of those "MBOWENI SPIKES" in the interest rate.

The banks are all gearing themselves up seriously for this new credit act and all those people who profess to be your financial advisor better come up with committment to you and be your true agent, especially if you are a property buyer. Proper advice and backed by the banks - thats the call. (Watch them all scurrying to find out what needs to be done).

Check out - Government site - Yes it's good reading!
News sites that are excellent - Personal Finance and My Buddy Erwin Rode and Business Iafrica
Get with the act my friends - dont become a WRECKLESS nervous WRECKING lender!!!!

The Influence of crime on property!

A Way of Life!

It's a problem we have in South African society. The people of South Africa are sick and tired of "sickening" headlines and constant crime related issues being the foreground of conversation (even at the dinner table). Companies have taken a big stance in helping the government and the people tackle crime and people are NO LONGER standing back.

In a EFFORT to help build awareness/educate people and possibly give me something new to write about that looks like an original topic, I thought we could chat about "The influence that Crime has had on Property in South Africa!".

The Progression

From what I've seen in the last 5 years this is how the standard of living has changed in Johannesburg and Pretoria (I'm pretty sure that it's the same throughout S.A. though).

Electrical Fencing / House Alarms / Secure Gates

First came electrical fencing, house alarms and the like. When break-ins and robberies started becoming an issue everyone realised they had to beef up security.
Now, you don't buy a house without either of these. In fact you get, 17 video camera's, 5000 metres of barbed wire fencing and a wall that would've impressed King Arthur.

When you buy a house, and it has neither of these, you're going to pay close to nothing. The addition of these items to your house will cost you at least twice as much as the property price itself!

Booms

Allot of neighbourhoods decided to boom off their streets. Security booms became the new craze. Along with this came a whole "1" security guard to protect 50 houses. This of course was a money making scheme that really didn't pay off. All it did was push up property prices, because now you stayed in a secured off area with full patrolling officer.

Criminals got smarted, property prices soared!

Housing Estates

What they now started doing was attacking people in their driveways...

That's when estates became the latest craze. We now have golf estates and security estates coming out of our ears. I'm actually willing to bet you that in the next 5 years, the next stat to come out of South Africa will be that S.A. is now the country with the most golf courses per square metre.

People now feel the need to live in a secure environment and estates provide us the means.

With the introduction of estates has come the introduction of exorbitant property prices and extremely high Levy's. Loads more money for the estates to keep their garden services running and pools nice and blue...

As we can see, crime has most definitely not made it easier for South Africans. For a young couple or single individual earning a starting salary to buy a property is almost impossible. So what do we do?

Possible Solutions

Well for starters...
ASK WIZARD!

However, I suggest South Africa starts learning from the rest of the world. Stop building these DAMN golf estates, secure complexes and houses that looks like Fort Knox. Start helping the young and underprivileged individuals. Build Condos, Apartment blocks, Flats and loft apartments... They're cheap to build, they're secure and it's how every other first world country has progressed and managed to help people overcome the exorbitant property prices.

This of course will change and you'll get your idiots who just want to suck you dry of every cent you have, but HEY it's a START!

WizardMan Out!

FNB - First National Bank home finance

Being a Discovery Health member, yes I'm one of those lucky few ;-), I get to receive that awesome Discovery magazine of theirs. Now I'll be honest, this morning for the first time in 5 years of getting this magazine I actually decided to open it up and read a couple of articles.


Much to my surprise they sent a little booklet with the benefits of having a Discovery card. Browsing through this incredible little booklet consisting of 150 pages I found an article on FNB and Discovery Health offering some great "benefits" with regards to home loans.


Looks like if you're a Discovery Health Vitality member and you switch your home loan to FNB you'll receive up to 10% of your monthly home loan repayments paid back to your Discovery Card.


There are some catches from what I can see :

1. If you're already with FNB there's an activation fee of R3000 per home loan
2. There's a registration fee per home loan that's not with FNB
3. There could be a penalty of up to 90 days interest charges from your bank (OUCH) if you do not adhere to their requirements (probably varies depending on the bank)

SO, the question is...Does it pay to switch to FNB?
For more information please visit Discovery Card Benefits

WizardMan Out!

The Adventures of Rick and Jimbo (Chapter 1)

Chapter 1

Living in the Bush vs. living in the City!

Hey Jimbo, how’s things?

Hey Rick, you mean how’s things since I bought that amazing place in the Bush?

Yeah, you’ talked about it for so long, now you’ve eventually done it, but tell me Jimbo, isn’t there anything that you really miss about the city?

Absolutely, the traffic for one thing, I just cant get used to the amount of Impala and Warthog on the roads here, no taxi’s, just hoggs!!

Yeah Right, sure, but tell me what if I wanted to buy a House in the Bush, but didn’t necessarily want to move in for a while?

Well Rick, that’s where the Investment opportunity side of things comes in to play, buy your house, rent it out for as long as you want to, move in when you are ready, you’ve made some money, your investment has grown - it’s a win-win situation……

Sounds great Jimbo, tell me more…………………..

Tune in next week for chapter 2 of the adventures of Rick and Jimbo!

If you're looking for some good "BUSH", "TRAVEL", "SOUTH AFRICAN WILD WEST" sites I'd suggest:
Try South Africa Blog
Try Kruger National Park