Architects and interior designers!

Six months down the line, I still don't have a flipping architect or an interior designer to take an interest in my home revamp project, why…? Well, seen as nobody wants to help and it's "property" related I'm going to BLOG it, TONIGHT!!!!!

I've mailed, i've emailed, phoned, skyped and left messages for various architects and designers but to no avail. Every amazing design I see in magazines, whose work I absolutely love, seems to have an architect who only deals in projects that are over R3 million or otherwise they're "too busy" to work with home alterations or they just don’t respond at all.

Has the South African property market BOOMED to such an extreme that there's too much work for architects? PEOPLE COME ON, STUDY ARCHITECTURE DAMMIT, and if you have a kid whose undecisive about what he wants to study, let him read this BLOG!

Interior designers seem to have the same problem, they keep postponing… what is going on in this industry. My home, needs to have a very experienced architect to assist with renovation plans (I don’t want to work with someone who has too little experience), surely there are many good architects looking for work, where are they, where are you?????

If anybody knows of any good architects please reply to this post!

LOVE
WizardMan's Mother!

Confucious Says: Leasehold's, Huh?

Confucious says: "Man who stand on toilet is high on pot!"

Well morning everyone, hope you're all up and about and loving life cause, "hey, hey, it's FRIDAY". Firstly let me just add that this weekend, is the weekend that both The Sharks and The Bulls kick some serious @$$! Secondly, let me add that this weekend is the weekend that Ferrari kicks some serious @$$!

Now that I have that out of the way I thought I'd give you confucious lesson number 3.

Leasehold Ownership (99 year lease)
Leasehold ownership as a form of property ownership was made available in 1978 to promote black home ownership. Further legislation passed in 1985 removed earlier limitations and has made this form of land tenure more attractive. Features of the 99 year lease include the following:

• The transferee of a 99 year leasehold right will, irrespective of how long the lease has already run, enjoy tenure of 99 years.


• Generally, costs are lower for this type of tenure than those applicable to freehold property


• No transfer duty and stamp duty is payable on 99 year leasehold transfers

Leasehold ownership transfers and related documentation are registered in the offices of the Registrar of Deeds.

National Credit Act - In a nutshell!

Reckless Credit
Reckless credit is prohibited under the NCA and is defined as lending money to customers without first:

• Ensuring they have enough income to pay it back
• Assessing a customer’s debt repayment history
• Ensuring a customer understands the costs, risks and obligations of the credit agreement



The Contract

• Documents should be written in plain understandable language so all customers can understand them (ahem!! have you ever understood these damn things)
• Customers will receive a preagreement quote that will list all costs when borrowing money. This quote is valid for a minimum of five days


Fee Structure
The NCA specifies that customers may be required to pay the following as part of the principal debt:

• An initiation fee, connection fees, levies or charges
• The cost of any extended warranty agreement
• Service fees, default and collection fees
• Taxes, licence or registration fees
• Credit insurance

The NCA also lays down maximum initiation and service fees and interest rates depending on the type of credit agreement.


Interest Rates and Changes
The NCA states that:

• A credit provider may charge a customer an interest rate that varies during the term of the agreement, but only if the variation is linked to a reference rate
• Customers should be notified in writing five days in advance of any changes to the interest rate or fees



Insurance Matters
Credit providers may require customers to take out credit life insurance for the duration of the credit agreement, however:

• The amount of insurance may not exceed the total outstanding debt owed to the credit provider under the agreement
• Insurance must not exceed the full replacement value of a property or the outstanding amount on a vehicle agreement
• Customers must be informed of their right to waive a proposed policy from the credit provider and provide a policy of their own choice
• Where the credit provider arranges insurance for a customer, the credit provider may not charge any additional amount over and above the actual cost of the insurance

Complaints

The National Consumer Tribunal was launched on 1 September 2006. It acts as an informal court to resolve problems that customers experience with credit transactions, credit bureaus and credit providers

Demographic Reporting
Credit providers will have to report to the National Credit Regulator the volume and type of credit extended. The NCA seeks to inform customers on these major issues:

• Quotations must disclose the full cost of the credit applied for including all fees
• Interest rate payments and the effect of not paying a deposit
• The cost of skipping payments and “free for the first six months” offers
• Penalties, hidden costs and implications of compound interest on long-term loans


Why does SA need the Act?
The NCA will ensure that:

• Credit providers lend money in a responsible manner
• Customers don’t borrow more than they can afford to repay
• If customers are over indebted they can apply for debt counselling
• Customers are protected from unfair discrimination
(Sounds like an addiction to me ;-))

Credit Bureau Information
Credit providers must:

• Ensure that the information submitted is accurate, up to date, relevant, complete, valid and not duplicated
• Give the customer 20 business days’ notice before they submit their name to a Bureau

The Bureau must:

• Ensure that the information they hold is accurate, up to date and remains confidential and secure

Any person may question the validity or accuracy of their credit record


Can customers afford the loan?

• Credit providers are obliged to make sure customers can afford to repay their debt
• Customers will need to provide details on income and expenses when applying for credit


Advertising and marketing
The NCA aims to stop misleading or deceptive advertising:

• Words like “no credit checks required”, “free credit” and “guaranteed loans” cannot be used (ladies and gents best you check your websites)
• Negative option marketing where the credit provider enters into a credit agreement is not allowed without a customer’s express consent


No more Pushy Salesmen
The NCA specifically prohibits credit providers from:

• Harassing customers to apply for credit or to enter into a credit agreement
• Increasing the limits on a customer’s credit card, overdraft or any other
credit facility without their consent


Spousal Consent
Married in community of property?

The NCA requires all customers applying for credit to obtain their spouse’s consent.

Thank you to STANDARD BANK for providing us with this information!

The Department of Trade and Industry have now formed a team of credit regulators to regulate the new Credit Act. For more information go and visit their site at http://www.ncr.org.za.

Confucious Says: Immovable Who?

Confucious says "War doesn't determine who's right. War determines who's left."

Well here's part two! I know they're a little technical but hopefully by the end of my "EDUCATIONAL SERIES" you'll have no problem understanding these!

Who would've thought that something as easy as "immovable property" had a definition the size of half a wikipedia.

Immovable Property

Land and every real right in land or minerals (other than any right under a bond) which is registrable in any office in the republic user for the registration of title to land or the right to mine (AEA), 'Immovable Property' includes:

• Any unit as defined in Section 1 of the Section Titles Act of 1971 and any proposed unit;


• Any right to claim transfer of immovable property;


• Any undivided share in immovable property;


• Any interest in immovable property, other than a right or interest registered or capable of being registered under the Mining Titles Registration Act of 1967;


• Any share in a private company referred to in the Companies Act of 1973 the whole or major portion of which consists of immovable property;


• Any share in a share block company as defined in Section 1 of the Share Blocks Control Act of 1980, and any proposed share;


• An interest of a member of a close corporation, of which the assets consist wholly or mainly of immovable property.

Confucious Says: Freehold is what?!?

Confucious Says "Man who walk behind car will get exhausted, but man who walk in front of car, will get tired!"

When it comes to the home loan jargon, there's loads of it. I'll be honest I still have to ask old Storm the "Pixie" next to me every 5 seconds to tell me what an AIP is again. But fear not my friends!! The WizardMan has decided to make it "EDUCATIONAL WEEK"...
I'm going to post a couple of mortgage terms each day for everyone to save and bookmark for future reference should you ever need it!

FREEHOLD TITLE
Freehold Title is the most common and basic form of property ownership and provides for:

• The ownership of a piece of immovable property, registered in a deeds registry, by an individual/individuals or legal entity, eg cc's, trusts and companies


• The right of ownership of immovable property to be transferred from one person to another; or from one legal entity to another, or from a person to a legal entity and visa versa;


• The purchaser of a freehold property to obtain a legal document (normally a title deed) which details the rights and obligations of the owner concerning the use, maintenance and development of the land (property acquired under freehold title implies ownership of the specified land and any improvements erected thereon);


• Deeds offices not to allow the transfer of property from one party to another without the production of a certificate, which confirms that all the amounts due to the local authority and Receiver of Revenue for transfer duty and rates have been paid.