Property Scam - Please be careful

There is currently a group of people "buying" property who are running a scam, we are not sure what the final result of the scam is because we have been fortunate to smell a rat before they could complete the con.

The people we have dealt with are all foreign males but I'm sure that they come in all shapes and sizes. They approach us with a cash offer on a house, they seem to be very keen buyers not bothering to negotiate. They then insist on getting a copy of the offer to purchase but are not prepared to hand over their FICA documents or they supply forged letters.

Please be very careful, we are not sure why they are doing this! It seems the big thing is getting the offer.

Property Market Trends - Mortgage Bonds

There are signs of life returning to the property market, or green shoots (the new media buzz word). With the falling interest rates and the easier entry into the market (lowering of deposit requirements) there has been renewed interest and we are starting to see an increase in sales.

The banks had taken the opportunity of a quiet market to renegotiate their contracts with the bond originators and it seems there has been a power shift from originators (squeezing the bank's rates to as low as 4% under prime) to the banks dictating rates of up to 4% above prime.

Since 2005 the banks have steadily lost business to the originators, as the chart below shows the banks hardly granted any bonds (directly to customers) by end of 2008. This gave the originators the upper hand and they also squeezed the banks for commissions of up to 2.5%, which resulted in the banks paying the originators billions per year! These billions ultimately came from customers in fees and charges.

The banks have now renegotiated the originator's commission down to around 1.5% and are aggressively encouraging clients to approach them directly for bond finance at a rate lower than the originators can negotiate.

I hope that once the banks start feeling the benefits of the increase in revenues from interest rates above prime and lower commissions to originators they will give some back to their clients in the form of lower bank fees and also in lower bond rates!

Remember all these costs were shifted on to us as consumers in the form of admin fees and bank charges!

Source: Financial Mail

Property: House up for grabs in Sudoku competition

Struggling to sell your house?
I found this article on the Internet and I do believe it is true and I also think it is legitimate, I am just not sure what the legal requirements are for foreigners to buy property in the UK and would advise any foreigners to first inquire before spending the £50.

A 49 year old finance broker, Dave Mackie from Hambleton near Blackpool, is looking to raise £700,000 by getting 14,000 people to enter the Sudoku raffle for £50 each. The money collected in entry fees would subsequently cover the value of the three-bedroom property, which stands at £675,000, plus £25,000 worth of advertising and legal costs. The winner, who will be picked from the entrants who complete the online Sudoku puzzle, will be announced in February 2010, or when 14,000 people have entered the competition.

He/she will then be awarded the prize of the detached red-brick property, which is situated in large grounds on the Lancashire coast. The home, located on the banks of the River Wyre, boasts landscaped gardens to the front and rear, two balconies, three bedrooms, four bathrooms, a sauna and a steam room. The lucky winner will also be able to rent a river mooring if they wish to do so.

Mr. Mackie said: "There's no catch. I'm looking to retire abroad and the time has come to move on. I thought this was a fun way to get rid of the old house and beat the credit crunch." Mr. Mackie admitted that he is a puzzle fanatic himself, before going on to explain that because he will be 50 later this year, he felt it was time to review his life. "I have properties in Egypt and have considered living there for some time," he said. "I don't believe anyone has ever set up a Sudoku competition to sell their home. This way everyone's a winner. The lucky person gets the house free from any mortgage and I get its market value."

Mr. Mackie bought the house back in the mid 1970s. In 2008, he installed new windows and built two balconies, a sauna and a steam room, at a cost of £200,000. Anyone looking to enter the competition for a chance to win the property needs to visit http://www.win-free-home.com, solve the Sudoku puzzle, and pay the £50 entry fee. Entrants will then receive a unique entry number.

All entrance fees are being held in a bank account which has been opened specifically for the competition, and will be independently audited. If 14,000 people have not entered the raffle by February next year, one of the entrants will be awarded the competition fund as a cash prize.

This is the most imaginative way of selling your house I have come across! I am hooked on Sudoku and must say I am very tempted!

Please leave a comment if you decide to enter this competition.

Source: PropertyIndex.com

Jo'burg is pregnant!

If every I have seen a pregnant city it must be Jo'burg! You can't travel 2 km without running into roadworks of some kind.

It started with the Neotel cables which were installed in all the main roads late last year. Sold to us as "Best thing that is about to happen to us - reliable and fast Internet from June 2009 and apparently it will be much cheaper." I can't say that I have really noticed a huge difference, it certainly has not become cheaper yet - I live in hope!!

I have just been away for a week's leave to Badplaas (sign of the economic times - a year ago I went to Vietnam for 2 weeks!) and driving back into Jo'burg last week just highlighted it again. I wonder about the planning around this upgrade of the infrastructure, having been a project manager in my previous life (Rand Merchant Bank IT division), we were taught to plan maximum utilization of resources with minimum disruption of current operation. What they seemed to have done is decide which roads need to be worked on and sent a crew to each road, which has now resulted and massive road works all over the city and major traffic jams and at times gridlocked intersections! I wonder if we will just wake up one day to find that all the construction has been completed and all the crews and their machines have disappeared together???

Meanwhile during this time please follow these tips:

• Observe warning and caution signs before entering a construction zone and until you see the one that says you've left the work zone.
• Turn on your lights to make your vehicle more visible.
  
• Expecting the unexpected is a golden rule when traveling through construction zones.
• Avoid abrupt driving manoeuvres.
• Always be aware that vehicles ahead of you may stop unexpectedly and maintain a safe following distance. Rear-end collisions are one of the most common types of construction zone accidents.
• Drivers should slow to the posted speed and move to the proper lane as instructed.
• Keep -up with the traffic flow. Motorists can help maintain traffic flow and posted speeds by merging smoothly and not slowing to "gawk" at road work and equipment and crews.
• Obey road crew flaggers! The flagger knows what is best for moving traffic safely in the work zone. A flagger has the same authority as a regulatory sign, so you can be cited for disobeying his or her direction.
• Don't wait until the last minute to merge to the correct lane and use correct merging techniques when changing lanes – use your indicators. Narrow lanes and restricted shoulders make construction zones a common place for lane-change accidents.
• Stay alert for aggressive drivers. If another motorist is aggressively jockeying for position, drivers should let them move on. Challenging another driver encourages road rage and endangers the safety of other motorists and workers in the area.
• Avoid distracting activities. Remaining alert for unexpected hazards is critical when traveling through construction zones. Talking on a cell phone, tuning the radio, eating, reading, or other similarly distracting activities can quickly lead to an accident.
• Watch for construction equipment and workers. Construction equipment entering and exiting a work zone without warning, equipment extending into traffic, and construction crews and flaggers working dangerously close to moving traffic are a few of the hazards to expect.
• Stay alert for obstacles and debris. Construction equipment, signs, and barriers may be located close to the edge of the roadway. Debris from work projects, especially dust, dirt, and gravel, may cause added disruption.
• Be patient, cautious, and courteous. Remember, the work zone crew members are working to improve the road and make your future drive better.

 Ask any pregnant mom how difficult pregnancy is and she can write a book about nausea, swollen feet, not being able to sleep, being uncomfortable, being emotional and irrational, etc. Then ask the mom of a one year old about being pregnant and she will tell you what wonderful and special time it was in preparation for the joy of having this cute child and that it went by in a blink.

I do believe that we will be very thankful when this is over and that we will soon forget the frustrations of this time. I sincerely hope that new improved roads will be worth the wait and frustration during this time!

I'm Back!

I am very embarrassed about my absence from my blog!

I have been studying for my NQF4 - Real Estate and trying to make money in a very depressed market. After I got the fabulous news that I passed my NQF4 I took time off to relax, but now I am back again, hopefully in a better market!

For those of you who don't know what NQF4 - Real Estate is, let me explain:
I completed my POE (Portfolio of Evidence) for my RPL (Recognition of Prior Learning) for my NQF 4 - Real Estate (Don't know what NQF stands for but NQF4 is equal to matric). New legislation is forcing all current estate agents to qualify before 2011, I got a bursary (it costs R9000, not sure why it is so expensive - all you get is a file with all the questions and assignments and a two day lecture of how to put it all together - no answers!) and if I didn't meet the deadline I would have to pay back the R9000 and then pay another R9000 or more when I do it later.

I think it is a good thing to raise the bar for this industry (hopefully we'll improve our reputations) but I think someone has started another gravy train, the assessors get R300 per portfolio they mark so the average cost of the whole thing is about R1000 per person, how do they calculate R9,000 per agent?

Please don't get me wrong I am very happy about this, because it does mean that it will now be recognized as a profession and not something bored housewives do when they need a bit extra cash to pay for the next trip to Disney World. The current entrance requirements are NOTHING, you can walk into an agency, register as a candidate agent and start selling houses - the only restriction is that you are not allowed to sign a contract (so you don't even have to be literate!), you must have a full agent with you when signing an offer or mandate, but 12 months after you registered you automatically become a full agent and can even open your own agency!

No wonder people don't trust estate agents! I am amazed at how many of my colleagues don't have matric, this has now come to light because you have to either submit your certificate or do an extra 2 modules. If I had completed my B.com degree, it would have only cost me R750 to get exemption. I am intrigued about all this money, how are "they" calculating it and who and where are "they" and can't I sell "them" some property to invest the R400m "they" are making out of this! Remember there are currently about 40,000 registered agents in SA.

It seems the hard times in the property market are over and things are finally starting to improve! I am currently working on 7 transactions which are in different stages of the process, two are past delivery of guarantees which is close to conclusion, two waiting for bond grant and two very good prospects but low offers waiting to be accepted.

The last one I literally hatched, I have been working on it since November - sold it to 4 different buyers and twice to the current buyer! I'm amazed at the willingness of SA Homeloans to take a bath on this one instead of granting a 100% bond to a guy who has an excellent credit rating etc. They are now taking a R110,000 loss up front instead of R50,000 and the extra interest they could earn over 20 years. But I have always said these guys are given a "recipe" of how to grant a bond and are not taught to think out the box and do the calculations a little bit differently. But I am not complaining because at least they are starting to grant bonds again!

It seems the properties that have been on the market forever are now disappearing but at bargain prices - so if you are considering buying an investment property - now is the time and if you have been trying to sell be prepared to get an offer lower than your lowest threshold!