Happy Spring Day

Hermanus draws more permanent residents

7/12/2012 1:23:04 PM

Hermanus, one of the most favourite choices for holiday investors and retirees, is now displaying strong signs of a more stable economy as the town draws more permanent residents.  

Hermanus is situated  on the Southern coast of the Western Cape province has the status of being the best land-based whale watching destination in the world.  Southern right whales visit Walker Bay from June through to December and can be viewed from aboard a boat or the shore. Hermanus is home to the world’s only Whale Crier who blows his kelp horn when whales are spotted along the central sea route.

With its unmatched picturesque beauty, modern infrastructure and endless adventure options, it’s little wonder that visitors from near and far come to the town to enjoy its many charms while local residents and homeowners savour the privilege of living in this unique region.

Ludwig Schulenburg of the Aida Executive Hermanus agency reports a definite increase in homebuyers leaving large cities to relocate to Hermanus, mainly due to the secure lifestyle in astonishing surroundings. Hermanus is a sophisticated town but has retained some of its historical fisherman’s village heritage.

 
Historically, the town had a holiday economy, but this has now changed due to greater industrial activity. Many mini-manufacturers are setting up shop in Hermanus and exporting products to the rest of the country and even penetrating international markets. Opportunities opened up in the services sector as well  and many professionals which include attorneys, medical practitioners and consultants have opened offices in Hermanus.  
 
According to Ludwig Schulenburg the infrastructure development is keeping pace with the growing town. The national road is being upgraded, while the lanes of the access road to town are being doubled, which will improve traffic congestion especially in the busy high season.  A large shopping centre with Checkers as anchor tenant opened last year, and another with Woolworths Food as anchor is expected to open its doors at the end of the year.  Another benefit for permanent residents is the Curro school with its international curriculum that opened in Sandbaai this year. Schulenburg says it was widely welcomed since local schools were finding it difficult to accommodate the inflow of new families with school-going children.
 

He adds that the property market was remarkably active at the beginning of the year and that although sales have slowed somewhat with the onset of winter, the agency is currently listing many quality properties and gearing up for the expected rush when the weather warms up.  "Sales so far this year have far exceeded the number of transactions in the corresponding months of the past three years and we view it as a very healthy development that prices have remained stable in the same period.
 
Prices start at around R550 000 for small apartments, while two-bedroom units in secure developments sell from around R900 000. Comfortable family homes in the price range from around R1,2m to R2,8m also find ready buyers.
 
For further information you can contact:
Aida head office: 012 682 9600
Contact: Ester Odendaal
Aida Executive Hermanus: 028 313 1897
Contact: Ludwig Schulenburg

Happy Father's Day

Maak seker jou agent het woema

anfpicka 1 laaste

04 Junie 2012

Duisende eiendomsagente het die bedryf die afgelope paar jaar verlaat en die oorblywende agente is nou dikwels besiger as ooit tevore - maar dit beteken nie dat hulle enige huistransaksie net as "roetine" mag beskou nie.  Dit is die mening van Ester Odendaal, bedryfsbestuurder van Aida National Franchises. Sy sê voorts: "Huisverkopers behoort nooit 'n mandaat toe te ken aan 'n agent wat nie regtig geesdriftig is oor die vooruitsig om hul eiendom te bemark nie.

"Huiskopers het deesdae 'n wye verskeidenheid eiendom om uit te kies en 'n agent met woema kan die deurslag in 'n transaksie gee. Aan die ander kant kan agente wat nie alles uithaal om huise waarop hulle alleenmandate hou te verkoop nie verkopers duur te staan kom - en nie net ten opsigte van bykomende houkoste van die eiendom nie." 

Eerstens, sê sy, is daar 'n groot risiko dat 'n huis wat nie uit die staanspoor met geesdrif bemark word nie, "perfekte kopers" wat presies so 'n huis wou koop se aandag gaan ontglip.  "Dit kan ook meebring dat die verkoper die geleentheid misgun word om sy volgende eiendom teen die beste prys te koop en, laastens, bly dit 'n feit dat hoe langer 'n huis in die mark bly, hoe kleiner word die kans dat dit teen die ware waarde daarvan van die hand gesit gaan word."

Volgens die jongste eiendomsaanwyser van ENB duur dit gemiddeld tussen drie en vier maande om eiendom te verkoop maar Odendaal wys daarop dat huise met die regte prys wat goed bemark word in 'n baie korter tyd verkoop word.  "Met dié wete moet voornemende verkopers dus seker maak dat hulle kundige raad inwin wanneer hulle besluit hoeveel om vir hul eiendom te vra en moet agente beslis uitvra oor hoe die eiendom bemark gaan word. En hulle behoort aan te dring dat die bemarkingsplan op skrif gestel word voordat hulle 'n verkoopsmandaat onderteken."

Aida se agente, sê sy, is altyd bereid om besonderhede van hul mees onlangse transaksies en 'n behoorlike bemarkingsplan met besonderhede oor advertensies en skoudae aan kliënte te verskaf.

Uitgereik deur Aida National Franchises

Aida hoofkantoor: 012 682 9600

Skakelpersoon: Ester Odendaal

Make sure your agent has ‘drive’

Anfpicka 1 last

04 June 2012

Many thousands of agents have left the real estate industry in the past few years and those that remain are now often busier than they have ever been – but that doesn’t mean they should treat the sale of any home as “just routine”.  That’s the word from Ester Odendaal, operations manager of Aida National Franchises, who also says: “Home sellers should never give a mandate to an agent who isn’t genuinely excited about the prospect of marketing their home.

“Homebuyers have a very wide choice of properties at the moment and an agent with drive can make all the difference between achieving a sale or not. On the other hand, agents who don’t give their full attention to selling the homes on which they have sole mandates can cause sellers serious financial loss – and not only in terms of additional holding costs.”
For a start, she says, unless a property is marketed with enthusiasm from the outset, there is a real risk that the sellers will miss out on the “perfect” buyers who were looking for a home just like theirs.

“In addition, they could miss the opportunity to buy their own next home at the best price, and finally, it is a fact that the longer a home remains on the market, the less likely it is to be sold for its true value”.  The latest FNB Property Barometer, Odendaal notes, puts the current average selling time at between three and four months, but of course many homes that are correctly priced and marketed are selling much more quickly than this.

“And knowing this is possible, prospective sellers should not only be careful to take informed advice when setting an asking price, but also be sure to ask agents how they intend to market their property - and for a written plan of how this strategy will be put into operation – before they sign a mandate.”  Aida agents, she says, are happy to provide clients with details of their most recent sales as well as a proper marketing plan including advertising and show day proposals.

Don’t even start painting before you take transfer

2012-05-28 13:20:33

21 May 2012 Home alteration is a necessity for many property owners these days as they add offices, surgeries and studios for home-based businesses, or convert space to accommodate expanding families or ageing parents. Many homebuyers and investors are also deliberately seeking out run-down properties – or “fixer-uppers” – that they can buy relatively cheaply but need renovations or improvements to make them liveable or saleable. However, says Ester Odendaal, operations manager of Aida National Franchises, many of these additions and alterations are being built without proper local authority approvals, thanks to severe backlogs in council planning departments and, in some cases, a desire on the part of the owners to avoid additional rates and taxes.  “What is more, many buyers are starting to make changes even before the transfer of the property into their name has been registered. Frequently, a buyer who has been granted occupation while waiting for transfer will not actually move in but use the opportunity to start repainting, installing additional security measures or even to renovate an old kitchen or bathroom. “But they should be aware that they may be unable to recoup anything they have spent on such alterations in the event that, for some reason, the transfer does not actually take place.”  The reason, she says, is that most sale agreements stipulate that if the sale falls through, the property must be returned to the previous owner in an “unaltered” state. “This could mean, for example, that a hole dug for a new pool by the over-enthusiastic buyer has to be filled in and the garden restored. Or, if the home had a functional – although old - kitchen or bathroom before being sold, the buyer who has already begun renovating them may actually have to finish these improvements to be able to hand back the property as it was - with functional facilities.” What is more, Odendaal notes, sale agreements usually also provide that no real “tenancy” is created when a buyer is given early occupation of a property, which means that in most cases the buyer cannot expect any payment from the original owner for any additions or improvements made before transfer is registered. Thus, if the transfer falls through, the buyer may well find that he has spent a considerable amount for nothing. Meanwhile, she says, those buying homes where an office or perhaps a granny flat has already been added on must be careful to check that this additional working or living space has been legally built. “All sorts of legal and financial problems can arise if this is not the case, which is another reason for homebuyers to deal only with experienced and reputable estate agents who will take the necessary steps to ensure that any additions or alterations were properly planned and done with local authority approval.”  Issued by Aida National Franchises Aida head office: 012 682 9600    Contact: Ester Odendaal

How to make sure your agent is “for real

Although both homebuyers and sellers have the legislated power to stop bogus estate agents in their tracks, many are not aware of the steps they can take – or of the dangers of dealing with people who are not properly qualified or registered to handle property transactions.

“Much publicity has been given to the new compulsory qualifications for estate agents,” notes Ester Odendaal, operations manager for Aida National Franchises, “and since most of the national real estate groups like Aida have gone to great lengths to ensure that all their agents attain these qualifications, there has been a significant increase in professionalism in our industry.

“In addition, the past few difficult years in the property market have brought about a steep decline in agent numbers. But these two factors taken together don’t mean that there are no unqualified and unscrupulous people out there, acting as agents and taking homebuyers and sellers for a ride.

“Indeed, our observation around the country is that at least one in every 10 people operating as an agent at the moment is either not registered with the Estate Agency Affairs Board, as required by law, or is not qualified to be handling property transactions without supervision.”

And, she says, the fact that these “agents” are prepared to openly flout the law suggests that they probably also have little regard for the Estate Agents’ Code of Conduct – or for the new Consumer Protection Act (CPA) – which would put any buyer or seller dealing with them at risk. “Unfortunately, it is also true that such individuals tend to focus their activities around those consumers who can least afford financial loss.”

The biggest danger, says Odendaal, is for homebuyers who might hand over a deposit to a bogus agent, “and there have been several sad cases publicised in recent years about desperate people who did just this in the hope of securing a stand or a home off plan, only to find that the ‘agent’ was nothing more than a con artist who then vanished with all their money”.

Also at risk, of course, are landlords and tenants whose investments and deposits are not in the hands of registered agents with properly audited trust accounts. However, the actions of a bogus or under-qualified agent can also badly affect home sellers – and now especially in the light of the CPA, since they are the ones who will most likely have to rectify any misrepresentation made by that agent to buyers, possibly at great cost.

But there are steps that consumers can take to protect themselves and avoid such situations, and more homebuyers and sellers need to be become aware of these, she says. “The first is to deal only with well-established, reputable agencies which obviously have an interest in making sure all their agents are properly qualified and act correctly, and the second is simply to ask an agent with whom you are considering doing business for their current Fidelity Fund Certificate – the proof that they are registered with the Estate Agency Affairs Board.”

Issued by Aida National Franchises

Aida head office: 012 682 9600

Contact: Ester Odendaal