Most Recent Community Articles
HOW TO ADJUST TO YOUR NEW NEIGHBOURHOOD
Have you ever pulled into your driveway at home and suddenly realised that you have no recollection of the journey from the office to your doorstep? That’s because your routines can become so familiar that you are able to do them in auto-pilot mode. The problem arises when you move to a new neighbourhood and you go to unlock your front door and your keys no longer fits the locks… 
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3 REAL ESTATE TERMS SELLERS NEED TO UNDERSTAND
While words like voetstoots and CMA make perfect sense in the mind of a real estate professional, to the average Joe, they make about as much sense as algebra to a six-year-old. Below is a brief glossary to help you understand the important real estate terms involved in the selling your home: 1. Comparative market analysis (CMA) A comparative market analysis is a report that qualified real
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IS YOUR AGENT BREAKING THE POPI ACT?
Over the past few years, companies have been mining customers’ personal information freely in order to optimise their marketing efforts. Question is, can you trust your real estate agent to keep your personal information safe, or are they in some way breaking the POPI Act? Why Do Real Estate Agents Need My Personal Information? Personal information is an integral part of the real estate
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HOW THE STATE OF THE ECONOMY AFFECTS SELLERS
Not all of us have a degree in economics. Understanding how external forces within the greater economy impact the price of property can be confusing. But, if you are in the market, then you do need to grasp its ebbs and flows or face the risk of being dragged under with its undercurrents. UNDERSTANDING DEMAND VS SUPPLY The main principal that contributes to growth in property prices is the sam
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SHOULD I SELL WHEN DEVELOPERS MOVE IN NEXT DOOR?
Choosing to avoid a dust cloud of ongoing construction for the next few months (or years), many opt to pack up their things and leave the moment developers move in next door. However, this might not be the most prudent financial decision, and here’s why: SELLING EARLY LOWERS YOUR ASKING PRICE Selling next to a construction zone is going to negatively affect the price of your property. Th
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A MODERN APPROACH TO MEETING THE NEIGHBOURS
There are many reasons why it could be helpful to befriend your neighbour; one of the most important these days is to find out whether the electrical outage was caused by local load shedding or simply by forgetting to pop in your voucher code earlier that evening. But, now more so than ever before, making contact with the people who live next door can be a tricky endeavour. People tend to keep to
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HOW TO BREAK UP WITH A LAZY ESTATE AGENT
After the initial months of being flattered with high prices and wooed over with glistening listing brochures, the honeymoon phase with your real estate agent soon comes to its inevitable end. Eventually, you can’t help but consider other options … FALLING FOR THE WRONG AGENT All too often sellers make the mistake of choosing an estate agent based purely upon price, asking quest
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ARE YOU CUT OUT FOR A CAREER IN REAL ESTATE?
A career in real estate can potentially be one of the most lucrative professions a person can pursue. But, not many real estate groups set up stalls at career days, nor is the profession advocated for by many teachers and parents. Most agents enter the profession purely by chance – and this ‘chance’ usually takes the form of an encounter with an old acquaintance who happens to be
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BEST SUBURBS FOR THE OUTDOORSY HOMEOWNER
For the active outdoor enthusiast, knowing which suburbs offer the safest and most scenic walking / cycling / running routes nearby often plays an active (excuse the pun) part in the purchasing decision. According to the Victims of Crime Survey 2018, over 65% of the estimated 280,526 incidences of robbery away from home occurred in a street in residential areas. So, apart from natural bea
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CONSIDER OUR CHILDREN THIS CHRISTMAS
According to a research study conducted in 2014, there were 18.5 million children in South Africa. Of these children, 4.5 million (24.3%) lived with neither of their parents; over 13,000 lived in residential care facilities; and an estimated 10,000 lived on the streets of South Africa. Four years later, the 2018 mid-year population estimates puts the amount of children under the age of 19 at 21.7
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WHEN TO CALL THE COPS ON YOUR NEIGHBOURS
Dealing with neighbour disputes is an unavoidable part of life unless, perhaps, you choose to live on a remote small holding for the rest of your life. Sometimes these issues cannot be resolved no matter how diplomatic, polite and reasonable you might have been when approaching the issue. Luckily, the law is there to help you during these times. Below are the legal grounds on which you may appr
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WHY IT’S A GOOD IDEA TO BUY IN HOUT BAY
While there has been a general cooling down in prices in the Cape Town market, there are still certain pockets that continue to do well despite the current economic climate. The suburb of Hout Bay is one of them. The suburb continues to grow in terms of value largely because it offers so many appealing features for permanent residence. Here are just some of the reasons the area remains so popul
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