How to buy a house in Benoni Part 1
Thursday, September 4th, 2008Real estate investments outperform any other investment vehicle over a long period of time.
Everyone says invest in real estate as soon as you can. The problem is no one bothers to tell you where to start.
In this Post I am going to tell you where to start and hopefully where you will end up.
1)The first thing to do is decide what type of place or property you are looking for.
Every one wants to buy the perfect home but lets be realistic everyone can’t afford to buy the perfect home. So my advice is look for something with potential to be your perfect home. Don’t know what you are looking for?
print and complete this Benoni Home Buyers Questionnaire. follow the instructions provided.
2) Know what is available and be aware of anything that might affect the local market. Join a community newsletter or read the newspaper to keep abreast of these issues.
3)Now that you know what you are looking for and where, lets see what you can afford to buy with the bond calculator or get a pre-approval this will assist you when making an offer by giving you the upper hand against any other buyers interested in the same property.
4)Choose your buyers agent. The majority of buyers tend to look for a house and phone the agent whose number is on the add or the “For Sale” board. While there is nothing wrong with this approach. You see the agent on the add or “For Sale” board is known as a “listing agent”. This agents main concerns are to keep the seller happy and selling the Benoni property for the highest possible price. I would like to suggest a different approach. Meet with a few estate agents and decide on a real estate agent that you would like to work with. Do not take this step lightly, a real estate agent has the potential to make buying a house a nightmare or a dream come true. This agent will be known as your buyer agent. He will look out for your best interests, negotiate the best price and assist you with arranging finance if needed.
5)Be honest with your real estate agent. Tel him what you are looking for and what you can afford. This will save you both a lot of time. I generally ask my clients for proof of income before setting any appointments to view properties.
6)Start looking for properties in the neighbourhood you are interested in buying. My suggestion is check the newspapers, Internet and drive through the neighbourhood and look for “For Sale” boards then contact your “Buyer Agent” and give him the details of the properties you would like to view. Let him contact the listing agents and arrange appointments. Not all estate agents are willing to share their properties with other agents but the majority will happily share.
Take your time when looking for a property in Benoni this will be one of your greatest investments, but when you find something that you like don’t hesitate. I believe you should act on what your gut tells you. I have many times shown a client a house and seen they love the place but they get scared when they find their dream house so quickly and automatically assume something must be wrong with the property or there is something better for sale. Then a week later they realise there isn’t and its to late, someone else has already acted and decided to buy the property as soon as they drove through the gate.
Once you have found a home that meets your requirements and goals. Discuss the price with your Benoni real estate agent. Unless this house is the bargain of a lifetime always offer less than asking price the worst thing that can happen is the seller can say no. Some agents suggest to their sellers that they ask more for the property than they are willing to accept so they have negotiating space. Be realistic when making an offer you don’t want to offend the property seller, this will not happen nine out of ten times but you don’t want the one time to be on the property of your dreams.
To be continued…