Monthly Archives: March 2009

Buy or rent your home:tips on how to decide.

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Are you having trouble trying to decide on whether to rent a property or buy one, this can be frustrating to think about as there are positive sides to both arguments depending on your current circumstances. The following tips are given to try and help you in the decision making process. Answer the questions relating to them as objectively as possible and you will benefit yourself tremendously.

  1. The expenses you will be responsible for. When you rent a property the main expense you will be responsible for is paying your rent to the landlord on time. However when you buy a property you are not only responsible for paying the bond you are also responsible for the rates and taxes, levies and other charges relating to the maintenance of your property. Objectively assess exactly how many expenses you want to be responsible for and this will make your decision easier.
  2. How much of a commitment do you want to make to the property? When you receive a loan to purchase a home you are often bound to a 30 year commitment, financial and  otherwise. You can’t just vacate the property at a moments notice by simply breaking your lease. The bank will hold you responsible for payment until the property is sold. When renting you are bound to what is usually a 12 month lease agreement and all you need to do is make sure you pay your rent pay on time. Decide on how much of a commitment you are ready for.
  3. What will your monthly payment be? Renting will almost invariably be cheaper than paying off a bond every month, but at the end of paying off the bond you will have a great asset instead of helping someone else pay off their bond by renting. Work out your finances carefully and see exactly what you can afford to pay.
  4. Creating personal wealth. Do you wish to increase your personal wealth and perhaps build a property portfolio that you can enjoy and leave to future generations? Or are you not concerned with building wealth and happy with your life as it is?  Buying property has proven to be one of the soundest investments over the centuries, while renting gives you no investment advantage or growth in wealth over the long term. Decide what you want in the long term and start planning for it now.

Whatever decision you arrive at make sure you get the opinion of experts who are qualified to give you financial advice. Buying a property is a serious commitment but missing out on a potentially great investment because of poor advice is something most people will regret forever. Choose your advisers carefully.

What do our readers think? Is renting a property from someone else always a waste of money?

Earth Hour a great success.

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South Africans across the country joined in a global show of solidarity by switching off their lights for an hour to highlight the problem of climate change.

This year saw 3,937 cities from 88 different countries participate in the effort. Participants were encouraged to sign up on the Earth Hour website where their names would join a petition that is to be presented to world leaders to push for further action in preventing and reversing climate change. They were then asked to turn their lights off on Saturday 28 March between the hours of 8:30 and 9:30pm as a visible show of support for the initiative.

Spectators were amazed to see spotlights being turned off at the Eiffel Tower, The Empire State Building, the Pyramids of Giza and our very own Table Mountain. Landmarks which are usual visible 24 hours a day were missing from their usual place in the skyline, this just highlighted how much we depend on electricity and how strange our world would be without it.

The race is on to find renewable earth friendly energy sources to replace the burning of fossil fuels which are fast running out and have done an untold amount of damage to our planet. Hopefully people will start to take the issue of climate change more seriously and more personally. It is not for someone else to fix these problems, our generation may not have started the process but we are going to have to be the ones to try and stop it before we pass the point of no return.

Why not paint a mural?

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Kids’ rooms are probably the most fun part of the house to decorate because they allow you to delve into the depths of your long forgotten imagination. Maybe your children are big fans of Spongebob Squarepants or scary pirates, their bedroom wall can be a great place for some creative design.

Murals are relatively easy to paint because they are usually big images that you can take a paint by numbers approach to and if you are unsure of your artistic ability there are professionals out there who can do it for you. If you are confident enough to attempt it yourself it can be a great project for the entire family to enjoy together.

Start off by deciding what you would like to have as a theme, whether it be fairy princesses, monsters or ballerinas, there is a myriad of fun free imagery on the Internet that you can use as source material and inspiration.

Plan your mural carefully, you don’t want the ballerina to be completely covered by the chest of drawers. Set the  room up the way you will want it to be once the mural is complete and plan your pictures around the furniture, unless you decide to go for some sort of pattern mural in which case the furniture shouldn’t matter.

Prepare your wall according to the instructions on the paint you will be using, most people will opt for an acrylic based paint because they are easy to use, dry fast and can easily be found in non-toxic varieties. Never use a paint that may be unsafe, ask the paint salesman what the best option for you will be.

Have the most artistically capable member of the family draw the outlines on the wall and then plot out where your colours are going to go. This will not only make the painting go a bit faster but because you will be working on a relatively large scale it will be very easy to lose your place and get confused about what part you are painting. It may sound a bit silly but having a number system that corresponds to a colour really does work, for example everywhere you have put a 1 should be painted red and everywhere you have put a 2 should be painted blue and so on.

After doing all your planning it is now time for the really fun part, the painting. Follow the usage instructions on your paint tin and remember to keep the room well ventilated. Allow for enough time for the paint to dry before moving any furniture back in and make sure your children aren’t going to sleep in a room that is still full of paint fumes. Again the paint tin itself or the supplier should be able to give you all the necessary information.

Once everything is dry move all your child’s belongings back in and enjoy the fantasyland you have created together.

Moving tips.

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Moving is often viewed as such a stressful event many people equate it with a death in the family. No matter how well organised you were during your time at your old home there is always far more to pack than you ever imagined and far more to throw away.

Before you fill even one box you should read the tips below because packing is not always the most important thing to get started with.

  • Make sure your insurance information is up to date, have you cancelled your old home insurance and taken out new insurance for the home you are moving to?
  • Notify the relevant people that you are terminating services at your old address, the list will include:
  1. water
  2. electricity
  3. dstv/mnet
  4. telephone
  • Have the utilities at your new home connected.
  • If your removal company does not provide them start finding boxes to pack your belongings in to.
  • Start packing the items you use with the least frequency first packing the items you will still need until the last day you are in your old home at the very end.
  • Label your boxes, state what the box contains and which room it should be left in! There is nothing worse than having to move heavy boxes twice.
  • Inform the relevant people of your change of address, such as:
  1. the bank
  2. your insurance company
  3. your childrens’ school
  4. your post office
  5. SARS
  6. your place of employment
  • On the day you move check all the taps are closed and the geyser is off, lock all doors and windows, ensure you leave nothing behind and hand over the house keys.

Being well organised when moving is the key to having a less stressful experience.

What do you think? What other tips that are often forgotten can you readers give?

Plant a Waterwise garden.

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We are all trying to save as much money as possible these days and with the increasing emphasis on going Green and saving the environment from global warming people are looking for more ways to do their bit for the environment.

A very easy way to start is to plant a Waterwise garden that contains plants that require very little water, many of these plants will be indigenous. Indigenous plants are much preferred these days as they do not disrupt the natural balance already in place in a region as opposed to their foreign counterparts who have different needs and can effect the surrounding plants negatively.

Here is a list of Waterwise gardening tips to help you get started:

• Grow Waterwise plants – These are plants that need very little water to sustain themselves.
• Group plants according to their water needs – If you mix up plants that need different amounts of water you will waste water and perhaps over/under water some of them.
• Consider the quality and type of your lawn – Certain types of grass need more water than others, choose carefully.
• Maintain your garden – Remove any unwanted plants or weeds as soon as you spot them, they will use water that is intended for your other plants.
• Improve the soil and mulch – A garden with well maintained mulch retains water more efficiently.
• Plant in the right season – If you plant in the correct season your plant will need less maintenance in the beginning.
• Water correctly – Don’t water at the hottest time of day or when it is particularly windy, you will lose alot of moisture.
• The best irrigation system is drip irrigation – They require only a quarter of the amount of water other watering systems need and yield the same result.

Water conservation is going to be increasingly important in the years to come as the world begins to see the effects of dwindling natural resources. New innovations in water conservation, such as the waterless toilet, will provide alternatives to the current everyday uses we find for water and thereby put more pressure on people to be Waterwise and use less water.

Be ahead of the pack and plant your Waterwise garden sooner rather than later.

Negotiation tactics for the property investor.

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When trying to get the best deal possible we need to be fully equipped and when it comes to buying property one of your greatest tools is the ability to negotiate. If you are not confident when dealing with your business opposition you are likely to be walked all over and will end up coming second best.

Here are some great negotiating tactics:
1.Better offer: indicate a better offer from another party.
2.Better than that: Just say ‘You’ll have to do better than that…’
3.Biased choice: Offering choices that already include your preferences.
4.Bluff: Tell white lies that may influence their choice.
5.Cards on the table: You could use the honest approach to your advantage, let them know exactly where you stand.
6.Change the negotiator: Allow someone else to take over the negotiations, they may think of things you didn’t.
7.Check the facts: Have as much information as possible, you may find out something useful.
8.Deadlines: They may start feeling pressurised and make a hasty decision that is to your advantage.
9.Dry well: Let them see you are tapped out and have nothing more to offer.
10.Empty pockets: Plead poverty, let them believe you have reached your limit.
11.Flattery: This is the oldest trick in the book, but they may concede a few points if they like you.
12.Highball: Sellers–start high and you can always go down.
13.Hire an expert: Experts are a great asset when negotiating, whether they are builders or professional negotiators.
14.Incremental conversion: Get one person convinced and allow them to help you to convince the rest.
15.Information: Use survey results, financial projections and other information to show them you are more qualified to   negotiate.
16.Lowball: Buyers–start low and you can always go up.
These are just some of the tactics available to you. Experienced property investors will know when to use the different approaches, the more inexperienced will learn by watching others and getting advice from professionals like estate agents.

Everytime you negotiate a deal you gain some more experience and confidence. Without the confidence to use these tactics they are all useless. Remember you are the only one who has your best interests at heart and you need to make sure the people you employ to do a job are listening to what you want.