Most Recent Selling Articles
WHEN SHOULD I EXPECT MY ADULT CHILD TO MOVE OUT?
Approximately one in two 18-34 year-olds live at home with parents. As a parent, that means you have a 50/50 chance that your teenager is going to end up living with you for much longer than you might have expected ... THE REASON BEHIND THE DELAY The discrepancy between entry-level salaries and the rising cost of living is one of the largest contributing factors for this delay in leaving the n
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CREATIVE EXCUSES MADE BY DEFAULTING TENANTS
Penalties for late payments and monthly reminders seem to be a lost on some tenants. Though it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to see the originality of the excuse in the moment, some of them are truly unique in hindsight. Below are some of the most creative excuses the RE/MAX of Southern Africa network has heard over the years… Technical Difficulties “The electricity
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STIMULATE THE ECONOMY THROUGH TAX BREAKS FOR FIRST-TIME BUYERS
The state of the South African economy has been on a downward spiral that has culminated in a technical recession announced in September this year. While the South African government has no control over global market conditions, it does have the power to promote economic growth by implementing strategies to stimulate investor confidence and consumer spending in their own country.
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3 BUDGET-FRIENDLY WAYS TO ENTERTAIN FROM HOME
Out of the 261 working days this year, most of us are eagerly anticipating those few December leave days that we’ve worked so hard for. Unfortunately, many of us forget to think ahead and ensure that money has been set aside to allow us to make the most of the holiday season. If you happen to find yourself in this same hopelessly undersupplied boat sailing towards holiday bankruptcy, here ar
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STRESS-FREE GUIDE TO SELLING OVER SCHOOL HOLIDAYS
Having it rain on your wedding day, catching a cold on the first day of an international vacation, and getting a flat tyre on the morning of your first day at a new job are all events which we hope will never coincide. Of course, one might just as easily add ‘selling a home during the school holidays’ to that list… Selling over the school holidays can be stressful. Keep
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SHOULD I TRAVEL NOW OR PUT DOWN ROOTS FIRST?
Advances in travel technology have made it that much easier to quench human nature’s insatiable thirst to explore. And, South Africans are taking full advantage of this fact. According to Stats SA’s Tourism and Migration Report of November 2017, the total number of South African residents who left and returned to the country is on the increase. For South African residents, the volume o
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HOW TO FOLLOW UP ON LATE PAYMENTS
You’ve screened the tenant thoroughly and their credit check returned a glowing review. You even built a clause into the rental agreement that stipulated that any late payments would accrue interest payable on the following month’s rent. And yet, your tenant is still late on his/her payments. What is a landlord to do about this? The reality is that every landlord will likely have to
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PROPERTY ADVICE FOR NEWLYWEDS
The notion that newly-wed couples will move from their childhood home into their first home together is as outdated as dial-up-internet. According to the 2015 Stats SA report, the average marriage age for men is 34-years-old and 30-years-old for women. Chances are high that both individuals in the couple will be living in their own place long before the question gets popped. The next question newl
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RE/MAX NATIONAL HOUSING REPORT Q3 2018
A Quarter of Contradictions Considering the announcement of a technical recession and ever-rising fuel costs pinching consumers even further, there can be no doubt that last quarter has been a tumultuous one. It is unsurprising, then, that the property market would yield some interesting contradictions during this period. “The third quarter of 2018 has produced some interesting trends
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THE UPS TO DOWNSIZING
It can be difficult to adjust to a smaller home. But, if it’s any consolation, most South Africans who have bought new properties are living in much smaller homes than the ones they grew up in. According to data from FNB, the average size of a full title stand in 2017 measured just 552 square metres. That is almost half the average size of homes built in the early-70s (1,063 square metres).
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WHICH PAINT COLOUR HELPS ME SELL?
Curb appeal might be subjective, but it’s not difficult to imagine that the listing of the bright blue home with a yellow roof gets less attention than other more neutral homes. Colour can have an exceptional impact on buyers. Understanding the costly and labour-intensive effort it would take to repaint a home, most buyers simply choose not to look passed the fact that a home is not painted
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BEST SPOTS TO GET OFF-THE-GRID IN SA
There are various reasons why people choose to get “off-the-grid” – a term coined to describe a household that does not receive public utility services from their city. Some do it to assert their independence and to escape the monthly service fees, others attempt it as an environmentally responsible endeavour to live a more sustainable lifestyle. “Whatever your reasons,
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