 When it comes to buying investment property in South Africa, the first thing you need to know is what exactly is investment property? And secondly, where does one start looking for this type of property? Here to answer all these questions is private property CEO Simon Bray, so good to see you again. Very first question. Thank you. What exactly is investment property? Well, I think the simplest way to describe investing in property is not living in the property. Okay. There are a couple of reasons why someone would invest in property. The one is you would buy a property and you'd rent it out. And there you're looking for rental yield and you're effectively looking for someone else paying the rental to pay the bond or the mortgage that you've got on the place. And in time you're going to see some capital growth. The other type of investing is where you buy a place that perhaps needs some work and you've got an eye for that kind of detail and you understand how to budget and how to spend and you're going to renovate it and then flip it for a higher price. So both of those are really sound investment options if you know what you're doing. Exactly. Okay, so if I was thinking of buying or looking into such a property, what would be the first things that I would need to consider when searching for a property like this? Well, if we talk about the one that most people think of when you're talking investment property and that's buying to rent. So there's this idea that you want to buy a place and then put a tent in it. You've got to think completely unemotionally about it and that's I think what people battle with. When it comes to property there's always this emotional connection. Do I like it? Is it in a place that I would live? But when it comes to investing in property you actually need to treat it like a business. So draw up a business plan. Put down what is the financial commitment that you want to make? What can you afford? What do you intend to get out of it financially? The location. Look at the location through the eyes of good data, good statistics. What are the prices doing in the area? What are the rental demands looking like in the area? And then you should look at the type of property. Some types of properties are fantastic to live and own for 20 years. Bring your family up and all of that. But not all of them are geared towards renting them out. So look at two bedroom flats and apartments. They're very, very popular with tenants. Broad spectrum of people are kind of in that market. And I think the last thing is the type of tenant that you want to address. And demand tends to really be in the young or the older. So you're talking about students, you know, student accommodation and small lock up and go places or places for retirees. So those are some good points to look for when you're investing. Now just like from my notes that I've made here, finances, location, type of property, type of tenant, those are really important things. Now let's talk about the tenant part because I know that's always a very difficult situation. How does one go about acquiring the right type of tenant for your property? I mean, it's critically important, right? This is your little business, this is your investment. And when you're picking your tenant, you're effectively picking your business partner. So you've got to be really, really careful who you let into the property up front. It's like hiring someone, you know, hire hard and you won't have to manage them. So get your property out there on online platforms like ours. Make sure that it's advertised as widely as possible. Take as many tenants through as you can until you feel that the fit is right. And then there are lots of great services that you can use on our platform or others where you can check on a tenant's credit history or you can get a reference from their previous landlord. It's really good to do the background checks, to do the research that you need. Talking about background checks, I know that there's a lot of scams and a lot of fraudsters out there selling property, putting things out there on the net. That's not really true. How does one get around this and protect yourself from these fraudsters? It's a really tricky part of our business, actually. You know, you're dealing with people that might list a property online and it's a fraudulent listing and then they'll, you know, they realize and they prey upon the fact that there are lots of tenants and very few properties on the market for rent. So they'll call you up and say, if you want it, you're going to have to pay a deposit before three o'clock and you haven't even seen the place. You don't even know if the guy owns it. So we put a lot of effort to clean up that kind of scam. Every single listing that you'll see on private property is actually being verified. We call up the landlord and we find out whether they own the property or whether they know someone that owns the property. So we do our best to get rid of that fraud, but you're right. It's a tricky business and it's worth just being aware of it and being cautious. So it's good to know that there are people out there that are protecting you from that. Yeah, we try. That's good. That's good. Okay. And one last thing, the whole issue around landlords, tenants, where can one go to get advice around that? Because that can also be a tricky issue as well, right? It's amazing how many questions people have when it comes to renting our property. You know, tenants, you know, what are my rights? What do I need to sign in a lease? What do deposits look like? And then on the landlord side, it's also really, really important. You know, what if my tenants aren't paying electricity? What if they're denying me access to the property? So we see these types of questions all the time. We get expert panelists to come and comment on articles. And then we put it into a real easy to use database of information and advice. So if you are in the market, either as a tenant or a landlord and you've got questions, we do have a space for you to come and answer those questions. So basically the private property website is a one-stop shop for everything. Yeah, you know, we like to think of ourselves as basically the premier rental platform in the country. We've got more rental listings than most. We've got fantastic resources in terms of information and insight. So if you are in the market to either buy a place and let it out or you're a tenant looking for one of those properties, then, you know, we're the right place to come. Wonderful. And this is our Simon Bray tip of the day. Yeah, I think buying to let is a great opportunity to make money. It's a sound investment, but you need to realize, you know, are you picking it for the right rental demand areas? And are you looking at the costs of ownership closely enough to ensure that you make the money at the end? I always feel more confident and confident every time you're here. So be sure to follow the right steps when purchasing an investment property. You can swing by www.privateproperty.co.za to visit their news and advice pages as well as perhaps search for that perfect investment property for you.