 Search for a home on any device, anytime, anywhere. Private property, a home for everyone. So with Winner Home kicking off on Afternoon Express, we are transforming ourselves into experts on all things the state living. We will explore various aspects related to buying and living on estates and today we launch our series of property advice by discussing the different types of property available on estates in South Africa and how to choose the right property type for you. Helping us to unpack and understand this better is Lisa Boniface. Welcome. Hi, Jeannie. Nice to be here today. Thanks for having me. So lovely to have you here. So estate living is obviously the most, I don't know, it's valued at this stage, I think in South Africa. I would love to live on a state. But do you have to live on a free holding property? Like what kind of options are there? So Jeannie, that used to be the case but there has been quite a bit of changes around estate living. So what happened in the past was you would buy a plot of land and you would build on it or you would buy a building that already exists. However, there have been some changes and now our sectional title is incorporated into the estate which I think is great because it's more affordable and people who are buying sectional title still benefit from that estate living. The security that comes with it. The pool house, the golf course. So yeah, it's really great to have sectional title in estate living now. And then how do you go about buying it? Are there any rules or laws in place? Okay, so when buying any property we always turn to the Alienation of Land Act. It must be in writing. So you enter into a contract for the land. It's a deed of sale. And then you enter into a building contract with the developer or the builder. And then keep in mind when you buy into an estate you're also acknowledging the rules of that estate. You become part of a homeowners association and you bow into all of those rules and regulations. So it's quite regulated and I think that's a good thing. That's a positive thing. There's architectural guidelines when building in an estate. Usually there's nominated architects. So there's quite a lot involved when buying into an estate. And I think as a buyer you must definitely do your homework on those elements. Definitely. And this is our homework right now. Can you tell me a little bit more about freehold ownership? Okay, so freehold ownership you own the building as well as the land that the building is on. So every unit is given an earth number. So even if you live in a flat. Okay, but that's not a sectional title. That's a sectional title. Freehold is a piece of land and the building on that piece of land. You get full title to that. And you then are responsible for most things around that earth. So the maintenance, the upkeep, the insurance, rates and taxes you will be responsible for. In comparison with your sectional title the body corporate takes control of a few of those elements. So the upkeep of the common property will be dealt with by the body corporate. They will pay the insurance on the building. So there are quite big differences in a sectional title. You become the owner of a section and an undivided share in the common property. So everything outside of your unit is the common property and each owner shares in that in undivided shares. Whereas in an earth you own the land that you're on and the building and although there's communal areas that's owned by the homeowners association and governed by them. And which one's better? Is one type of ownership better than the other? I suppose they both come with different pros and cons. Yeah, so they definitely both have pros and cons. I think as I mentioned before Genie it's definitely more affordable to buy into a sectional title. However, it's a lot less exciting because if you are a creative person or you do want to make any changes to the property it's very difficult to do that and you would need consents from the body corporates. Whereas in a homeowners association although there's architectural guidelines and you can't do what you want to you still have an option to choose different building specifications like colours in some cases, fixtures and fittings. Whereas in your sectional title units when you make a change you do need that consent from the body corporates. Not on the internal structure. Not on the external structure. I've only ever owned sectional title. But on the external structure. So you basically have to live with what you've got there to build on a bathroom means consent from the body corporates and to make any changes to the structures also becomes very problematic. So I think it just depends on your affordability and if you're happy to live in a sectional title with lots of management rules and conduct rules then it's a great place to be. And the body corporate does take over a lot of responsibility looking after those common areas and the costs in that is then shared as well. But the body corporate you can actually live there and be part of the body corporates. So do you reckon if you've got a sectional title home you should be part of the body corporates so that nobody can say no to you when you want to make changes. So what happens is you immediately become a member of the body corporates when that section is transferred into your name and you can't resign from the body corporates you automatically become a member of that body corporates. So I think that's important to keep in mind and the body corporate is really a collective name for owners in a scheme. I'm going to have to start going to those meetings. No you're going to have to definitely. Thank you so much. I really do feel more armed now with more information ready to go buy more homes. I wish. Remember you can win your choice of one of three fully designed cluster homes at the Eye of Africa Gulf residential estate in the winner home grand prize competition. To enter visit www.privateproperty.co.ca answer any question and vote for your favourite designed duo.