 Good evening and welcome to episode four hundred and eight of the Private Property Podcast. I'm your host, Uzaman Dhomwa Khumalo. It's the last live show of the Private Property Podcast for 2021. Tomorrow's show we have tainted, we're really in good to go and you're going to catch in on the fun tomorrow evening on what promises to be one of the best shows that we have done this year. So do make sure that you are ready to set those alarms for tomorrow's show. You're going to get a snapshot of all the presenters during the show. And of course some of the lucky super fans who got to certainly spend some time with us and join in on the festivities on the show. But we're wrapping up 2021 on quite a great note right here in the Private Property Podcast. And before I talk about some of what you can expect on the show, you know that of course you can watch us across different social media platforms that is on the Facebook. For those of you are watching us on Facebook, continue sending those green hearts and sending us some love. We're on Instagram, we're on YouTube, as well as of course the other social media platforms that we share, informative content on all things relating to property. I'm talking LinkedIn and TikTok, some of the platforms that we are on. And of course you can also catch our incredible other shows on our social media platforms in a single weekday at 8 p.m. What day of the week is it? I'm even losing track on what day of the week it is. So this is Tuesday. And so as it is Tuesday later on, I think Balunog will be wrapping up with the last show that she's also going to be having on the show. So a lot of changes are happening this festive season as many of you know, many of us winding down. Unfortunately, there's still a few of us who are still sending kind regards emails because we haven't quite wrapped up. When I found out from you at home, are you still working or are you going to be taking some time off this festive season? Or are you one of those people who says send out all kind regards and you are just, you know, watching everybody's stories on Instagram within the, you know, already, you know, sipping cocktails and of course the mimosa without orange juice and the assuming pools. And you also want to join in on the fun. While talking about the fun, we of course going to tackle something that I know so many of you at home certainly want to be able to get a good sense of, especially if you're going to be buying a property in the new year. But before we get to that, we're going to be announcing the lucky winner later on the show of the competition that we have been running. That's the last winner between 2021 where we had been asking you around some property advice that you had picked up while watching the show. And we're going to be doing that halfway through the show. Of course, the rules are still the same. If you call your name, drop us a text and the money in the money bag is all yours. I don't know what we're going to do if the winner isn't watching, you know, because we obviously won't be having a roll over. We'll see if maybe won't give it to a lucky winner who is commenting and watching us this evening. My colleague will let me know how much we've got in the money bag. I think I'll feel festive if by the end of the show, the winner hasn't claimed the prize whoever sends the most comments and engages us the most this evening will take the money in the money bag. The team doesn't know this. They're probably watching and thinking, oh my word, there she goes giving away money. But that's what we're going to do this festive season. Well, this evening we're looking at preparing to purchase a new home. And I'm going by Neil McKinnon, who's an attorney at Hammond Paul Attorneys. Neil, good evening and thank you so much for joining us on the show. Good evening to you. Thank you for having me and good evening to your viewers as well. It's such a pleasure to have you on the show Neil. First time with us also wrapping up the year with us in 2021. And I think wrapping up the year on the topic that so many people always need a refresher on because this is also something that you know is obviously going to be applicable even if you've bought a first home before. So it isn't just first time home buyers. I think those are also repeat buyers always need to touch up a little bit on some of their property knowledge and insight when it comes to buying that new home. And I think before we even get into some of the you know causes one would typically find in offer to purchase and certainly the key ones that we all just have to be mindful of. Let's look at the sort of the basics of the home buying process that we all just need to know in Bay mind because I think people still trip over you know the very basics and I get you know dms calls emails quite regularly around this is what's happening you know in the process is this what's supposed to happen and nine out of ten times it's part of the process it's very normal it is indeed something that is mentioned happening but of course not everybody is aware of what even those basics fundamentally are. I mean yeah thanks I think first and foremost you know buyers that are anticipating entering the property market and particularly first time home buyers it's a good idea just to have a pre-approval to investigate first and foremost how much they can afford and to consider things like additional fees like rates levies if they're buying in a complex and an estate homeowner's association and then of course costs and transfer duty you know if they're buying a property that's that's valued at more than a million so you know buyers should just consider that to start with essentially in terms of getting into the process once the buyer has been pre-approved and they've gone to identify property that they think they can afford and they've put in an offer they'll obviously do that through a real estate agent that would have introduced them to the property they would have made an offer the seller would have a certain of a period of time in which to accept that offer once the offer is accepted the seller typically nominates an attorney and only guarded by the real estate agent in terms of which attorney to use of course the seller does have his own choice it's the seller's prerogative at the end of the day once the offer's been accepted and the seller has identified an attorney that would be a channel through to a conveyance to handle once it reaches the conveyance the conveyance would then have a look at what are the suspense of conditions that need to be fulfilled and the suspense of conditions would be you know the payment of a deposit sale of another property and one of the biggest suspense of conditions of course the obtaining of a home loan the buyer would have a certain amount of time in which to fulfill those defensive conditions once those conditions are fulfilled the process can continue during that period the attorney would typically contact the seller's existing bank if there's an existing bond over the property and they would call for cancellation figures essentially asking what is the amount required to cancel the seller's existing bond by the time they've got those cancellation figures hopefully the purchasers bond or home loan would have been granted and at that stage they can start calling for guarantees and the bond attorney that's appointed by the bank if the buyer is going to be bonding with property and would communicate with the conveyancing attorney with the transfer attorney and request them what is their guarantee requirements those guarantee requirements will obviously be the amount that's required to settle the seller's bond and pay the balance of the purchase price once that's done the transferring attorney would then call for clearance figures from the municipality and from the homeowner's association those clearance figures need to be paid by the seller they need to be paid in advance and those are required obviously to carry on with the transfer process certificates would be required by the deeds office clearance certificate for rates clearances and if there's a homeowner's association or a body corporate clearance certificate from the managing agent that would need to be lodged with the documents once those clearance figures have been paid the the attorney can then prepare documents to sign with the parties once that's done it can be lodged at the details in a nutshell and and you know Neil I think one of the things that I appreciate is you really have painted a very comprehensive picture of a step by step guide as it were of what one would expect and and I want us to you know look at some of those steps that you've you know pointed out but before do that I see the love that we're getting on this last live show that we're having on the private property park concert myself as a man don't want to malo men's bottle is sending those green hearts and certainly having hashtag 20 000 comments and saying I'll be sending kind regards till late thursday ah men's you are me and I am you I'm also going to be kind regarding until the very tail end of this week um happiness Martina Malolega also sending some love for Rina I've had team I rather said the end uh Sarah Matleta uh we've got umatha Shimane it's saying on that last live show notes let's show some love to the team that is showed us a whole lot of love this year let's send stars to private property for all the love spoils and lots of prizes and I absolutely love that comment uh because as much as you can see myself or on value show it's in value or SD or certainly child there's a whole team uh behind the scenes that does incredible work in making sure that we look great we sound great we bring uh quality guests onto the show and certainly keep the conversation going on our social media platforms it's not just us but certainly a whole host of other incredible team members who make this possible uh teamwork certainly does make the dream work and we've been doing that as a team and wouldn't have been able to do it certainly us as a presenters without the team behind the scenes who make sure that we are able to bring you these shows on a daily basis so thank you very much to the team and I will say my thank you's actually later on on the show when we wrap up but I see the love I know that Everton Glacierinda also watching and of course I want to find out from you when you're knocking off work did you you know stop work last Friday under interest of the people who already stopped work last Friday um I'm still going to be working probably until the very tail end of this week um there is a possibility I might need to work next week but I'm trying to wrap up as much as I can uh this end of the week so that next week I can go hiking to my heart's content and not need to be on emails at all I want us to go for a quick break I'm going to come back we're going to be looking at uh you know expensive closers because that's still one that trips people over um quite a bit also going to be looking at those transferring attorneys uh how do you how can you go about choosing them oftentimes of course it is the um the seller who would appoint one how how do you go about choosing them are there any things that you should look out for and of course going back to more of your comments and questions but in the meantime we're going to see who the lucky winner of the thousand rands that is in their money bag and uh if they don't pick up their hand at the end by the end of the show I'm going to give away this thousand rands to a lucky winner who's watching us now and who's on the comments section so you need to be commenting until the very tail end uh and between the team and I will choose a lucky winner who walk away with that thousand rands but in the meantime let's see who the lucky winner of the thousand rands that is in the money bag and that lucky winner this evening is Le Bochon Kolot Le Bochon Kolot so walking away with a thousand rands in cash I hope that Le Bochon is indeed watching us if you are drop us a message down there below to claim your prize this evening on the private property podcast with myself as a man don't walk a mile or thousand rands up for grabs that is the last time we're wrapping up this competition this tail end of the year we're going to bring you a fresh new competition in the new year so a thousand rand is up for grabs this evening and as we continue our conversation looking at preparing to purchase a new home I mean conversation with Neil McKinnon who's an attorney at Hammond Paul Attorneys and we've got a question coming through from Umeensi Butelezi saying um please can you start from when from where you buy land as they're usually about no bond registration costs and lower transfer costs when buying cash but what is the process after paying for the land so Neil is the process you know we're different when we buy land so you're buying land you're buying it in cash so it's not a bonded property um at all so how does the and I already know the answer to this but how does the process then work is it different when you are buying land because I'm at the transfer process is exactly the same um unless unless they're entering into a land sale agreement uh where they're buying the property in installments then it would be an installment sale contract would to be also registered at the deeds office um but to preserve the land you know so that it could be transferred to the purchase at a later date but essentially the transfer process is exactly the same except there's no bond registration process and so Neil I just want to get that part around if it were an instalment sale agreement would that also be registered in the deeds office and be noted there or would it just be the contract between the two parties where they each have a copy of the contract what happens is obviously the disposal of land needs to be in writing to start it so the the land sale agreement if it's in installments it would have to be in writing between the parties and what happens is the land needs to be preserved so you need to as a buyer if you're paying installments every month for that property you want to make sure that the seller is not going to sell it to somebody else that's that's going to pay up front so what would happen is that contract would need to be registered at the deeds office so that it basically it interdicts the sale of the property because there's a contract in place and Neil I mean out of out of similar for the benefits of our views at home would every type of instalment sale agreement and not just that of land so suppose you're also buying a house or apartment would it also you know sort of work in a similar way where that contract is noted in the deeds office so that no other sale could effectively go through and of that particular property is in the process if it deals with with immutable property then yes it would be registered at the deeds office absolutely and I think that's an important one because I'm increasingly seeing especially property investors wanting to look at instalment sale agreements as you know an alternative way of acquiring investment properties especially in multiple ones and some of them are doing an instalment sale putting a tenant in place knowing that they'll be able to essentially buy to using also the tenant's rental but not everyone understands that it's not just a contract between you and the seller and both of you have that copy because as you say you need to be able to also certainly have it registered at the deeds office because we haven't fortunately seen and luckily so I haven't come across many instances but there have been a few where on the one hand there's an instalment sale agreement and payment and you're paying on time and you're certainly honouring that aspect of the contract and the seller suddenly wants to you know get somebody who wants to sell I mean certainly wants to buy the property as a cash offer and you've been servicing and certainly meeting the requirements that that are stipulated in your contract so it becomes so crucial for viewers at home to always bear that in mind and that's why we say it's important that you get attorneys involved when you are you're doing a property transaction because with the moment somebody says no I know how this works we'll just here's you know here's a contract maybe sign it and then we're good to go your alarm bells certainly need to be going off because you know that they're probably trying to pull one on you yeah I think you know the whole purpose of registering the contract at the deeds office is to preserve that that agreement between the buy and the seller and if the seller were to were to breach the agreement and now try and sell the property to somebody else the buyer would be well entitled to approach the court for relief to interdict the sale of that property to somebody else because there's a contract in place and as I say that contract has to be registered at the deeds office as a preview and you know when we then look at choosing transfer attorneys what are some of the things that we need to look out for because it's one of those things that many of us are not going to be used to we don't even know you know what are some of the questions if any we should be asking our transfer attorneys when we kind of interview whether we want to work with them or not but what are some of the key things that we need to look out for when choosing transferring attorneys somehow I think it's very important you know and that's a great question because the property transfer process is a complicated it's a complex process it's not overly complicated but it has there's a number of of areas that can go wrong and it's very important to make sure that you use a reputable attorney certainly an attorney that either is a specialist in convincing or has a department that specializes in convincing for instance haven't followed attorneys we've got a dedicated department we employ about 60 people that work in the conveyancing department and because we're a specialist and we have a dedicated conveyancing department and you know we have a transfer section we have a bond section and we have a cancellation section and I think that's very important to make sure that you're using an attorney that specializes in the property transfer process and certainly you know one of some of the larger firms that that are all around us and then you know fortunate enough to work with the banks and on the banks panels that's an added benefit as well because they you know they're specialist in the entire process I've seen and I mean I disrespect to smaller attorneys but I see a lot of attorneys that are not conveyances they're not specialists in property transfers but they do handle property transfers from time to time and I've heard you know some really knife-marry stories you know about those property transfers so I think make sure that you go if you are a seller and you are anticipating selling your home make sure that you've identified a reputable attorney and do your homework you know check that do some homework on the attorney and check you know if there's if there's any referrals about that attorney. Going to your comments and questions this evening on the private property podcast with myself as I'm doing my pomalo as we wrap up the last live show this year we've got pulling and go seeing important node contracts that ban the seller so they cannot sell the property to another party and that is of course with reference to installment sale agreements regardless of whether you're buying land or of course a house or even an apartment you want to make sure that that contract is registered at the deed's office. It's very exciting I just love the topic because it's always important to go back and revisit the important points to consider sometimes while on the process of purchasing a first home we get too excited and we miss out on some things that we that we need that are important and that's a very big one and that's exactly why we wanted to end off 2021 on this note because maybe you want to buy your first home in 2022 perhaps you're buying your second or your third but those the first time you did it or the second time you did it you're very excited we're very intimidated of course and may have missed a few things and you really just want to brush up on what you can expect what mistakes to avoid and those sort of things means what's it is coming back saying please can you also elaborate on the process of registering your apartment for rates with the municipal offices for rates I love this question because I remember I never direct I had issues with this and people who watch the show know what issues I'm referring to so when I bought you know my first property actually bought two properties at the same time and and so I was also just overwhelmed because everything was just in doubles uh having you know to to pay four attorneys because it was all both properties were funded and I didn't know I was but I bought both properties in a in a section of title community I wasn't aware that I had to pay COG rates and taxes I thought I only had to pay levies and so got the levy you know account very easy I will send the details they put me on they sent the statement the moment they needed to and I thought well there's no such thing as rates and taxes because I don't have a standalone house only to get uh you know an sms saying I'm in areas about three months after the fact and of course I am shocked because I'm thinking but how am I in areas firstly because I don't I didn't even know I needed to pay this and I didn't know that I had to set it up and luckily somebody at COG when I called them they were very helpful they explained to me what needed to happen I was able to do it online because I also wasn't receiving these statements so I was able to you know do it online and get it sorted but you know perhaps explain to us that step because I think that's the one that so many of us trip over I mean even in subsequent properties I now know I always just brief the attorneys that just make sure that this part gets sorted I don't want to have to do with this have somebody in the team just handle the admin because that's the step that you don't want to trip over and subsequently find yourself falling behind in in rates and taxes I mean it can be it can be very frustrating dealing with that part of the admin some attorneys will assist will assist the parties in changing their account and there are certain agencies out there that that people cannot but you know my experience with some of the municipalities is that they've got customer care centers they're very easy to go to typically what would happen just to go back a little step in the process during the property process the conveying attorneys would call for clearance figures from the municipality on the seller's account the sellers required to make payment of those clearance figures which are generated in advance in other words the property transfer when when it's registered that account should still be in credit at the time that the purchaser becomes the owner of the property on the day of registration the attorney should send out a final letter of registration to all of the parties and typically the purchaser will receive a letter to say you are the owner and here's proof that you're the owner they'll receive a property printer to show that the property's in their name and they'll be able to take that off to the municipality and go to the customer care center and open an account in their name the seller of course also needs to make sure that the account is closed on their side um so that so that there's a transition and once that's taken place um usually the seller will get a refund if if there's still a credit on the account they'll open an account in the purchaser's name and the seller should get a refund for the amount that they've paid that's that's in credit after the date that it's gone into that it's been registered in the purchaser's name we are slowly wrapping up the last live show of 2021 here on the private property podcast and as i said if we do not get somebody claiming the money that is in the money band i'm going to give it to one lucky viewer who's watching us and commenting down here below so the trick there is certainly to be engaging us down here below i've asked the team to look up for who's engaging us the most this evening and that $1,000 is going to be yours so on the one hand you have to keep your fingers crossed that Oliver Khan doesn't you know suddenly clean the price before we wrap up and on the other continue engaging and it may you may be the lucky winner and Neil before we wrap up though you know going into the new year what are some common legal mistakes that we need to avoid when it comes to buying a home in 2022 and beyond of course look i think the biggest problem especially for first-time home buyers is affordability you know home buyers they don't do their homework and and i think you know it's one thing pre-qualifying but it's another thing looking at at all of these hidden costs and you know especially complexes things like special levies you know transfer costs bottom costs and i find a lot of people obviously not doing their homework and now finding that that's that that becomes a problem one of the biggest issues as well especially this time of year and i've experienced this before is that buyers are granted a home loan and the bond is granted and the transfer commences the transfer process commences but obviously before it's registered before the end of the new year we go into the christmas period we go into the festive season and and some people then go and take out additional credit and you know obviously when a time comes to register the transfer the bank goes and does a double check and if they realize that the buyer is now overextended himself during the period that he's been granted a bond to the period of registration the bank has the as the right not to register that bond and they can actually withdraw from the process so i found it before west where particularly over the festive season people take out loans they take out additional cell phone contracts they take out short-term loans to go on holiday to buy christmas presents and that can have a huge big impact on their affordability in terms of their bond and the bank will pick that up prior to registration so that's that's a very big problem we've got a question here and i'm going to just it's coming from example on our facebook page and he asked does the purchaser pay for the new municipal account i'm going to assume he means pay for it to be opened as opposed to you're now servicing it monthly because of course as the purchaser you would be the one who now services it once the property is registered so are there any cross implications to you know getting that new municipal account absolutely the purchaser from the date of registration the purchaser would be responsible for that account and there will be costs associated with opening that account there's a deposit that could be required at the council and they will require a deposit up front to open the account and put it into your name and then of course from that day forward the purchaser will be responsible for his own rates and and taxes if the purchaser wanted to go with some sort of an agency or some sort of company that would assist them in opening an account well then there would be those fees attached to that as well yeah and i think that's an important one i mean we we we have seen some who are able to do it fairly quickly fairly efficiently and they do charge if the for that and i think when we then look at as we wrap up this evening neal any tips certainly any advice for property earners going into the new year especially those who also may be looking to expand their property portfolio perhaps adding their first rental you know property in their property portfolio so i think from a from a seller's perspective i think you know before if you're planning on listing your property for sale make sure that you've covered all of the areas of your property and that when you do sign that contract you you list all of the defects and if there are you know repairs that need to be made like leaking roofs latent defects tractiles you know rising damp don't don't do patch jobs make sure that it's that it's done properly with with a reputable contractor so that the guarantee for for that service can be passed over to the purchaser so from that perspective from from a finance perspective i think you know covid is is playing a big part in our lives hopefully we see in the end of covid and i think just again from an affordability point of view you know make sure that you've done your homework and make sure that you can afford the property and look out for those hidden hidden costs you know the buyer needs to realize that they're going to pay transfer costs they may be paying transfer duty and if they're registering a bond they're going to be paying fees for the registration of the bond as well and you know neil as we were probably actually mentioned something around when you're a seller make sure that you don't cut corners in the event where there are any damages to the property you want to make sure that you disclose them perhaps as we wrap up what are some home buyers rights because i think sometimes buyers say do not know their rights especially first-time home buyers and it's very easy for them to get very intimidated and very overwhelmed with the process and sometimes working with an estate agent who wants to sell because you're looking at the commission and would you know position things as though this is how things are done as opposed to you know essentially being open with them saying actually as a buyer you're able to you know ask for XYZ. Zoma I think you know first and foremost you know buyer is entitled to inspect his property entitled to a to a full inspection of the property make sure that they're satisfied with the state of the property and if there are any latent defects with the property of the seller is aware of any problems with the property the buyer is entitled to be disclosed to have those problems disclosed to the buyer and of course if the seller is not aware of those defects and of course you know he'd be entitled to rely on the so-called footage clause but i think from that perspective you know that the buyer is entitled to know exactly what he's buying the other thing that buyers can expect to to have in terms of their rights is vacant occupation which appears to be a big thing these days and a lot of the times and it's particularly in this market there's a lot of sellers that are selling their properties that they've bought for investment purposes and where they've agreed with the purchaser that they have a tenant and the tenant will have vacated the property by the time registration takes place I think the buyers find themselves in a situation where they have now taken transfer they want to move into the property and the tenant is still vacating the property so a buyer definitely has the right to vacant occupation on registration if that's what they've agreed and and of course to make sure that that they can safely move into their property and Neil I think as we wrap up this conversation this evening I want to say any final last tips for our viewers at home you know when it comes to buying the properties for 2022 whether they're the buyer themselves or the seller or of course even tenants who want to move from now becoming for moving from being a tenant and certainly earning their property any final tips as you wrap up this show this evening summer I think you know there's a lot of movement in the market in terms of sectional title and complex living and I found a lot of people moving into complexes where the complexes has now got a whole lot of hidden aspects and one of the issues is when you inspect your home when you move into a property when you plan on buying a property check the complex check the state of the complex check the financials of the body corporate make sure that it's that that it's liquid and check that you know check what you're buying so that there's no hidden agenda down the line in terms of special levies and that type of thing Neil we're going to leave it there this evening thank you so much for joining us on our last live episode of private property pleasure to have you I know that we'll certainly be inviting you back in the new year tackling all things relating to property thank you so much for joining us on the show thanks for having me and that is Neil McKinnon who's an attorney at Hammond Paul attorneys wrapping up the last live show of the private property podcast with myself as I'm going to do more this 2021 tomorrow we've got a special episode for you at home this is one that you do not want to miss probably one of the greatest shows that we have pulled off this year we had a lot of fun last week when we're putting it together it's certainly going to enjoy watching it with you all at the same time we're going to have quite a lot of fun but before I go I want to say a few thank yous of course firstly thank you to all of you at home who have continued to watch us every single weekend at 7 p.m and also watch the 8 p.m shows who engage with us share the content and continue to showing us some love we do not take all that love for granted and certainly do not take your time and attention for granted we've become a family and we're in your homes every single weekday you share your hopes and aspirations with us and it's something that's so inspiring to watch it's even more inspiring to see all of you reach your property goals and make some of your property milestones and of course share them with us on our social media pages and a very very big thank you to the team behind the scenes who pull this off every single day it's not very easy putting together a property show but we have grown to not only be the only daily property show in southern africa we also the only one that has reached over 400 shows on the continent and this is something that we know we wouldn't have done without you at home but also without you know the great team that works behind the scenes in putting the show together from you know my colleague up y'all are uh amo palisa uh nomad there's so many of them uh kizito uh sista bile and uh ho host of others guys also they're doing a lot of our graphics and i think this is something that we do not take for granted at all who's also on your socials and all this commenting uh you know from the social media teams momfunda and her team this is something that i know uh a lot of us spend a lot of time working towards and uh lots of sleepless nights and sometimes we don't always get it right but as a team we certainly want to make sure that we give you the best that we can on offer and thank you to each and every single one of you and this festive season is around off and certainly get ready for 2022 we've got a lot planned for the new year you can certainly look forward to a new look for the show and we've got a few surprises uh up our sleeves and that's something that i'm very excited about and i know you at home are going to absolutely love some of those surprises so i can already assure you that 2022 is going to be bigger than what we have done so far and we weren't going to get there of course without you at home so thank you to each and every single one of you for pulling this off for us to making sure that uh we certainly grow from strength to strength now i did say if the lucky winner does not claim their prize we're going to uh have a lucky winner chosen from the show and the lucky winner who is watching and commenting uh the team has told me is Tashry Combs so congratulations to you Tashry Combs a thousand rands coming your way uh this evening and that is the last time that we're doing that to this evening on the show and we're going to be coming back in the new year with of course loads and loads of great prizes as we often do well for myself as a Mungo Mokko Malo has been such an honor to always be with you every single weekday here and making your property aspirations come true and certainly helping you make better property decisions i am very grateful for the opportunity and we're going to be coming back in the new year we'll be going to have a very safe festive season that you're going to be able to spend time with your family uh be able to rest i know many of us are still going to be sending kind regards emails uh for the for the foreseeable future but we're going to be wrapping it up and hopefully getting some risks well that's it for myself and of course as usual hoping you're staying home and staying safe