160 retail centres have been developed in the rural areas and townships between 1962 and 2009. This has attracted a lot of tourists and retail in a way that it has generated round about R34 billion worth of business sales. Furthermore, these developments have added more than 50 000 permanent jobs to the national economy.

Managing Director of Spire Property Management, Marc Edwards, says that rural areas and townships in South Africa have significantly grown as a new and lucrative market for national retailers. To prove Edwards’s statement, an increase in expendable income among township communities has been seen.

Shopping malls and other progressive movements have been seen taking place in these previously unexploited areas.

The townships and rural areas are mostly run by people with no experience and expertise in their fields. That’s why it is imperative to partner with experts in the respective fields. Tenants and landlords have to devise strategies in working as a unity to help edify the properties in rural areas and townships.

In summary, the sales and trading densities in rural areas and townships have proven that retail in South Africa is emerging.

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Managing Director of Rawson Properties, Tony Clarke, said that Agri-SA is represented by 4 000 commercial farming organisations and it is large and acknowledged. Even so, the way that land reform has been previously handled is causing devaluation of agricultural property in affected areas and widespread dislocation of farming activities.

The Anglo-Boer War is what most people are comparing the current situation to. That was a time when many South Africans lost their land.

The government has stipulated that there are about 13 000 farms that have been picked for potential land claims. The sad part though is that after this has taken place, the banks will stop those farms from applying for loans. Many farmers operate on loans and this will be a huge downer for them because they work on the basis of a once or twice a year harvest-related deferred payment. Moreover, should the farmer have capital, all improvements and expansions will still cease.

The only way to medicate the issue is that white and black commercial farmers should form partnerships with emerging farmers and the state. If this is possible, the state can buy the farm for at least 30% and lease it back to the partnerships.

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The Property transfer process requires a lot of patience because it does take longer than expected. There are many factors that can cause delay, but if you comprehend the process you will be helping yourself to avoid surprises and prepare yourself for a quick and smooth transition to your new home.

Satisfying the regulations and the applicable laws of the transfer process have to be in place when buying a new home. These include the Transfer Duty Act, Municipal Property Rates Act, include the Financial Intelligence Centre Act (FICA) and the Value Added Tax Act. On the other hand, you will be required to follow the process of satisfying you bank’s demand for documentation, should you need a bond from a bank to finance your purchase.

This long process starts with attaining the finance on order after your offer to buy a house has been granted by the seller. After that, your estate agent will help you by getting a bond originator, but if you have the means; you can approach whichever bank you want.

But should you see that things are going slow, try by all means to be patient. It’s just that the property transfer procedure is lengthy.

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Making a major move, from one house to another, less traumatic for children is no fun, yet alone easy. Parents need to plan carefully so that the move won’t be upsetting for the children. On the other hand, if parents are dealing with the kids’ needs and concerns meticulously, much of that trauma and stress can be avoided.

Some children see relocating differently as compared to their parents because the move might not have any significance in their lives. Moving for them is not just about relocating; it’s also about leaving their friends behind.

In most cases, a change in the community or in the house heralds a crucial step forward for the adults only. It’s hard for kids to comprehend that they are moving because Daddy got a better job. That’s why parents should offer better things to the new home like a swimming pool (if there wasn’t) or a better school, or getting a private bedroom for each child.

On the other hand, parents need to explain to their kids that they sometimes have to move because they are now able to buy a nicer and bigger house due to financial success.

Tell the kids the truth, don’t give them false hope. Tell them positive things in a parental way. For example, how great the new house is going to be, with positive emphasis on the features that will mostly grab the child’s attention.

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R500 million of the R790 million was used to finance Vivedend for the Vusani acquisition. Vivedend has been doing a phenomenal job in a way that they managed to move from one to nine more properties valued at R515 million. This will further see Vivedend’s portfolio reaching R1 327 million worth of 19 properties, thus increasing the gross rentable area of 187 143 square metres.

Vusani Property Investments were established in 2005.  The Vusani retail and commercial properties acquisition portfolio is owned by them. Regional Executive at Nedbank Corporate Property Finance Gauteng, Ken Reynolds, said that the bank is proud to be named as finance partner of choice for this lucrative property deal.

The deal will see Nedbank being able to underscore its commitment to its investment in platforms aimed at empowering and elevating stakeholders. The bank will also underscore its dedication to the listed property sector.

Reynolds also said that Nedbank seeks to tailor financial solutions that fulfil the bank’s clients’ requirements, and anticipate expansion and cement growth in the commercial property finance industry.+

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“Green shoots here and there have given early indications that the property market started 2012 on a positive note.” However, Samuel Seeff, Seeff Chairman, says that the market is not entirely out of the woods.

In February, Seeff recorded 900 million Rand in sales as their best month in four years. They managed to reach a whopping 28% increase as compared to last year where they attained 600 million.

We cannot shelve the fact that low interest rates, annual salary increases and the flat house price growth have made homes more affordable as compared to previous years.

Seeff said that this is good news for home buyers as this is slowly relaxing the bank’s lending criteria.

Additionally, unit sales turnover market and property price growth have been subdued since the inception of the National Credit Act seven years ago. Even though Seeff asserted that the property market is not out of the woods yet; the increase in the number of units sold so far gives a bit of positivity that the market will be out of the woods by end of 2013 or at least by the beginning of 2014.

However, this recovery will be gradual and the fact that more buyers are entering the market will cause the sales volumes to be the first to increase.

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South-African residential property developers have had a tough time in the past four years. Commercial Director of Asrin Property Developers, Shiraaz Hassan, said that “when the foundations for a new scheme have begun, over a third of the work it entails has already been done.”

What he meant was that the investigations and the planning of processes with government parastatals, interested parties and municipal authorities should be dealt with before the project’s inception.

He also stated that a lack of depth and thoroughness has played a huge role in causing delays, thus many projects fail to be launched.

The sad part is that many of these projects have the potential to reach high standards and attract investors, but they fail due to the above predicaments. He declared that the only way to avoid these problems in future is to focus on the initial due diligence process. This will certainly see the implementation and the success of the entire schemes.

Furthermore, the cash flow is always affected by inexperienced developers who are often caught short by dysfunctional project schedules and approvals. These inexperienced property developers also fail to consider all rezoning conditions. These normally lead to them not being able to align their cash flow.

On the other hand, Asrin said, experienced developers are always on the edge – knowing what they ought to do before putting themselves into financial constraints.

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The Managing Director of Rawson Properties, Tony Clarke, said that landlords have been struggling with courts in the previous years. Landlords used to believe that the law is always favouring the tenants, even though in most cases, the tenants are always on the wrong side.

Adequate housing has always been the court’s agenda to comply with the constitutional rights of citizens. Even though this has been going on for quite a while; the high court has, on the other hand, revealed that there is some sort of recourse, for landlords, should tenants breach the lease.

The case between Upward Spiral vs Jacobs and Another got Clark’s attention. This came after Upward Spiral decided to terminate the Jacobs’ lease because they had damaged the bathroom of another tenant who was legally admitted by the landlord to live there. Moreover, Jacobs was told to fix the bathroom, but he had neither remorse nor intention to repair it.

On his defence, Jacob asserted that the bathroom was already dysfunctional way before its impairment. Upward Spiral was requested to renovate or remove it, but they just shelved the matter.

After receiving a judgement with costs; they applied for a rescinding order, but the magistrate declined it. They then decided to go appeal to the high court, but that too was unsuccessful. The final decision was that they had failed to treat the bathroom matter with urgency and that they didn’t take the lease documentation into consideration.

Clark said this case will definitely encourage the landlords to reinforce the sanctity of contracts.

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South Africa is recognised as one of the most important developing countries in the world. Not only because SA is part of BRICS, but because the country also incorporates state of the art properties.

Countries that form BRICS are expected to accumulate twice as much economic growth in 15 years to come. This has certainly created foreign interest in South African property. The World Bank recently announced that emerging markets are attracting investors from developed countries and that they are playing a massive role in reshaping the global economy.

Another positive side is that the African continent has gone from being the poorest to being the second (after Asia) fastest growing region in the world. This has opened numerous doors for South Africa not only in the foreign investors’ eyes, but has also established a gateway to the African market which cemented ties with other African countries.

Even though foreign buying is at 4 – 5% on home buying, it is expected to increase as the new world economic order becomes reshaped. On the other hand, the rand was previously weakened by the likes of the euro and the pound, but now due to the exciting and lucrative business and trade opportunities in SA; the rand keeps on finding its feet.

Most foreign investors are, however, looking to invest in major locations such as international airports: Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, East London, Port Elizabeth, Polokwane, Nelspruit and Richards Bay.

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