Keep your eyes open...

Earlier this week we published an article aimed at equipping you to make sound and wise decisions when signing an Offer to Purchase.  With such an important contract in hand, you need to ensure that your signature binds you to an agreement that is reasonable and protects both you and the other party.

There are many things to take into account and we encourage you to take your time to read the contract in its entirety before signing it.

To help you know what to look out for – here are some more prudent points:

1. Faults, renovations and defects:  the days of buying ‘voetstoets’ – what you see is what you get – are now in the past (Since the effect of the Consumer Protection Act, April 2011).  If you are buying through an agent or developer, the seller needs to state all and any faults, renovations and defects of the property.  If they agree to fix these, then that needs to be stated in the Offer to Purchase as well as the date by which the jobs should be completed.  Without a deadline, if they are showing intent to fix the problems, you will have a hard time tying them down to a completion date.  If you are able to, taking photographs of the areas in question will help you ascertain if they have been sorted out properly.

Going in with eyes wide open

Contracts can be daunting – especially if you don’t deal with them in your normal course of work.  Signing an Offer to Purchase is a complex agreement that has many facets to protect both the buyer and the seller.  At Rivigan Property Group it’s our job to know these contracts and know how to communicate them to our clients in a way that is clear, honest - and in their best interests.  Many people run into exciting purchases with their eyes wide shut – hoping for the best.  Unfortunately, if you’re not going to read and understand the contract, you may encounter severe problems later on.
 
Before even getting to the point of signing an Offer to Purchase, we strongly advise that your finances and pre-approved bond details are organised and ready.  It is essential that your financial position be as stable as possible, should it change after signing the contract and if it was signed in good faith, it will not be a reasonable and legal consideration to renege on the contract.

Once you get to the point where you have checked out the property, or the developer, and are happy to sign an Offer to Purchase you are well on your way to a smooth and beneficial transaction.  A signed offer constitutes a Deed of Sale; it sets the precedent for all further legalities around the ownership of the property so it’s important to know all the details.

Here are the first five considerations to take note of in your Offer to Purchase:

The seller is the seller...

...not the agent.

At Rivigan Property Group, we believe that communicating openly and honestly with our clients is the only way to conduct our business and build long-term relationships.

It is equally important for our clients who are selling property to communicate with us, as effectively and extensively as possible, throughout the sale process so that we can deliver the best service when securing a mutually beneficial deal for both the seller and the buyer.

Although we act as an agent to help and facilitate sales, we are not the actual seller.  The new Consumer Protection Act (CPA) that came into effect in April 2011 has tighter restrictions on real estate sales and calls the seller to higher levels of accountability when engaging in the sale process.

One of our biggest concerns has been in the disclosure of defects.  As an agent, it is impossible for us to know all the defects of a property since we do not live in it and are not privy to all of the plumbing, structural and aesthetic features.  We have seen more than one sale fall through because of defects that were not listed on the defect sheet and encourage our clients to disclose every defect that they are aware of.

We are the experts in selling and want our clients to have the best experience when selling and buying property, and, build into a relationship that will have long-term benefits.

For more information on the revised CPA and how it will affect you, contact us today and we’ll make sure that your questions are answered.  Choose the Rivigan Property Group, it’s the smart choice.

Make the smart choice

When selling your home, there are many ways to go about it, but there are measures that one can take in order to ensure that you get the best deal; right from price through to overall experience.  As industry leaders in our area, we are confident that we can help you in this. 

Here’s how:

• We will help you prepare your home for showing
• Determine the right selling price to ensure that the home sells in the shortest time and for the best price
• Expose your home to potential buyers
• Qualify and screen buyers before exposing your home to them
• Help people make decisions by providing data and the opportunity to make comparisons
• Negotiate with professional integrity
• Arrange financing once the documentation has been signed, in order to speed up and not hinder the sales process
• Provide information regarding the area to out-of-town buyers
• Prove a track-record of sales transactions and marketing ability
• Make use of company's reputation to attract buyers
• Give feedback to you throughout the mandate period (click here to find out about sole mandates)
• Follow-up every potential buyer until we conclude a satisfactory agreement

You will find that too many estate agents offer tired and cliche benefits of using their services and then wonder why they were unsuccessful in securing the mandate.  We elevate ourselves above our competition to earn a sole mandate on the strength of promises fulfilled.  Rivigan Property Group is the smarter choice.

Securing the Mandate

If you’ve ever sold property through an agent, or agency, you will probably know that sellers are often warned not to give sole mandates to agents, but in fact, sole mandates reduce the chance of obstacles and problems in an already-complex transaction.

A sole mandate is a mutually beneficial contract – to both the seller and the agent. If a seller is not happy with an agent's performance during the marketing of their property, the seller can report the agent to the agency Principal. This brings a high level of accountability into the relationship that keeps things both professional and ethically sound.