“ Remember that a home loan is the best vehicle for borrowing money , and my advice to all consumers is to aim to have no debt at all , except for a home loan access facility . This is the cheapest way to borrow money and finance investments .”
Buying off-plan is also a good strategy as you can put down a deposit and as it takes a few years to take transfer , you can then enjoy the price escalations as the development matures , which means that the value of your unit appreciates at the same time . If you have the means available to invest in more than five off-plan units , there are tax savings available , making the investments even more attractive .
When taking risk into consideration , tenant profiling is key . Statistics show that the most reliable tenants are those in the R5 000 to R15 000 per month category . This means that from an investment perspective , properties that sell for between R1 million and R3 million are your best investments from a rental return perspective .
A good way to get started is to try and find a sectional title unit with two bedrooms for under R1 million as there are no transfer duty costs .
SA Real Estate Investor Magazine AUGUST 2022 85