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How Real Estate Agents Can Help You

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Homeloan Junction is an established home loan origination company that has been in the property market since 2003. Our relationships are of the utmost significance to us and we focus on carefully nurturing them. Our invitation to join us extends to customers, banks and financial institutions, conveyancers and estate agents, all of whom we work closely with to ensure you receive outstanding service with long-term benefits.

Why Join Homeloan Junction?

You will begin your one-stop-business-journey to purchasing a new property when you join Homeloan Junction. Our experienced consultants keep themselves informed of the latest trends and developments in the property market which enables us to advise you according on your specific needs.

Our business connections allow us to submit your loan application to 9 different banks. Our knowledge of their products will make certain that you receive the best deal possible under our guidance. We will assist with all the paper work and other details involved, saving you time, effort and the frustration of dealing with a number of different banks.

Perhaps you have not yet set your heart on a property but have been exploring the size of the bond you would qualify for to enable you to look to buy in the correct price bracket. Our online calculators will enable you to estimate the affordability, savings, bond and transfer fees of your future homeloan. We have much information to help you in making this significant decision. Please take time to browse our website.

Working With An Estate Agent

We work closely with estate agents and value their knowledge, experience and assistance in finding you, the home of your dreams. Here are 5 tips to getting the most from your Estate Agent:

Tip #1 Do You Come First?

Working with the right estate agent is important as buying a home is a sensitive and emotional experience. You need to feel comfortable with the agent and confident that they understand what your needs are. You will soon pick up if the agent you are working with identifies with your requirements and the type of home you wish to live in. If you are repeatedly shown unsuitable property, they don’t understand you. It usually pays to stick with one agent that you work well with until you find your purchase.

Tip #2 Do They Have A Good Track Record?

Make sure that you chose a reputable real estate company, and an agent, with track records that they are proud of. Don’t be afraid to ask about accreditation and test their knowledge of the area and prices by asking about property recently sold. They are normally linked to multi-listing which gives them a broad base from which to choose suitable homes to show you. They might even email you a number of properties to look at and receive your feedback on to better gauge your preferences and taste.

Tip #3 How Good Is Their Local Knowledge?

There are advantages to working with someone who specialises in an area and knows it well. They will have knowledge on the public transport, schools, shops and sporting facilities that most families will no doubt need. A worthy agent will be on good terms with other agents and realise the benefit this holds to those in the industry. They will also know about all the homes for sale, those about to be sold and what other agencies have on their books. In a case such as this, they will share the sale and happy to do so if the client finds their home.

Tip #4 Are They On Your Side?

Agents work on commission and in most cases represent the seller, which is understandable as they pay the estate agent’s fee. Be sure that the agent you chose to work with will also act for you by putting forward your questions, negotiating with the seller and disclosing any relevant information. An estate agent is required to act on your instruction but sometimes will impart alternative suggestions for you to consider. Real estate agencies have recourse to legal advice and they will advise you when they feel that you need a lawyer should things not run smoothly.

Tip #5 Do They Have Helpful Connections?

A good estate agent will be knowledgeable about municipal requirements if you wish to make alterations or carry our renovations. They will also know of qualified engineers, builders, contractors and workmen to refer you to which would be helpful if you are new to the area.

A Sweet Ending

Finding an estate agent who will take an interest in you and put in every effort to see a happy client at this stressful time in their lives is really the cherry on top when it comes to house hunting. To make sure that you don’t end up in a gingerbread house, let Homeloan Junction help you secure the best home loan and terms available. We have a 70% approval rate on all home loans we put forward.

Homeloan Junction’s head office is situated in Gauteng but we have branches and consultants in 7 provinces and in cities throughout the country. You could even join Homeloan Junction and enjoy a career as an independent homeloan originator under our training, guidance, using our products and network.

Five good reasons to go with a real estate agent

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While a real estate agent can’t cut through the red tape with regards to securing a homeloan, they can most certainly facilitate the home buying process so that it is as smooth and painless as possible. They have the skills, the resources and the experience to help make the process so much easier. This is particularly important for first time home buyers and for those purchasers who are dependent on the sale of their current house in order to afford a move up the property ladder.

1. Choices, Choices, Choices

As an expert in the real estate market, a real estate agent can assist you, the buyer, in finding a property that best suits your ideal location, size and needs at the most favourable terms. A good real estate agent will go to the effort of establishing the price range you can comfortably afford and not take you to view properties you can’t afford.

A real estate agent will usually work in a specific residential area and will therefore be familiar with logistics such as the positioning of a prospective home in relation to schools, shopping facilities, access routes and other amenities like medical facilities, bus routes and so on. And as an objective party, the agent can easily spot the strengths and weaknesses of a property. They will be able to highlight aspects of a prospective home that may still satisfy your expectations and needs even if said property does not quite meet all your given requirements.

2. The Duty’s in the Details

When you use a real estate agent to help you buy a property, the agent is legally and ethically duty bound to serve your best interests. This extends to not misrepresenting a prospective property. Your real estate agent is obliged to make you aware of any and all information in relation to the property including disclosing any defects the property may have. This said, should you have any doubts, it might be worth calling in an expert structural advisor as certifying your prospective home’s construction falls out of the purview of your agent. Full disclosure also covers any potential zoning issues your agent is aware of such as plans to build a three-storey apartment block on a neighbouring property as this could dramatically, and negatively, impact on the future value of your new home.

3. Help with your Homeloan Application

When you have made the ‘big’ decision, a good real estate agent can advise you on making a reasonable and market-related offer on your ‘dream’ home. If you’re in agreement, your agent will complete the obligatory ‘offer to purchase’ form on your behalf. Your estate agent can also assist with the homeloan application process; they all have long standing relationships with Bond Originators like Homeloan Junction.

4. Negotiating the Paperwork

The home buying process is complex and there is a great deal of paperwork involved. Once your offer to purchase has been accepted and your homeloan is secured, your real estate agent will guide you through the remaining purchasing hurdles and help you cross the finish line. Your Estate Agent will be with you until the sale is successfully closed and your new property is officially registered with the Title Deeds office.

5. Communication Counts

When you have a real estate agent helping you with the home buying process, you not only benefit from their expertise and knowledge; you get someone in your corner who will keep you informed through every step of the home buying process and be there for you in the event of problems with any aspect of the process. This goes a long way to alleviate the stress and risk involved in making such a critical financial commitment. Practising clear and open communication prevents misunderstandings and messy disputes down the line and is in the best interest of the agent whose reputation is at stake if he/she is marked as disreputable. After all, the agent doesn’t want what should be an exciting and positive experience for you to be tainted by buyer’s remorse.

Yours In Property

Vincent

3 Steps to master staying Motivated in our Economy

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In this blog I was going to write about the economy. But I have decided to talk about a few aspects of motivation.

One thing about the economy and the circus in parliament, is that we always need to be motivated. We who awake to a new month every month, must somehow understand what’s going on and then lift ourselves above the negative and move on. I like John Loos, FNB’s Property Economist. I have known him for many years as a good writer, extremely well researched and with a sense of humour. He wrote this month in the FNB Property Barometer:

“Some minor increase in economic growth in 2015 is not expected to provide any meaningful boost for residential demand growth in a slowly rising interest rate environment. While nominal house price growth may be slightly stronger in 2016, compared to 2015, this would be due to higher CPI and wage inflation next year and not necessarily due to market strengthening.

Rather, one should look at our real house price growth forecast, where house prices are adjusted for CPI inflation, to see our forecasts of weakening residential demand growth through 2015 and 2016 being reflected. Here, we expect a turn from positive average real house price growth for 2015 to negative real price growth in 2016.

Let’s make no mistake, the indicators still point to mediocrity at best.”

In turn, Barclay’s forecast of interest rates is that they will rise in September but as early as July 2015, from 9.25% to 10.50% by the end of next year.

What all of this is saying to you and I is that 2015 lacks lustre but is pretty good under the circumstances. 2016 will appear slightly better as GDP rises but inflation and rising interest rates will probably push things a little lower – hence the words: “mediocrity at best”.

But the great thing is that we have a task to wake up to. Some would say you don’t choose Property, Property chooses you. If that seems true in your life, then here’s some thoughts to take with you.

3 Steps to Master staying Motivated in our Economy:

  1. Look Up. Psychologists and Neuroscientists will all tell you that Looking Down is sure to take you down. The only time you look down is to gain perspective. Lift yourself out of the current pressure, step back from negativity, take a helicopter view and assess what is preventing you from success and motivation and then Look Up. The period you look down and around you is to understand what’s going on, what the causes are or may be, what you are allowing to control your life and how you may begin to arrest control again. Looking down is for perspective – is Eskom really that bad? Is South Africa really going to the dogs? – and then armed with the new truth, you begin the actions and the self-talk that take you back to positivity and motivation. That implies you Look Up. So what happens when you do? Well, faith begins to flow in your veins. If you are spiritual, you will know exactly what I mean. If you are less so, you will begin to “confirm” what is good and can still be counted a blessing in your life and in your country. You see, it is the action of taking the reality and then deciding the path through it, that is motivating. It is Action that casts our Fear, it is Desire that replaces Fear. You cannot deny how you feel but you can decide to not allow your feelings, often expressed as Fear or Negativity, to control your actions. Feelings are not inane, they have life and energy – one lecturer in my Executive Coaching diploma said “feelings are as good data as sales graphs.” The only question is how do you order your “feelings”, how do you take grip of them and allow their energy and “tingle on your skin” to drive you to success. Look Up is not so much a mighty action to Permanent Motivation but rather a day-by-day attitude to make the best and be the best you can be. Like a good golfer or tennis player, you look at those around you only to gain insight, to learn, to propel yourself and your game to new heights.
  2. Make Choices. There is a wonderful saying: “You make the choice and then the Choice Makes You.” How true! How many times do we look back and wish our choice had been different? But on the other hand, how many times do we look back and see the power and the sense of direction in our choices? Encourage yourself with those events that have been as a result of your choice and have turned out well. The lovely thing about Choice is that the one you make today is the one that sets the new direction. I struggle to say that your future is solely in your hands and you can create your future – I leave much room for the will of God. But it is undeniable that when a good choice has been made, it has changed the course of my life for good. Choices of who to marry, which company to work in or leave, what to study, what business to pursue, have all affected our lives and made them what they are. If the choices we have made in the past are so powerful to have brought us to this point, then why are the choices we decide on today not just as powerful? And things we must remember: Big choices are often disguised as small – what you eat is who you are, exercise is beneficial and taking some “me time” strengthens you – tiny things that when consistently applied, can change the way you think and who you become over time. Secondly, making a choice is Taking a Risk. I like to talk about the law of Unintended Consequences. Just like Murphy’s Law [if something can go wrong, it will], unintended consequences will occur – after all, you are just human and you cannot see everything that can happen. Making a choice often involves risk-taking. The challenge is not to stop making choices, the challenge is to manage the risk. Do that as part of your decisioning, do that as you transition from one state to another, and then be prepared to do that as your choice unfolds through action and execution. Risk is not risk because it does not exist for the fearless entrepreneur [yes that’s you every month, my successful homeloan consultant and estate agent!], risk is not avoidable, it is only to be managed.
  3. Choose Your Company. It is the people we mix with and spend time with that define who we become, what we believe, what we consider as important and how we progress. That cynic, the person who with sarcasm makes some people laugh, the demotivators who complain all day and live here anyway, the guy who is unfocused and complains about the state of the market – all of them have more of an impact on us than we choose to believe. I listened to JP Landman last week as he spoke about removing the “noise” so as to see what is really happening. On Kyknet, he had previously described himself as a “Rational Optimist” – he sees the reality and then sees the hope for a brighter future. Needless to say, it was refreshing for me. Sometimes seeing politicians turn the gravitas of parliament into the colourfulness of a circus, sometimes sitting in load-shedding is not “romantic”, sometimes, well, I’m not as optimistic as I should be.. but then I am in the company of a man who provides tangible proof that “things are not that bad” and my spirits lift. When you’re feeling the stress of the market, when cash flow looks bleak, when relationships falter, when flu strikes, when illness besets you – look at the company you’re keeping. Do those people motivate and encourage you? Do they make you laugh until your belly wobbles? Do they inform you, guide you, express an honest opinion, avoid advice and let you think things through yourself? Find these people, mix with them and see the difference. And, by the way, BE ONE FOR OTHERS.

Motivation is not a feeling, motivation is an action. Homeloan Junction says to all of those that share a common view, Look Up, Make Choices and Choose Your Company – it may just be the antidote that changes the course of your life.

Yours in Property.