Please note that when a potential buyer looks at your home he will react to first impressions and small details. Here are a few tips to make sure that your home attracts a buyer at first sight.
Appeal
Make sure that all exterior paintwork is in good condition, flower beds and lawns are trimmed and weed-free, roof and gutters are in good repair and the front entrance is clean and inviting. Many a potential purchaser has turned down a property because “he didn’t like the look of it”, yet the accommodation, position and price would have been perfect for him.
Driveway, Garages & Car Port
Ensure that the garage door is in good working order, the garage interior neat and tidy, the driveway free of weeds and grease or oil marks and the carport presentable.
Patios & Stoeps
Attractive outdoor furniture will help to enhance this area. Cut back creepers, which prevent light from entering adjoining rooms.
Swimming pools
These must be sparkling and clean. If algae growth has marked the marble coating, consider calling in experts and have the pool acid washed and cleaned.
Windows
Replace cracked or broken panes, wash windows, and check fittings and paintwork. Curtain rails must be firmly attached to walls and curtains should be clean and property hung.
Doors
Check and wash paintwork, polish handles and locks, oil hinges and tighten doorknobs.
Cupboards
Untidy or overcrowded cupboards suggest inadequate storage space.
Floors & Carpets
Professional steam cleansing will rejuvenate a tired looking wall-to-wall carpet and a good polish will bring out the natural beauty of a wooden strip floor. If need be, replace Novilon flooring in kitchen and bathroom – a small amount spent can make a great difference in the final selling price.
Lights & Light Fittings
All should be functional and globes replaced where necessary.
Kitchen
Stove, refrigerator and sink should be spotless, all workspace should be clear.
Plumbing
If basins and bathtubs cannot be spring cleaned, re-enameling is relatively inexpensive and adds value to your home. Replace broken tiles, fix noisy or leaking toilets, and repair all dripping taps and repair broken putty around the bath, basin and shower. A new set of colorful towels and a few flowering pot plants in the bathroom make all the difference.
Garden & Sprinkler System
Besides being neat and tidy, a few trays of flowering annuals in strategic places will highlight the beauty of your garden. If a sprinkler system is part of your special fixtures, make sure it is in proper working order.
Pets & Odors
Both can put off potential buyers. Unfortunately, not all people feel comfortable with animals and most people are offered by smell. However, if necessary put a few drops of vanilla essence in a hot oven, this will cover up any mishap.
General
When visiting your home, prospective buyers must be at ease, unobserved, comfortable and free to voice their feelings. We recommend that you be away from your home if possible. All refuse to be removed. Backyards to be clean and tidy.
Have You Contacted:
- Post Office to disconnect your phone, redirection of mail
- TV license
- Municipality to disconnect water and lights and connect at new address
- Have You Sent Your New Address to:
- Bank or building society
- Credit and facilities
- Dept Home Affairs (ID book)
- Electoral Officer
- Motor Licensing Department
- Clubs and Societies
- Your Employer
- Publications and reading matters
- Library
- Car & Life Assurance Company
- Shares/Investment
- Hire purchase and charge accounts
- School Principal
- Church
- Friends and Relatives
- Lawyer/Accountant/Stockbroker
- Insurance broker
- Doctor/Dentist/Optician
Other Reminders:
- Confirm your removal date
- Arrange insurance to move
- Electrician to disconnect stove
- TV aerial to be dismantled (if applicable)
- Clean out bathroom cabinet
- Dispose of outdated medicines
- Drain fuel from heaters/lamps/lawnmowers/gas cylinders
- Arrange safe-keeping of fire arms/jewelry/money/important
documents/insurance policies/passports - Ensure you have copies of pets’ vaccination certificates for new Veterinary Surgeon.
Please Note:
Your property specialist will be happy to assist you in any queries you may have about preparing your home to sell.
Show days are a successful sales medium for selling real estate. In fact, putting your home on show is essential if you want to sell it in the shortest possible time at the best price. To market your home successfully you must ensure that you have a knowledgeable agent who knows your area well and can guide you through the sales process with a minimum of fuss.
A show-day is advantageous for buyers – the whole family is able to view its prospective new home together at leisure. For the seller, the home should be as well presented as possible for one day. The inconvenience of leaving home for part of that day is far less inconvenient than taking refuge in your home should agents want to show around potential buyers during the week.
Preparation is the keyword to show-days – a manicured lawn, neat flowerbeds, and clearance of refuse. A bowl or two of flowers enhances the salability of your home.
A few liters of paint work wonders and can often add thousands of Dollars to the value of your property. Remember to choose neutral colors, for they have the greatest appeal. Kitchens and bathrooms should receive extra attention and must be spotless. Fix dripping taps and replace any loose grouting. Pay special attention to gutters and if you have a pool, ensure that it is sparkling.
What Are the Benefits to the Seller?
Agents operate from the same “Pool of Buyers”.
Buyers often visit all the show-houses in the area they are interested in. These buyers are usually registered with the various real estate agencies dealing with those properties. Therefore, employing five different Agencies to market your property does not mean that your property will be exposed to five times as many Buyers.
To achieve the best price, BUYERS must compete for your property, not the Estate Agent.
With a Sole Agent, all potential Buyers for a property are obliged to negotiate through the Agent, who is then in a position to create a “platform of competition” between the interested parties. Conversely, if a different Agent introduces each of these Buyers to the property, a situation develops where one Agent competes with another for the property (with the seller), instead of the Buyers competing with one another on the price.
Estate Agents are “answerable” to their Exclusive Mandate properties
Properties under Exclusive Mandate are given priority on the Agent’s list of properties. These properties receive preferential treatment from the Agent’s company.
Brokerage conflicts can occur when a property is marketed with no Exclusive Mandate. If one Agency brings a Buyer to see your property one morning and another Agency arranges that evening, both Agencies might claim to be the effective cause of sale, and as a consequence both would feel they are due their full brokerage. In dealing exclusively with CAPRICORN ESTATE AGENCY during the period of the Exclusive Mandate, you will avoid competing claims for brokerage.
Our Commitment
– What we will do for you:
CAPRICORN ESTATE AGENCY commits itself, under obligation, to present your home to carefully selected target market on an “Exclusive ” basis. We will tailor-design a marketing program for your property including:
- Development of a buyer profile
- Contacting qualified buyers
- Prepare window and advertising displays
- Prepare photographs for window and advertising displays
- Schedule show days (if applicable)
- Inform agents of your property
- Screening of all potential buyers
- Viewing, by appointment only
- Open house campaign
- Intensive marketing
- Inclusion of your property on our Internet site
- Advertising strategy and plan
- Progress report
Please Note:
During the period of the Sole Mandate, extensive effort, time and financial input is required to market your property. Thus, we reserve the right to claim brokerage should your property be sold by any other Agency, or by yourself, during the Sole Mandate period. Similarly, should any buyer, introduced by us during the Sole Mandate period, subsequently purchase the property (within 90 days of the expiry date of the Sole Mandate), we reserve the right to claim brokerage irrespective of any claim by any other agency, or irrespective of you having personally sold the property to such a buyer.
Sole Mandate – The Best Option
Unfortunately, owners often choose an open mandate when marketing their homes, believing that the more agents they have working on their property, the sooner they will achieve a good price for their house. In fact the reverse is often true, as no agent likes to spend time and money on a property they might not sell.
Under a Sole Mandate, both the Agent and the Agency are contractually bound to do their very best to market your home within the period of time laid out in the Sole Mandate.
Why a Sole Mandate with CAPRICORN ESTATE AGENCY?
One Agency is responsible.
A Sole Agent will often obtain a higher price when they know they have time to negotiate with the Buyer, without worrying that another agent might “get in first”.
More than one Agent will often result in a lower price because buyers always want the most house for the least money and they select the Agent they feel will get them the house for the lowest price.
A Sole Mandate secures you a Better Marketing Plan, a Concentrated Effort and Wider Coverage and prevents any claims for double commission when the same buyer is brought through your home twice.
All buyers shop around so your Sole Agent, generally speaking, will have the same buyers as all the other agents in town.
MOST IMPORTANT: Your Security and Privacy are protected as only your Sole Agent will contact you and bring the buyers to your home.
As your Sole Agents We Agree:
To qualify buyers before bringing them to your home
To give you regular reports and to follow up all leads
It is easy for an agent to put a price on your home without doing the necessary market estimates, but if this price is too high and the prospective purchaser does not find the value compared to the prices of other houses in the area, the house will not sell. Eventually this will result in a reduced sale price.
Your home should never become “stale”. It is not possible to correctly price a home without first determining its value!
Your CAPRICORN ESTATE AGENCY Agent will recommend a Marketing Price, which is established by doing a Comparative Market Analysis of similar homes sold recently in your area.
Remember the Purchaser in the market place will determine the value! – Only he knows what he is prepared to pay.
Please Beware of Over Valuation
IT CAN DAMAGE THE SALE BECAUSE:
- It loses Prospective Buyers
- It Eliminates Offers
- It Reduces the Agents Efforts
- It Reduces the Agents Enthusiasm
- It Limits Financing
- It is Used as a Bouncer
- It eventually means a Lower Price
Interesting Facts
- A house listed within 10% of the Market Value takes 60 days to sell.
- A house listed within 20% of the Market Value takes 90 – 120 days to sell.
- A house listed at more than 20% higher than the Market Value takes more than 130 days to sell.
Property in Namibia is normally purchased through a broker or real estate agent, whether it be residential, commercial or industrial property. A real estate agent should be registered as a member of the Estate Agents Board. This way, both purchaser and seller are protected by what is referred to as a fidelity fund certificate (held by a registered estate agent). This is a document, which guarantees certain rights for the buyer and seller.
Once a sale agreement for the purchase of property in Namibia has been completed, as a foreigner, the matter of payment must be considered. According to Namibian law, all such transactions must be routed through the Namibian Reserve Bank.
The Namibian Reserve Bank refers to foreigners as NON RESIDENTS – whether it be a natural person or legal identity, whose normal place of residence, domicile or registration is outside the common monetary area of Namibia.
Non-residents may purchase a property in Namibia and may borrow up to a maximum of 50% of the purchase price in this country, the other 50% of the funds having been brought into the country by the applicant. The total amount that may be borrowed is at the commercial bank’s discretion, and applicants are advised to shop around.
All requests for foreign purchases of Namibian property must be routed through an “Authorized Dealer”, i.e. registered bankers, and not directly to the Namibian Reserve Bank. The Reserve bank normally takes between 4 to 10 days to process such applications. On receipt of Reserve Bank approval (for a non-resident to utilize bond facilities), a non-resident account must be opened by the applicant in Namibia to facilitate bond repayments. This account would normally be funded from abroad or from rentals received on the property purchased. (Subject to the Bank holding the account being provided with a copy of any rental agreement).
Exchange Control is currently going through a process of deregulation in Namibia, to make it progressively easier for foreigners to invest in this country, and for Namibians to do business abroad. However, it remains a complex subject and anyone dealing as a non-resident investing in Namibia is strongly advised to consult a reputable property lawyer for advice relating to individual specifications. The Reserve Bank retains considerable control, and while certain guidelines have been set, allowances will be made for exceptional circumstances.
Namibia has an advanced and professionally administered land registration system. It offers an unusual degree of certainty in regard to the ownership of property, specifically in regard to the details of owners past and present, descriptions of the extent of the property and any limitations or rights in the property.
However, we address some of these below:
Is my investment secure?
The banking systems in Namibia are dependable, established and highly technologically advanced. Transfer of funds through the registered Namibian banks is secure and guaranteed. Once the money has been transferred through a bank it is normally held in trust by attorneys, either on your behalf, or on behalf of the seller. The concept of the holding of funds in trust by attorneys is a cornerstone of the attorney’s practice and is regulated by the various Law Societies and secured by Attorneys Fidelity Insurance.
Will I be able to get my money out of Namibia?
Namibian law stipulates that funds brought into the country by a non-resident may be repatriated at any time, as well as any capital gain. The processing of repatriations through Exchange Control will probably be dispensed with in the near future.
What types of ownership are current?
Freehold is the most current property ownership. Other ownership methods include sectional title ownership.
Can non-residents own property?
Non-residents can own property partially or wholly, in their own names or through ownership of an interest in one or other form of legal entity.
Which is the best form of ownership?
The most common form of ownership is that of individual title. However, property may also be held through share ownership in companies, in close corporations or trust, for a number of different reasons, usually relating to savings on tax or transfer duty or protection of assets.
Companies and Trusts in Namibia are based on English Law and are very similar in nature to those in England. A close corporation is a type of company, which is flexible and cheaper to form and administer than a normal incorporated company. A close corporation or trust can usually be formed in less than a month. A proprietary limited company may take a few weeks longer.
Method of ownership
On signature by a purchaser and seller of a valid Deed of Sale, the purchaser acquires property. Deeds of Sale are often drafted in the form of an Offer by the purchaser to the seller. While these documents may be described as “Offers to Purchase”, they legally constitute Deeds of Sale, which, on signature, become valid and binding on both parties. Other than the requirement that the sale of a property is to be contained in a document, which clearly describes the parties, the property and the purchase price, and the document is signed by both parties, there are no other formal requirements for the execution of an enforceable agreement. In other words, once the signatories sign, they are immediately bound. Accordingly if advice is to be sought, it should be sought before signature. Once the agreement is signed, the actual change of ownership of the property from seller to purchaser is done by a specialized attorney (solicitor) known as a conveyancer, who registers the transfer of ownership at the Deeds Registry. This process normally takes eight to ten weeks.
Are there cost in addition to the purchase price?
There are various costs involved in the transfer of property in Namibia Examples of these, below, are exclusive of Value Added Tax (VAT) at 15%.
The “transfer costs” relate to the costs of the transferring attorney. They are calculated on a sliding scale regulated by a tariff and normally amount to between 1% and 2% of the purchase price.
Secondly, there is a “transfer duty” a government tax, which applies in every case, except where the seller is a registered VAT vendor selling the property as stock in trade. (In this case VAT would be payable). Transfer duty is payable by the purchaser. Where the purchaser is a natural person, transfer duty is calculated on the following scale:
1% on the first N$60 000.00 of the purchase price;
5% on N$60 000.00 to N$250 000.00; and 8% on the balance.
This cost will be borne by the purchaser. In addition, stamp duty will be paid by the purchaser at a rate of 0.2% of the amount secured by the bond. There may also be inspection fees charged by the bank, in the region of 0.2% of the valuation.
Thirdly, there is the commission of the estate agent, which is usually about 7%. It is normally paid by the seller, although it may be agreed by the parties that it be paid by the purchaser. Fourthly, where mortgage finance is utilized, there will be mortgage bond registration fees payable to the registering attorney according to a prescribed tariff.
Can property be leased to other?
Namibian property owners have all the normal rights of ownership including the right to recover rental income from lessees. Rental income is normally taxable in Namibia.
To what taxation am I liable?
Namibia has a source-based taxation system. In other words, tax is paid on income, which is produced in Namibia but not on income, which is produced overseas.
Accordingly, income received, for example, from the renting out of a property purchased here, is subject to taxation. Taxation of individuals is levied according to a sliding scale and therefore it is not possible to state a fixed rate of taxation. All other relevant taxes have been outlined above and are paid on transfer of the property, either in the form of transfer duty or VAT, depending on whether the seller of the property is registered as a VAT vendor. Should you have further questions regarding taxation, CAPRICORN ESTATE AGENCY will be happy to advise you on specific questions.
Does a property purchase affect applications for permanent residence?
Permanent residence applications are assessed completely independently of the issue of property in South Africa. However, in assessing whether an applicant for permanent residence has complied with certain requirements in regard to the amount of funds which must be imported into South Africa, the value of property purchased in South Africa will be included in the calculation of the amounts brought into the country and in this way will facilitate an application for permanent residence.
International World Wide Selling – Providing Global 24 hour Access to Namibian Property
The Benefits of Placing Your Property Onto the Internet:
The Internet is now becoming recognized as a valuable marketing tool. Access users from this country as well as all over the globe are tapping in to this vast information resource: currently, there are 40 million Internet users per day, and the number are increasing rapidly.
CAPRICORN ESTATE AGENCY’s Internet site ensures that your property will be exposed to the potential buyer who will be able to access information and photographs of your property from any Internet computer access site in the world.
(Disclaimer: The above information can be changed at any time but Capricorn Estate Agency should be contacted to get the latest update on foreign investment in Namibia)
