|
|
 |
| |
I IIssue: November
2005 I Editor: Berry Everitt I |
|
| |
|
|
|
Your Area Specialist:
Chas Everitt International
sales agents have all the latest market information
regarding local property values at their fingertips
– and are committed to the highest standards of
personal service when it comes to selling your home.
In addition, the Chas Everitt International property
group offers you, the homeowner, the best possible exposure
for your property in both national and international
markets. So if you are thinking of selling your home,
call your nearest Chas Everitt International office
today for the name of your local area specialist - or
visit www.everitt.co.za
|
|
|
Every month the Property
Signpost Newsletter will be issued to all our
subscribers, filled with real estate information to
help you make an informed decision, whether you are
buying or selling a property.
|
|
|
Contents
1. Welcome By Publisher
2. Keep Your Home Safe This Summer
3. How
to Sell Your Home Long-distance
4. Put a Sparkle in Your Bathroom and Your
Buyer’s Eye
5. Simple
Precautions to Keep the Holiday Fun Rolling
|
1.
Welcome By Publisher
Summertime, and the living
is easy… especially if you’re one of
the 114 Chas Everitt International top achievers who
are jetting out to Buenos Aires this week for our
annual ‘Funvention’ – five days
of sun, sightseeing and recognition for a year’s
worth of hard work.
Having taken all our top achievers
to Sugar Beach in Mauritius last year, we were looking
for a very different venue this year – and where
better, we thought, than the capital of Argentina,
famous for great gaucho hospitality and great leather
goods but most of all for the tango, the ultimate
expression of the current Latin American dance frenzy?
But learning to dance the tango (properly)
is just one of the items on the recreational itinerary
of our high-fliers – each of whom sold more
than R15-million worth of property this year. We have
also scheduled river cruises, fabulous shopping excursions
and a gala awards evening with a distinctly different
flavour.
However, more of that on our return.
For now, all we want to say is: “Wish you were
here…”
| Back
to Top |
|
2.
Keep Your Home Safe This Summer
Reliable home security depends on more than just
the latest high-tech alarm system – a bit of
common sense can go a long way to making your home
your castle.
Sophisticated alarm systems do have obvious advantages.
They alert you when intruders try to gain access to
your property; they summon help from neighbours or
a security company if you are connected to their surveillance
network; and they may save you some money on your
insurance premiums.
Fear of the murder and mayhem that can occur during
a burglary is also often strong enough to overcome
homeowners’ concerns about the cost, maintenance
and monitoring fees on such systems.
But experts believe that the aim of homeowners should
be to reduce crime as much as to combat it, and say
significant results can be achieved by simply altering
one's physical surroundings.
Some house designs, while charming and attractive,
can encourage criminal activity. Recessed doorways
and alcoves, for example, offer hiding places for
criminals while fences or walls with crosspieces can
be used as ladder rungs.
On the other hand, simple measures such as pruning
overgrown vegetation at entrances and installing garden
lights to eliminate dark hiding spots can go a long
way to discourage would-be burglars.
The experts agree there are three types of burglars
- professional, semi-professional and amateur –
and say that homeowners are fortunately mostly exposed
to members of the last two categories, who are essentially
opportunists looking for easy targets, and will generally
think twice about attempting a burglary when the risk
of detection is high.
However, if your home has recently been burgled,
the odds of it happening again are high, because the
criminals will figure on the stolen items having been
replaced with new ones.
And when your house is unoccupied – perhaps while
you’re away on holiday this festive season or
just out visiting friends for the day - it will be more
vulnerable. You’ll need to keep that in mind when
reviewing your security arrangements this summer –
and it may be well worth your while to seek advice from
a security professional.
| Back to Top
|
|
|
3.
How to Sell Your Home Long-distance
A better job offer or promotion to
a position in another town or city is usually a step
up the corporate ladder – but can present problems
if you have to move in a hurry and still have to sell
your house.
One possible solution is to ask your
spouse or partner to stay behind to put the house on
the market and tend to all the details inherent in selling
a property before joining you.
But if that is not feasible, there
are a number of things you can and should do to ensure
your property remains secure, retains its “kerb
appeal” and sells as quickly as possible. These
include:
* Possibly installing exterior sensor
lights that automatically switch on when it gets dark
and switch off at sunrise. Cancel all deliveries, such
as newspapers, and consider leaving the windows curtained.
* If you have a security alarm, leave
it in place – just remember to leave your entrance
code with your estate agent.
* Reviewing the stipulations of your
homeowners’ insurance. Many companies offer limited
cover while a property is vacant and it may be worth
your while to hire a house-sitter who will also keep
up the kerb appeal by mowing the lawn, raking up leaves,
watering the garden and cleaning the pool.
* Ensuring that all the finishes in
the house, especially the paintwork, are impeccable.
A fresh coat of paint in a neutral colour may well be
a good investment, especially if the house will be viewed
when empty. Also make sure that the home is spotlessly
clean – get those carpets professionally cleaned.
* Staying in close contact with your
estate agent. Ask for regular feedback such as how many
people are viewing the house and what their reaction
is.
| Back to Top |
|
4.
Put a Sparkle in Your Bathroom and Your Buyer’s Eye
|
The bathroom is a key selling
point when putting your home on the market, coming
a close second to the kitchen. And while luxury homes
sometimes offer bathrooms on the scale of a Roman
bath house, with stretches of marble and spiralling
columns, under-floor heating, steam showers and even
fridges and fireplaces these days, even a modest update
of an ordinary bathroom can bring about a quicker
sale.
What’s more, homeowners can
expect to recover about 88 percent of the cost of
any bathroom renovation once they sell.
If you can afford it, you should
consider replacing the old bathroom suite, having
the floor and walls tiled and installing a vanity.
But if you’re on a very tight budget, or need
to sell urgently, try repainting the bathroom in a
neutral shade and installing a large new medicine/
makeup cabinet and some additional lighting for a
quick fix.
Then make sure all surfaces, especially
mirrors and fittings, are polished up to a sparkle,
hang some new towels and add suitable extras such
as flowers, candles and bottles of bath oil for a
luxurious look.
| Back
to Top |
|
5.
Simple Precautions to Keep the Holiday Fun Rolling
It’s that time of the
year again when children can’t wait for the
last peal of the school bell that will set them free
for weeks of holiday fun.
But parents need to be aware that
many dangers may lurk in their own back yards and
they especially need to check any playground equipment,
tree houses, rope ladders and of course, pool fences
and covers.
Statistics show that a considerable
proportion of children’s injuries every year
– including severe fractures, internal injuries,
concussions, dislocations and amputations –
result from playing on faulty jungle gyms, slides,
and swings installed at home.
And although this is rather scary,
there is much parents can do to prevent these holiday
disasters. The following checklist will make the task
easier:
* Make sure possible falls end in
a soft landing by maintaining a shock absorbent groundcover.
You need a 15cm layer of wood chips, mulch or shredded
rubber to offer protection for equipment 2m high.
* Make sure protective surfaces extend
at least 2m in all directions from stationary playground
equipment and four times the height of the suspending
bar around swings.
* Make sure no ropes, clotheslines
or pet leashes that could be a potential strangulation
hazard are attached to the equipment.
* Sand down any sharp edges or protrusions
and remove and replace, or cover open s-hooks and
protruding bolts.
* Check that openings in guardrails
and between ladder rungs pose no hazard. Spaces should
be less than 10cm or more than 25cm so that little
feet (and heads) will not get stuck.
* Make sure there is adequate spacing
between swings. Suspended swings should be at least
20cm apart. The distance between a swing and the support
frame and between the ground and underside of the
swing seat should also be at least 20cm.
* Swing seats should be made of a
soft material and safely secured and parents should
ensure that slide surface do not pose a burning hazard
in hot weather.
Parents and childminders should also
ensure that older children obey safety rules such
as not walking in front of moving swings, while younger
children should preferably be fully supervised on
playground equipment.
| Back
to Top |
|
|
|
|
