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If you are looking around at estates and can get hold of a developer and deal with them directly you can save even more money by cutting out the agents, says property development consultant Andrzej Szolkiewicz.
He said commission is generally in the region of 4% to 7% so again, on a R3m house you can save yourself a good R150 000, if not more.
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Szolkiewicz cautioned potential home owners to be weary when shopping around for developers, because "you can get developers at very good prices, you can get very expensive developers but the best way to establish which developer is right for you is to get references".
References are key because after your house is built - say two years - you may find it to have cracks everywhere, your kitchen may be of a poor quality and those things are major things to fix at a later stage.
"When buying a newly built house from a developer they will issue certain warranties and guaranties and those might include a guarantee on the kitchen, on the plumbing, the electrical. If anything should happen within a year it will be his responsibility to rectify those problems."
Szolkiewicz also said the choice of finishes that a buyer would be entitled to from a developer is really limited to what the developer is willing to compromise on. This could be anything from tiles, the colour of the house to the kitchen design - "anything the developer would like you to get involved with, but in general developers like you to stay out as much as possible, the reason for that is that any changes causes massive delays".
"Every single homeowner wants to have the finishes they've always dreamt of... a really good tip ...if you are entitled to some finishes is to make sure you get all those taps, light fittings, whatever the developer requires of you on time."
- Fin24
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