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Cape Town - Do you want to follow in the footsteps of Fin24 user Neil Vorster, who used clever townhouse investments to finance his daughters' education and give them a head start in life?
TPN managing director Michelle Dickens provides useful guidelines for would-be property investors in Finweek magazine.
Here are her tips:
- Tenants look for neat, properly maintained units rather than super-sized properties;
- Full titles are harder to maintain than sectional title units;
- Tenants shy away from gardens and pools which they will have to keep in shape - they are best avoided;
- Your best price target, which will also attract the most desirable type of tenant, lies within the R3 000 to R7 000 monthly rental range;
- Location still counts - your best bet is a property close to where you live;
- You will need to send out monthly statements, including water and electricity charges;
- Don't forget incoming and outgoing inspections;
- You may need to chase up tenants who don't pay on time - think follow-ups by letter, phone and emails;
- Maintenance is a must, whether planned (a paint job) or unexpected (a burst water pipe); and
- Do you want to go it alone, or hand over day-to-day management to a rental agency for a fee?
Have you had a good or bad experience as a landlord?
* Tell us your story
* Write a guest post
TPN managing director Michelle Dickens provides useful guidelines for would-be property investors in Finweek magazine.
Here are her tips:
- Tenants look for neat, properly maintained units rather than super-sized properties;
- Full titles are harder to maintain than sectional title units;
- Tenants shy away from gardens and pools which they will have to keep in shape - they are best avoided;
- Your best price target, which will also attract the most desirable type of tenant, lies within the R3 000 to R7 000 monthly rental range;
- Location still counts - your best bet is a property close to where you live;
- You will need to send out monthly statements, including water and electricity charges;
- Don't forget incoming and outgoing inspections;
- You may need to chase up tenants who don't pay on time - think follow-ups by letter, phone and emails;
- Maintenance is a must, whether planned (a paint job) or unexpected (a burst water pipe); and
- Do you want to go it alone, or hand over day-to-day management to a rental agency for a fee?
Have you had a good or bad experience as a landlord?
* Tell us your story
* Write a guest post