Guide to buying a house with Acutts!

A quick guide to help you find your new home:

Buying a home can be quite a scary thing, especially if you are buying a property for the first time. If you are looking to buy a home in South Africa, please read this article first as it will give you some insight into the process involved and hopefully will give you a better understanding of the buyig process.

Step 1: Find out if you qualify for a homeloan:
Firstly you need to know if you qualify for a home loan. We can assist you with our pre-qualification process by calculating what you could afford as well as assist you with the process of applying for a bond when you have found your dream home. Talk to your Acutts Mortgage Division (AMD) Consultant.

Step 2: Budget and Location. How much can you afford?
There are a few things you have to know in order to make sure that the rest of the buying process runs as smoothly as possible. Most importantly, you have to find out how much you can borrow. The loan amount is calculated based on your household income, monthly credit commitments such as loans and credit cards expenditure. The affordability calculator will give you an idea of bond amount that you may qualify for. Talk to your AMD consultant  to also assist you in making the right decision. Stretching your finances to the limit could prove very costly in the future. What we suggest is that you find out how much your monthly bond repayment will be and whether you will be able to afford them.

Step 3: Finding your ideal home – What do you want from your home?
Once you’ve got an idea of how much you can afford, the next step would be to consider where you want to buy your new home. Accessibility to work and schools are worth careful consideration, as are the location and quality of shops, doctors and schools. Contact your nearest Acutts Estate Agents office and they will make arrangements to meet with you and assist you with finding a home that best suits your needs.

Step 4: Securing a home loan – Work with someone you can trust:
The next step is to secure a home loan or bond. This is where Acutts Mortgage Division is at your service to ensure that you obtain the best interest rates possible, with no fuss, and no cost to you. There’s no running around as Acutts Mortgage Division does the work on your behalf applying to all the major banks for the best possible homeloan or mortgage terms available. Fill out only one set of documents and we’ll set out the home loan choices that suit you best.

Step 5: Find the home, make the offer:
Once you have found the property you want to buy, it’s time to put in an offer. Remember that the asking price is how much the seller hopes to get for the property – not necessarily how much they realistically expect – and your first offer can be below the asking price.
Once you have made an offer, it is up to the seller to accept or reject it.

It is also possible that other buyers are putting offers in at the same time, so it’s a good idea to research into the typical price of such a property or you may find yourself caught in a bidding war. If the seller does reject your first offer, you can always put in a higher offer later.

Step 6: Completing the offer to purchase:
The safest way of purchasing a home is to have your Acutts estate agent draw up the Offer to Purchase Document for you. They will then thoroughly explain each and every clause. This will guarantee hassle-free paperwork and avoid disappointments. The Offer to purchase is a binding contract when all parties concerned have signed it. The verbal sale of property is invalid.

You as the buyer are responsible for payment of all costs and fees in regard to registration of the bond and for the transfer duty. Make sure you budget for this expense! Your Acutts Mortgage Loan consultant will be able to advise you of all these costs.