Selling The Second Property
This street view image from Google was taken in 2009 and the place is far more overgrown today. Should have bought bitcoin instead lol and lived in a tent. The one good thing is this property has never been broken into and touchwood have had no serious encounters like others in the area have had.
One of the reasons going down to Durban over the festive period was to pop in and assess what needs to be done to market the second property. Two weeks before we left I had received a call that the pool motor had packed up which I find incredible since it is only 1 year old after being replaced due to lightning strikes. Whilst there I paid for a new motor and pool services to maintain the pool until the property is sold. This is a key selling point and what better than a sparkling blue pool enticing the new owners.
I wanted to sell the house 3 years ago but things got delayed due to covid and haven't had the chance to even give it much thought. The Summer months are the ideal selling time so need it on the market within the next 4-6 weeks.
The house having had tenants occupying paying the bond for the last 10 years I was not sure what to expect. The decision to get rid of it now is the wisest one financially as it has become an endless pit sucking money for unseen circumstances far too often. Storm damage is something that occurred fairly often whether lightning or just the sheer volume of water during heavy rain damaging the boundary wall.
In October we had a burst pipe underground that had obviously been going for a few weeks as the bill that arrived at the end of the month was eye watering. The tenants hadn't picked it up as no one had been gardening and the area was knee deep in leaves. The plumber who repaired it heard it before spotting it and tells you the tenants aren't the gardening type. This is probably the 6th or 7th burst pipe in the 10 year period. The problem is every time their is repair work done on the mainline outside our property it changes the water pressure so when the water finally is turned back on it knocks out the weakest spot.
Can't really complain though as the bond has been paid off and makes for a decent pay day. I would keep it if the Rand wasn't weakening plus all the surprises which seem to hit the pocket regularly. If you aren't living there then this will happen. A house 600km away is going to rely heavily on trust.
Generally speaking I was a little shocked at how little that needs to be done besides a fresh coat of paint. Trees that have grown and need trimming back creating problems but it is all minor issues. The avocado tree has fruit the size of mini footballs which can be fairly dangerous in high winds. The other fruit available is bananas, litchis and papaya. This attracts the monkeys which are cute, but they do bring their own problems.
We have a trusted builder who is going to do some minor adjustments and should be completed within a few weeks. There is a lot of house compared to other houses in the area as the main house has 4 bedrooms along with a granny flat a teenage pad and servants quarters. Most houses don't offer such versatile living space which could be adopted in any way one saw fit. The teenage pad would make a perfect office for anyone working from home.
The one bonus if you like your weed (tropical climate) is the neighbor has some serious bushes growing. His entire back yard is basically weed plants and they are quite impressive what he has going on. My tenants get a free supply regularly as there is no hiding them as they are that big.
This was the first house we bought when we returned from the UK when the exchange rates were roughly 10/1 and now sit at 21/1 so that investment has stood still and why it is time to get out of it before we drop even more. There will be a profit from purchase price to selling price having increased in value by 300% over that time but not that much if you do the exchange rates. The aim will be to move the funds into another property in Europe somewhere away from the declining Rand.
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
