Top tips for finding the right property

Getting the best deal takes time, research and expertise so get your affairs in order first.

If you’ve spent any amount of time looking for a property to rent or buy, you’ll know that getting the biggest bang for your buck is no straightforward task. It takes time, research and a bit of property-related savvy to know what to ask and look for when assessing a landlord’s or seller’s offerings.

The following are some tips for getting some of this right:

• Get all your ducks in a row

If you don’t know how much you can actually afford to spend on rent or a bond each month, you won’t necessarily be able to know in which areas to start looking.

Get your budget in order so you have a clear picture of what your fixed and regular expenses are versus your actual income. Look for where can you cut back on expenses so you can save more towards a deposit on your rent or home loan.

In addition, get a credit check. “If you don’t have a good credit score, financial lenders will be less likely to offer you a home loan, and landlords will be nervous to rent their property out to you,” says Carla Visagie, National Business Manager at Just Property. How to get a credit check Just Property’s Credit Check Me service provides you with your personal credit report so that you can know what your current credit profile looks like. If you don’t get a great score, you can then work on improving it – by paying off debt, removing incorrect information off your credit report or opening credit accounts to provide credit bureaus with a healthier and more active credit history.

When it comes to buying a property, you’ll also need to get your credit score, do an affordability check and work on getting a pre-qualification certificate. Get out there We recommend you start looking at properties in your price range as often and early as you can. It takes time to build up enough knowledge about a specific area and related property prices to feel informed and equipped enough to put in an offer to purchase.

Get a reputable estate agent on your side

“Our Just Property Estate Agents do property evaluations based on systems or tools, such as Lightstone, to compile a comparative market analysis (CMA) so they have a general idea of what the property market is doing in a specific area. They also use area stats and information about sales prices in that area to help price a property,” says Visagie.