Not everyone has tales of woe to tell about their property
buying experiences, but there certainly are a number of them
around. Here are but a few houses of horror which highlight
some of the issues that buyers need to beware of.
CASE ONE
An English couple arrived in South Africa looking for a small-holding
on which to establish a tourism site, found what was potentially
the right site, and asked the estate agent what the next step
was. Under the estate agents guidance, they completed an offer
to purchase for the full asking price, which was duly accepted.
Used to English property practices, the couple were pleased
that they had agreed a price for the property should they
decide to go ahead with the purchase.
What happened next?
They discovered that there were an additional 8% of costs
involved in the transfer which they had not been made aware
of when they signed the offer. With these extra costs involved,
they realised they could no longer afford to purchase the
property. They immediately explained this misunderstanding
to the estate agent, who threatened to sue them for defaulting
on an offer to purchase. They had no understanding that what
they had signed was a legally binding document.
CASE TWO
A couple fell in love with the beautiful town of Knysna whilst
in South Africa on a holiday and decided to buy a plot and
plan on the spur of the moment. Following this, they decided
to immigrate to South Africa on a permanent basis to coincide
with the finishing date of their new dream home, and, under
pressure from the developer, paid the remainder of the purchase
price.
What happened next?
12 months after the quoted finishing date, the property remained
incomplete. As the full payment had been made, there was little
incentive from the developer to sort their issues out with
any haste. What should have been a dream move, turned into
many months of anguish and legal bills.
CASE THREE
A European family decided to immigrate to Cape Town and found
their perfect property in which to set up a guesthouse. As
their first winter set in, they went in search of the under-floor
heating.
What happened next?
Despite being assured by the estate agent and the seller that
it had been installed, there was no under-floor heating. The
electrical examination had also been interfered with resulting
in this fact not being reported on the compulsory electrical
certificate. These hassles were compounded by the leaking
roof that the first rains revealed.
CASE FOUR
A couple (party A) bought a property in Hout Bay and, soon
after the transfer took place, the estate agent who had sold
them the house asked them for access to the property for a
solicitor who was preparing a defence against a claim of damages
brought about by the sellers (party B) of the property against
the owners before them (party C).
This was the first the new owners (A) had heard anything
about this but quickly discovered that the property had
severe subsidence and this had not been disclosed to people
they bought the property from (B) by the previous owners
(C) – hence the lawsuit. This lawsuit, by the seller
(B) against the previous owner (C), was successful.
What happened next?
However, this did not help the new owners (A) as they still
had a property with subsistence. They discovered that the
seller (B) had disclosed the problem to the estate agent,
but this agent had not disclosed this to them (A). Their
only recourse was to now attempt to sue the estate agent.
In the end, the buyers (A) felt they were better off taking
the financial loss and paying for the required works themselves.
CASE FIVE
A couple bought a plot and plan from a developer and agreed
instalment payments at various points of progress. Transfer
was to take place when the property was finished.
What happened next?
When the developer was 95% finished, and had received 95%
of the money, he went bankrupt. As legal transfer had not
taken place and the developer had a bond on the property,
the bank repossessed the property. The couple had parted
with R650,000 and had nothing to show for it.
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