The recent trends of economy have hit everyone from the interest rates which seem to be constantly increasing and the high cost of living to the rapidly falling real estate prices. Homeowners in South Africa have been affected by all of these things particularly hard as many are worried about losing their homes by repossession.
When the times were good in the property market, banks were lending money to residents throughout South Africa with little concern for the future. However, as they tend to do, interest rates took a jump and many homeowners are finding that they “bit off more than they could chew” and can’t make their monthly bond payments. Some have just experienced unforeseen circumstances that have contributed to the financial difficulties like job loss, divorce, poor health or just high cost of living. The good news is that there are ways to stop repossession of your home.
Fortunately, all is not lost for these unfortunate homeowners. If you are one of these unfortunate individuals that are afraid of losing your home, there is good news. There are solutions to help you out of this financial dilemma, but you must act quickly and not waste time burying your head in the sand and pretending it don’t exist or, worse yet, just giving up.
Give your bank a call. As hard as this may be to believe, banks do NOT want to repossess your home unless there is no other option. You may think that repossessing your home will give them a free home they can sell and make a big profit. It doesn’t work this way. They need to get back the money they’ve borrowed you but with decreasing home values, your home may not even be worth what they borrowed you. If they have to sell it at a Sheriff’s auction, they may not get what they need and it costs them time and money. So, they will be willing to work out some sort of payment agreement with you either by lowering your bond payments, giving you a grace period or redoing your bond. Give them a call as soon as you realize you are having financial problems and you may just be able to prevent repossession sooner than you think.
Be prepared and organized. If worse comes to worse and you do find yourself in court having to answer to a judge, make sure you have all your documents and paperwork from the bond as well as a well-writing payment plan you can show the judge to let them know you can pay the money needed to keep your home from repossession.
Contact a repossession company or repossession specialist. Even if you feel you may not need their services, it’s a good idea to contact them to see what they have to say and what kind of advice they can offer. They can offer you all kinds of helpful suggestions on what needs to be done to avoid repossession. They can also recommend credit specialists that may be able to help you with your financial situation. By being in contact with them, they’ll be ready to help you as soon as possible if it does come to you needing them and their services.
Dale Purdon, director and founder of IMAGINE Properties, Easy Home Sales any many more. Prior to setting up IMAGINE, Dale set out to build his own property portfolio in South Africa where he focused on acquiring high yielding rental properties in the lower end market and gained extensive experience in stock-sourcing as well as portfolio management.