Buying your Cape Town property as a foreign national
Buying your Cape Town property as a foreign national
At an all time high after a tremendously successful 2010 FIFA world cup, now is the time to invest in South Africa especially in the immensely popular Cape Town property market. A comparatively weak Rand gives buyers in the Europe, UK and the US incredible buying power ensure that you buy a whole lot of Cape Town property for a relatively lower cost.
Seems unbelievable but its true that you can still buy a luxe 6 bed stand alone house for 600,000 Rands or only 87,000 USD, A four bed house for about 500,000, or 50,000 USD your dream beach home for less than 150,000 Rands, which is only 19,000 USD. Or a city centre walk up for 100,000 Rands a frugal 11,000 USD. Complete with 10 months of sunshine and great weather a year and a lifestyle that is enviable yet affordable compared to back home, a Cape Town property is a perfect investment for a holiday home or a retirement destination.
When you decide to buy a Cape Town property you must remember that buying a home abroad is an important investment decision that you should only take after finding out all relevant information.
South Africa has a very good deed registration system, which allows you to own your Cape Town property individually, jointly, as an entity like a company, close corporation or trust.
Most Cape Town properties are sold as freeholds via an estate agent. The whole purchase process is straight forward but there are significant legal costs involved.
The bulk of the costs for which you will be responsible are transfer costs, which include things like conveyance fee, which can be upto 2% of purchase price. There is also a 5-8% transfer tax that varies according to the buyer's legal status
If you are buying your Cape Town property to take advantage of the rental markets remember that South Africa levies several direct and indirect taxes like various capital taxes, income Tax, Value Added Tax, Customs Duty various capital taxes, and excise Duty.
Bureau de change, banks, and ATMs are there in tourist resorts and larger towns. The standard banking hours from Monday to Friday are 9-3 pm, while on Saturdays its 9-11am. All Major credit cards and traveler's cheques are accepted in most places.
As a British national you will need a passport, with at least thirty day validity beyond the period of your intended stay. As a British citizen or a British overseas territories citizen you are allowed to stay up to 90 days without visa.
If you want to spend extend periods in your Cape Town property you might think of applying for residency. South Africa has several types of temporary permits and if you want to stay beyond that you can after fulfilling certain criterions apply for permanent residency status.
All locations within the purview of the Cape Town property market have listing agents who will be able to give you all pertinent details that you need to buy the best house for yourself. If you are buying a previously owned property, be sure to ask your realtor about the history of the house? It is very important to know about in previously existing fire, mold, plumbing or dry rot issues that the house might have. Find out if there have been unnatural deaths on the property, also make sure that all back taxes have been paid and the seller has the right to sell the property.
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