February 2023

Getting pre-approved shows a seller that your financing is in order and you’re serious about purchasing a home.

Installing solar panels on your house can provide a multitude of benefits, from lowering your electricity bills to reducing your carbon footprint. By generating your own electricity from the sun, you can increase your energy independence and potentially even sell excess energy back to the grid. Solar panels can also increase the value of your home and may qualify you for government incentives and rebates. With the cost of solar panels decreasing and technology improving, now is a great time to consider making the switch to solar. Contact 1st Choice Family Homes today to learn more about how solar panels can benefit you and your home.

South Africa's Finance Minister, Enoch Godongwana, announced changes to transfer duties during the budget speech on February 22, 2023. The transfer duty table brackets will be increased by 10%, which means that first-time homebuyers will benefit. From March 1, 2023, properties sold between R1 million and R1.1 million will be exempt from transfer duties, and those sold between R1,100,001 and R1,512,500 will pay 3% of the value above R1.1 million. This change implies that the first R1.1 million of any property purchase price is tax-free.

Buying a home is a great long-term investment and can be beneficial in the short run as well. In the long run, you build equity in the home, which can be used to fund other investments, retirement, and more. Additionally, you can often borrow against that equity for home improvements or other expenses. Homeowners also have the potential to benefit from tax deductions associated with home ownership. In the short run, owning a home can also offer stability with set costs and the potential to build home equity faster. This can be beneficial, especially since rent prices can often increase faster than inflation. Lastly, owning a home can also provide a sense of pride and accomplishment that renting cannot.