Buy Your First Home: South Africa's Ultimate Property Guide for Newbies

By Zamantungwa Khumalo

Zamantungwa Khumalo is a rising star on the South African property scene. An award-winning media and content specialist, she is also a property entrepreneur who bought her first properties at age 27.
Now, she wants other people to follow in her footsteps, climbing the property ladder on their way to building wealth and security.
This book is aimed at helping a wide range of people – women, young professionals, and also men who want to buy property but don’t quite know how to go about it.
 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tafelberg
• Release date: Oct 13, 2023
• ISBN: 9780624089964

Zamantungwa Khumalo

Zamantungwa Khumalo is a property entrepreneur, an award-winning media and content specialist and a property consultant, advising clients in the real estate and media industry on innovative ways to reach and grow new customer bases in different markets. She also hosts the only daily property talk show in South Africa, The Private Property Podcast.  

Book preview

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Zamantungwa Khumalo

Tafelberg

To my grandmother,

Elizabeth Masiphoko Nkutha née Ngubeni.

To oGogo nabo Mkhulu.

To my nineteen-year-old self. You did it, MaKhumalo!

Look at you!

Acronyms and abbreviations

Preface

When I was 26, I bought myself two properties for my 27th birthday. I took uMa to see them, and while we were at one of them, she said uGogo (her mom and my maternal grandmother) had been a domestic worker in that area. In that moment, it hit me that we millennials really are our ancestors’ wildest dreams.

My property journey has not always been adventurous – quite the opposite. In primary school, I think it was Grade 4 or 5, we had a class activity about our bedrooms and our bedding. The lesson ended just as the class was getting excited about answering the questions, and my friends and I continued the conversation during break. My friends mentioned that they had Barbies or some other cartoon characters on their duvets. When my turn came, I froze.

At that time, my big brother and I were sleeping on the floor; we didn’t have our own bedrooms, beds, or cartoon bedding. This was completely normal to me, at least up until that point. I didn’t think there was anything wrong with how we lived, or our sleeping arrangements. So I lied, and said I also had a Barbie duvet. But that moment stuck with me.

When I got home, I asked uMa for my own bedroom, with my own bed and bedding, like the other kids at school. At that time, my mom, my aunt, my siblings and I were living in my late maternal grandmother’s house. My aunt’s bedroom was in the house, and our bedroom was converted into a lounge. uMa and my aunt had built two rooms (one of which became the lounge) and a garage, and we then moved into the garage.

Years later, my parents bought a plot on the West Rand. They took us to see it, and it was so novel for my siblings and me. They told us this was where our new home was going to be. We went there regularly to check on the progress. The first time we went, it was just bare land with a few trees and lots of shrubs. A few weeks later, the builders had cut down all the shrubs and had started digging the foundation. I remember uMa saying, ‘This is where the kitchen will be, this is where the lounge will be, and this is where your bedrooms will be’. I couldn’t wrap my head around how that was going to be my room eventually. A house looks very different when you’re walking around on the foundation.

Fast-forward a few weeks, the foundation was filled and dry, and we were standing on it and getting the latest updates on the house’s development. A few weeks later, they had started building the walls. That whole experience was my earliest exposure to property and building a house from scratch. That’s probably where my love for property was planted and nurtured, coupled with uMa, who bought South African Home Owner magazine religiously and daydreamed about how she wanted to decorate her house.

Those early experiences ultimately led to me buying my first two properties. The whole process was surreal, and a bit dramatic. After weeks of viewing different properties and doubting myself more than I should have, I made the final decision to buy.

In my early twenties, I had spent more time than I should have in hospital due to stress (this is a topic for another day), and it was during yet another hospital stay that I made the bold and final move to buy. I had been in touch with the agents weeks before, and had already viewed the properties. Like many millennials, I suddenly felt I wasn’t doing enough and achieving enough. I got out my MacBook (yes, I had taken my MacBook to the hospital despite being treated for stress) and started emailing estate agents and asking if the apartments I had viewed weeks earlier were still on the market.

It turned out that both apartments I liked were still for sale, and I got the ball rolling to purchase both. Buying those first two properties was not only scary, but also surreal and affirming. It was scary because at that time there wasn’t as much information about the home-buying process as there is today. I had been looking at different properties from my early twenties, when I started working, and most of the information available was about America, England and Australia.

It was also affirming because I was doing something my mother and grandmother struggled to do. uMa was married in community of property, and even buying the land on which our family home was eventually built was a struggle. Yet here I was, single and unmarried, buying two properties for my 27th birthday.

The following year I bought two more properties, this time for my 28th birthday, and resolved to get myself something property-related for subsequent birthdays. Since then, I’ve continued to invest in property and started different property businesses, some alone and others with friends. I’ve used social media to speak about my homeownership journey, and I’ve worked with different brands, like Builders Warehouse and Private Property, in helping consumers to start their own property journey.

My hope is that this book, along with the work I do on different media platforms, will help you to make your property dreams come true.

1. Why this book?

One of my biggest property regrets is that I waited until I was 26 to start buying. I should have started earlier. When I started my first full-time job and began viewing properties, I remember how scared I was. Part of me felt like a fraud – like, I didn’t know enough about property to view one, never mind buy one. I also thought I might not earn enough to afford any of those properties. I was technically wrong.

The fear of taking on a R350 000–R500 000 debt was crippling. That was more than I was making in a whole year at the time. The idea of committing to a 20-year-long relationship – the term of the bond – was also daunting. At that time, the longest relationship I had ever been in was probably eight months, and 20 years seemed like a lifetime.

I’m embarrassed to admit this manje (now), kodwa (but) one of the reasons I stalled for as long as I did to get my first property was because I was single. My love life was already tekatekaring (struggling) so much, I didn’t want to add this to my mgowo (issues). There was a part of me that thought, ‘OMG, Zamantungwa, who’s going to want to date you with a whole property? Get a boyfriend first!’ Ladies, please, don’t do that. Don’t! I did it, so you don’t have to.

I know this is probably not a fear many of us have now, but back then, it was. I figured I’d get a property once I was at least in a serious relationship with somebody’s son. Nearly a decade later, that ‘serious’ relationship still hasn’t come! I wish the hashtag #GirlsWithTitleDeeds was a thing back then. It probably would’ve helped me get my confidence up and avoid overthinking izinto (things) so much.

A lot of us have #PropertyGoals as one of our goals, or something that’s on our vision boards. And for many, it may seem completely out of reach. But it doesn’t have to be. I don’t mean this in that motivational ‘you can do it’ sort of way – rather that property doesn’t have to be an intimidating goal that overwhelms you so much that you don’t take the first step. You know those types of goals, right? The ones that scare us into inactivity? It doesn’t have to be that way.

It’s completely ‘normal’ to be anxious about buying your first home. It’s one of the biggest decisions one will ever make. Now more than ever, there’s so much information out there around property, but it can be overwhelming. You’re not alone if thinking about buying your first property is stressful. We’ve all been there! Me included.

This is where this book comes in. Whether you’re a millennial staying in a rented property, a young professional still staying at home, or a divorced parent looking for a home for your family, this is the book for you. One of the things I struggled with when I actively started looking for a property in my early twenties was getting the right information. I remember Googling things like:

How to buy a house in South Africa

How does a home loan work?

What questions should a buyer ask an estate agent?

How long does it take to buy a house?

What is an interest rate?

A lot of the answers that came up were for people living in the West. There were almost no resources that catered for South Africans. I resorted to asking different people about homeownership and how buying a home worked, but even that had its limitations back then. uMa shared the bit she knew, but there were still a lot of gaps that needed to be filled.

WHERE IT ALL STARTED

This book started from a tweet I was tagged on about two years ago. The tweet asked: ‘For all under 30s who already have property, what advice would you give to those of us who want to get on the property ladder?’ My response became a thread of tweets, with tips and tools for getting onto that ladder. I shared my property journey and some of my frustrations and wins along the way. The thread went viral, and I woke up the following day with my direct messages (DMs) flooded with questions about property and with people asking for property advice.

This was my response:

Start viewing before you’re ‘ready’ to buy. I started viewing properties in my early twenties to get a sense of what’s what.

View properties in different areas. Get a sense of those areas. Create an alert of areas you like or see yourself living in.

Get pre-approved. I used a bond originator. Use them. Their services are free. That’ll help with knowing how much you qualify for and will inform you about which area(s)/type of properties to look at (especially if you’re buying to live and not invest).

Don’t buy a property for the maximum amount of money you qualify for. You’ll see flames. Your affordability is based on your gross pay, so if you qualify for a bond of R1 million, don’t go buying a million-rand property. Spending R10 000+ a month on the bond for your primary residence in your twenties is unsound. Don’t do it.

If you are going to max out, buy two properties rather than one. So, if you qualify for R1 million, buy two properties – say, one for R450 000 and the other for R510 000. You’ll have your primary residence and an investment unit.

Watch out for levies. A property can be well priced, say at R450 000, but the levies may be R2 300 a month. Unless there’s a special levy for a few months, that property is cash-negative. Agents sometimes downplay this. Ask until you’re certain about the levies.

New developments are generally terrible investments. The yields are just too low. A lot of them are initially priced at the higher end. I don’t know of one (that young property buyers would qualify for) that earns double-digit yields.

Ask lots of questions. From the bond originator to the estate agents you come across, ask lots. Whenever you view, ask why the owner is selling (you can get a lot from this). Ask how negotiable the price is (it pretty much always is. I’ve never paid an advertised amount. Ever). Ask.

I know this is difficult, and a big struggle, but save – not just for the deposit (you might even get a 100% bond) but attorneys’ fees as well. They give me ulcers, and they can honestly be the reason you lose out on a great place.

I didn’t realise this until I was in the middle of izinto (things), but you pay two different attorneys per purchase of a bonded property – the transfer attorneys and the bond registration attorney. It can easily cost R40 000 for both, depending on the price of your property.

I wish I knew this from the get-go, but despite what the estate agents will say, there’s no such thing as a ‘standard’ offer to purchase (OTP). You can put your own suspensive clauses (particular conditions) in there. Don’t just sign. Also make it work for you. One of the things we all know is that the transfer attorneys are assigned by the seller. This is ‘standard’ practice. But you can put a clause in the OTP that you want to use your own.

Don’t buy an expensive first property. Don’t make an emotional buy and spend tons of money. This is a marathon, not a sprint. The repo rate changes, levies and rates go up.

Property is a long-haul game. I’m not always very patient, to be honest, kodwa (but) one must be.

Then I signed off my thread, promising to do another about what people should do when they are ready to buy and have done their due diligence on the place(s) they want to buy, and how to shop for and negotiate for a better interest rate. I thought I was going to silently go about managing my property portfolio, and occasionally help friends and family navigate their property journey. I couldn’t have been more wrong!

I went from that viral thread and countless DMs on Twitter to starting #PropertyInvestSA, which later became #AllThingsPropertySA and later #PropertyWithZama, where I regularly tweeted about different property-related topics such as:

Guiding first-time home buyers

What to budget for when buying a home

Buying versus renting

The cost of buying a property

A few months later, I got a DM from Sonwabiso Ngcowa at Tafelberg, asking whether I had thought about writing a book.

WHO THIS BOOK IS FOR

This book is primarily for women who, like my early twenties’ self, were just too scared to make the jump and buy their first property.