Throughout the Rawson Property Group, which now has 146 franchises and is represented in all nine provinces, the returns on property rentals are beginning to look good, says Rawson MD, Tony Clarke.
'What we are experiencing,' he said, 'is a situation in which the demand is starting to exceed the supply. This has come about because home loans are not as readily available as before and because new developments are no longer coming on stream as regularly as they did in the past'
The banks, said Clarke, despite publicised commitments to raise their lendings, have sent out a clear message to aspirant bond applicants: if you have no credit record to date or if your credit record is tarnished, you will have difficulty getting a bond. This has resulted in many not even trying to become homeowners.
The increase in the demand for rental properties, said Clarke, is once again bringing buy-to-rent buyers back into property '“ after a low point earlier this year when they comprised only 6% of all buyers.
It is also, he said, leading to an upsurge in the number of rental agents '“ and this, in his view, could cause problems.
'Some of those now working as rental agents have limited experience in this field. They often sell themselves to landlords by offering them low commissions but they can cause devastation and chaos because they simply are not qualified to vet a tenant or to draw up a watertight lease and, where they also take on the responsibility for rent collection and the management of the tenant, they all too often prove incapable of doing this'
Tenant supervision and rent control, said Clarke, are skills which the reputable agents have taken years to learn and which they then pass onto their staff.
'It is dangerous to entrust these matters to newcomers who, frustrated by a lack of sales, have overnight diversified into rental management. This is one reason why we have just established a new rental franchise division'
For further information contact Tony Clarke on 021 658 7100 or email tony@rawsonproperties.com.
