Hundreds of thousands of South Africans have paid-up home loans which may still be costing them money. Homeowners may not be aware that in some cases, their paid-up mortgage will continue to attract fees unless they have canceled the bond over the...

Previous Articles

Can you use a pension-backed home loan to help take you off the grid?
A pension-backed home loan could be a possible solution if you're looking for a way to finance alternative energy sources for your home. Consumers are in a tight financial squeeze, with an increase in fuel prices in February, coupled with an interest-rate increase of...

Property scams to watch out for
Jackie Smith, Head of Buyers Trust, warns that prospective tenants and home-buyers are becoming the targets of increasingly sophisticated property scams. Over the past two decades, internet sites such as Property24, Facebook Marketplace and estate agency websites have...

How prepaid funds work in your access bond
Depending on how your access bond is structured, you might not be able to withdraw all of your prepaid funds. Many people believe that putting all of their “spare cash” into their access bond is a smart thing to do. It can serve as your emergency fund because those...

Video: What your credit score says about you
If you are planning on buying a home, the first thing you should do is go check your credit score. The purpose of your credit score is to inform prospective lenders how much of a risk you present when you apply for a loan. If a lender perceives you as a high risk,...

Buying a home now could make sense
While the increasing interest rates will make buying a home more financially challenging, buying at the top of an interest rate cycle could be a smart move. Firstly, higher interest rates temper demand, so property prices may come down slightly. Secondly, you know...

Getting your home off grid – what it would cost
After 14 years of loadshedding, most households have found some way to make do in the face of intermittent electricity outages, but the latest wave of outages has prompted many people to wonder if they can afford to get completely off grid. Stage 6 loadshedding had a...

You could have building cover without realising it
Deshni Subbiah, chair of the Short-term Insurance Committee of the Actuarial Society of South Africa (ASSA) explains that homeowners may have building cover without even realising it. If you are repaying a home loan but didn’t take out comprehensive building cover...

Improve your credit score
Whether you want to buy a property or a car, most South Africans need credit to do so. And, strange as it may seem, knowing how much credit you qualify for and how you can improve your credit score may just be critical to your ability to continue improving your life...

Flood damage: are you covered?
The flooding across KZN has caused major damage to property. The good news is that most short-term insurance contracts will provide cover for weather-related incidents, which includes flood damage. According to Fanus Coetzee, Head of Claims at Santam, comprehensive...

Listen: Build, buy or renovate? Pros and cons when you need new space
If you're thinking about moving or perhaps upgrading your current home, the question you need to answer is: should I build, buy or renovate? The Covid-19 pandemic changed a lot about our lives. With the flexibility around the working environment these days, many...