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The TTPS Newsletter

One cannot open a newspaper anymore without some “expert” giving his two cents on the property market, it seems. Prices are going up, prices are going down, it’s the right time to buy, it’s the wrong time to buy, get in, get out, this area, that area…

It can be quite confusing. To help you make sense of it, our monthly electronic newsletter will provide you with the correct information when you need it. It is short, to the point and will help you to stay abreast of the latest developments in the property market. This is invaluable when you are looking to sell or let your property, or if you are looking to buy or rent property.

We respect your privacy and will never sell, share or disclose your email address. For more information about your privacy, check out our website.

So, if you want to impress people with your property knowledge or take charge of your property affairs, click here to subscribe!

Update to the proposed Property Rates Amendment Bill

The Ministry for Cooperative Government and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) came out with a very welcome media statement yesterday, 18 July 2011. This was in reply to the public outcry regarding the wording of the proposed Property Rates Amendment Bill tabled on 9 June 2011.

Property owners and the property industry as a whole can sigh a collective sigh of relief again. It will still be possible to own two or more residential properties without having to pay commercial tax rates on the second and third (and further) properties owned.

The quick response by COGTA must be welcomed. The property market is in the beginning stages of a recovery, which should be nurtured. Unnecessary distractions such as these are unfortunate.

The full media statement is quoted below:

“The draft Municipal Property Rates Bill was gazetted for comment on 9 June.  We are keen to hear from the public on the Bill. The last date for comments is 22 July.

Deputy Minister Yunus Carrim says “We understand, especially in these difficult economic times, and with increases in the cost of municipal services, that house-owners are anxious about property rates. But contrary to media reports on the draft Bill, people who own more than one residential property will not have to pay commercial rates on their additional residential properties. The intention is to ensure that guest-houses, bed-and-breakfast establishments, small hotels and the like pay commercial rates. If necessary, we will amend the draft to make this clearer before submitting the Bill to parliament.”

The draft Bill is in response to complaints from the public and some municipalities over the years about the lack of clarity of aspects of the original Act and difficulties in implementing it. There was widespread consultation on the draft that has been gazetted. Public hearings were held in April last year in all the provinces, and were attended by stakeholders such as ratepayers’ organisations, agricultural unions, business chambers, state owned enterprises, community organisations, traditional leaders, municipalities, and individual ratepayers.

“Essentially, the Municipal Property Rates Act is being amended to make property rating simpler, more transparent, more uniform and easier to implement,” says Deputy Minister Carrim.

The only policy shifts in the Bill are:

• Properties used for trading in and hunting of game will be regarded as agricultural property and subject to rates in the interests of equity and fairness.
• There needs to be greater uniformity across municipalities in rating houses owned by recipients of old-age pensions and disability grants
• Aspects of public service infrastructure will be excluded from property rates because of their contribution to the country’s developmental needs.”

 

We now feature a feature

The featured property on the TTPS website

If you’re anything like me, you probably hate searching for stuff. Years ago there was an ad on TV with a guy looking for the coffee creamer in the fridge. As he’s rustling in the fridge, he gets more and more frustrated. His wife hears his frustration and shouts at him, “It’s not inside, it’s on TOP!” He is positively livid at this stage and immediately screams back at her, “It’s NOT inside, it’s on…” – then he notices the coffee creamer on top of the fridge, right in front of him – “…top…”

You don’t want to spend your precious time struggling to find great property listings on the Internet. We thought we’d make it a little easier for you. You’ll see the featured property section on our website immediately when you land on the homepage. It features all the great properties you’ve come to expect from us. And it is on … top!

To make it even easier to find other properties, the featured property tab is divided into Sales, Rentals and Holiday Villas on the left of the tab. Click what you require and you’ll find other great properties in different price ranges.

You can also check out some of the other featured properties by selecting the Next Property or Previous Property below the picture.

Of course, if you still want to use the normal, industry-leading search functionality you’ve come to expect from us, just click on the Residential, Developments or Commercial tabs on top again. Voila! All the best properties at your fingertips.

Now isn’t that something to shout about?

Mossel Bay updates Wikipedia Page

Mossel Bay Tourism has recently completed a major upgrade of the town’s page on Wikipedia – the leading on-line encyclopaedia.

“Our research suggests that the Wikipedia page is possibly second only to our own web site - www.visitmosselbay.co.za – when it comes to providing on-line information about the town,” said Mossel Bay Tourism’s Marcia Holm.

“Like www.visitmosselbay.co.za, it features consistently on the first page of Google searches, and it comes up first every time on Yahoo and answers.com – so it’s imperative that the information is up-to-date and relevant.”

Wikipedia is a collaborative project that’s based on five pillars (it’s an encyclopedia, not a soapbox; it has a neutral point of view; it provides free content that anyone can edit and distribute; its users follow a code of conduct and etiquette that includes interacting in a respectful and civil manner; it does not have firm rules – although “the spirit of the rule trumps the letter of the rule”).

“We realised some time ago that the Mossel Bay page was outdated and hopelessly inadequate, so we began by studying the kind of information that leading cities around the world – including New York and Cape Town – provided on their pages, and built our table of contents on their examples,” said Ms. Holm.

“Our new page (which took about 60 hours to research and write) now boasts more than 11,000 words on the town’s history, archaeology, geography, economy, tourism, culture, and sport – and any student, traveller, or potential investor can now get a quick overview of Mossel Bay in just a few minutes.”

Ms. Holm said that the internet remains the town’s most effective advertising medium.

“The flow of traffic is enormous – our site alone attracted more than 300 unique visitors a day over the last 30 days – so it pays to pay attention to the quality of information available on the net.

“This is why will now view Wikipedia as an ongoing project, and will update the page whenever we have accurate information on any changes or developments in Mossel Bay,” she said.

Visit Mossel Bay on Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mossel_Bay or check out our own information on Mossel Bay here.

Holiday competition update

What a few weeks it has been at Terblanche Total Property Solutions. We have launched our exciting garden Route coastal holiday competition at the beginning of September. The response has been overwhelming! It seems many people are (a) dreaming about a holiday at the coast, and (b) we have more clients and loyal supporters than we could ever imagine.

Of course, we are very excited about this all. In an effort to give as many people as possible an opportunity to enter the coastal holiday competition, we decided to extend the deadline of the competition to 31 October 2008. The winner will be announced on our website and in this blog by 14 November 2008.

Make sure to enter today. You can also follow this and other interesting developments on our Facebook Group. Drop in and say hi. We’re looking forward to meeting you.