South Africans Not Maintaining their Properties - 01-29-09

January  29 - When the First National Bank released its quarterly Property Barometer that covered the last three months of 2008, one surprising fact that stood out had to do with property maintenance.

As South Africans struggle to keep up with their bond repayments in a bid to hang on to their homes and avoid repossession, the last thing from many of their minds' is a fresh coat of paint for their properties.

The FNB Property Barometer found, in fact, that only 13% of homeowners in South Africa kept up with regular property maintenance to ensure that their homes improved in value.

The situation is caused by two main factors. The first is that even if a homeowner was interested in spending money on property maintenance and improvement, it has become extremely difficult to get a loan from the bank because of the National Credit Act. Tougher regulations mean that homeowners need to prove beyond a doubt that they will be able to repay the loan, and in today's economic climate, this may be difficult to do.

The other reason stems from the fact that homeowners are simply too busy trying to make ends meet and pay off their loans that they cannot focus on starting a new project that involves property maintenance.

Young South African couples are putting all their expansion plans on hold for the moment as they channel income into paying off the bond. All additions and changes have been put aside for now until the economy improves.

Nevertheless, experts suggest that with a little bit of innovation and creativity, uglier areas of a home can be transformed with paint or a change in lighting, for example.