Goal setting and investment

Wow! Another week gone already…I have been reading a lot about success and property investment this week, and so I thought I would share some of the insights I have gained. You never know, they might just be the push you need to take control of your financial future.

First things first, if you are going to be successful, you have to set goals. How will you know if you have succeeded without goals? Goals achieved are the benchmark for how successful you are. “A goal is a dream with a deadline,” says Napoleon Hill. If your goal is to own your own home or a profitable property business, then if you don’t set a timeline for this, you are only a dreamer. Life passes dreamers by. The first thing you need to do, is decide on your dream, however frivolous it may seem to you, and then set a deadline to achieve it. This could be relatively short (say 6 months) or long term (10 years.)

This next part applies primarily to those people who would like to invest in property as a business, but the choices you make when buying a family home should also be based on these points.

Ok, so now you know you want to invest in property, ask yourself why you want this. There could be any number of reasons. Being rich, is not a good enough one, by the way, so get creative. It could be security in your old age, a family home for each of your kids, or more philanthropic, like helping the homeless with low cost housing. Knowing why you want something, makes it easier to stick to your goals when the going gets tough, which it will, I promise.

Now, the hard part starts; do some research, in fact do lots and lots of research. Find out which parts of the country or town are going to be most sought after in the near future. These suburbs or areas will have cheaper houses than the current favourites. For example all the areas just outside the “golden triangle” will become more popular as the population grows and when all the professionals in the diaspora return. There are not enough properties in the upmarket areas to service the growing needs of Zimbabweans. Greystone Park, Chisipite, Alex Park, and Mt Pleasant are all areas that have fantastic growth potential.

Find out which areas are good “water” areas, as some properties are priced below value as there is no borehole, but if you were to sink a borehole and get water the value of the property would increase immediately.

 Find out what the market is looking for. Do people want to live in cluster developments or large properties with their own gardens and extras, like a pool and a tennis court? I have found quite a shift recently towards cluster or closed community developments, probably because of the security which these types of property offer. Zimbabwe does not have enough cluster developments to meet demand, and this fuels the ever increasing prices of such developments.

Remember as a property investor it is your job to try and predict the future growth of the property market. We all know that property is a great investment and that in the long term prices will continue to go up. But the rate of this escalation is not so easy to predict, and different areas grow in value faster than others. Research is the only way to make an informed investment decision. Remember property investment should not be made with the heart, but clearly with the head and a little bit of gut instinct. And always buy with the profit already in the investment, in other words if you were to put the same property on the market the next day, without doing anything to it, you need to know that you will be able to sell it for more than you bought it for.

 Of course, the points above are not exhaustive, and I am sure you could all think of many other points to add, but I wanted to get your minds thinking about property investment in Zimbabwe and how to achieve your goals.

OUR NEWS…

Last Thursday we had the pleasure of attending Sabre Business World’s Seminar on the 25 Secrets of Business Success at the Meikles. It was a fantastic day and I think we all left feeling highly motivated and ready to take the Zimbabwean business world by storm.

Thank you to Sally and Brendan Palmer for this inspirational seminar. For more information about Sabre Business World, visit www.sabrebusinessworld.com

And always keep in mind :

“ People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well neither does bathing…that’s why we recommend it daily.” Zig Ziglar

 Keep yourself motivated and keep improving yourself, and you will achieve everything you have ever dreamed you could have or be!

LATEST LISTINGS

 KWEKWE       $110 000

 

22,6 Hectares of virgin residential land
Ideal for a large scale residential development
(Here’s a chance to invest in property in Zimbabwe!)
All services in place to the boundary of the property, so serving of stands is required.

NOT SO NEW...

ENTERPRISE RD - DRASTICALLY REDUCED TO $290 000

Ideal Office location
4 bedrooms/ offices
Boardroom
Open plan lounge and kitchen
Separate dining room
Borehole
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STAY SAFE AND BE INSPIRED!

Educating the public

Hope you all had a peaceful, relaxing Easter with your families. 

Every week, more and more reports are coming into me about bogus estate agents and unfair treatment of the public by estate agents. I cannot reiterate it enough times, that the public must stand up against these charlatans and report them to the estate agents council. You can send an email to Mr Gweme on the following email eacouncil@zol.co.zw You can report the estate agent and the misconduct and hopefully the industry can be cleaned up.

Here are some common misconceptions that I have come across in the last few weeks:

1. Some estate agents are charging a fee to take clients to view rental properties. This is unacceptable. Estate agents have no right to charge the public to view a property. It is the estate agent's job to take people to properties in order to find the best possible buyer or tenant for their client, who is the owner of the property.

2. Some estate agents use the tenant's deposit and then make every excuse in the book why the tenant can't have the deposit back. The deposit you pay at the start of the lease, is supposed to be held in trust by the agent...not spent by them.

3. Sellers give mandates to estate agents as they have chosen a particular person to sell their property. Under no circumstances should you, as the seller, allow a non-mandated agent to attempt to sell your house. They are not allowed to phone you and ask to sell your house. This is called touting and amounts to unfair business practice and is severly frowned upon by the Estate Agents Council. If another agent has a client for a particular house which they do not have the mandate for, they must approach a mandated agent to see if their buyer can view the property. PLEASE PLEASE do not allow other agents to run riot over our laws. If a non mandated agent contacts you, the seller directly, you must report them to the Council.

4. Please check with your agent that all documentation for the property you would like to purchase is in order. Some agents are selling houses with no title deeds, or stands that have not had the subdivision permits approved by City of Harare. For your own peace of mind, ask the agent to show you all the paperwork. If the agent is reputable, they should have all documentation on file.

5. You should only ever deal with a registered agent. You can find an up to date list of these agents in Homes Magazine. If you are dealing with a non-registered agent, again, please report them, as if they steal your money you will have no recourse with the Estate Agents' Council. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Enough of the lecture, but please be aware that you do have rights and that unfair treatment is something we can all stop! 

"Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today!" - James Dean

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