If you're planning to buy a new home, spring is a great time to freshen up your finances, says Carl Coetzee, the new CEO of BetterBond, which is SA's foremost home loan originator.
"Just as home-owners will prepare their properties for show days and viewings by cleaning, polishing and painting, so potential home-buyers need make sure that their finances are in good shape before they go house-hunting or apply for a home loan.
"And this is important because although the banks are currently actively seeking to lend to home-buyers, they still require borrowers to have clean credit records and sufficient disposable income to be able to afford the loan repayments."
In addition, he notes, those who have saved up and are able to pay a deposit may well be able to qualify for an interest rate concession, especially if they apply for their loan through a reputable originator like BetterBond. This could save them many thousands of Rands on the total cost of their home over the lifetime of the loan.
For example, an interest rate reduction of just 0,5% on a 20-year bond of R1,5 million translates into a potential saving of more than R120 000 in interest, as well as a total of about R6000 a year off the monthly bond instalments." (To check how much a lower interest rate could save you, see https://www.betterbond.co.za/calculators/affordability.)
Consequently, those who are planning a home purchase should begin by decluttering and cleaning up their finances as follows:
Shoo away the budget "vampires". Review all the subscriptions and services that you pay for every month via debit order and that could be draining money from your budget without you even really noticing. Charges for these services tend to creep up during the year and the combined total of those increases can be quite substantial, so it's always worth taking a second look at what you are actually paying for things like your gym membership, cellphone contract, streaming services, garden maintenance, and storage space.
Scrub away your debts. It's all too easy to think that you don't owe that much when you have borrowed from several different credit providers, and when you add up everything outstanding on your car, your furniture, your credit card and your store accounts, not to mention any personal or student loans, the total can come as quite a shock. But if you want to be debt-free, it's important to be realistic and then to make a proper plan to pay everything off - and avoid too much credit in the future.
Start looking for ways to earn extra cash. Clear out your cupboards or storage unit and hold a garage sale. Get creative and sell things you make online. Create a "side hustle" by using your knowledge, skills and spare time to do something people will pay for. Work part-time in the evenings or on weekends. Put any additional money you can make into paying off your debt and then starting to save for the deposit on your home.