Save your future with a RealRescue plan

Rising interest rates since November 2021 have taken the home loan base rate from 7% to 11,75% currently and added hundreds and even thousands of Rand to the monthly bond repayments of most homeowners in SA.

Wages and salaries, on the other hand, have risen much more slowly, with the latest statistics from BankservAfrica showing that the average take-home pay of R14 457 is currently actually 2,7% below the level recorded a year ago. And thanks to the higher rate of inflation, the purchasing power of that take-home pay was actually only R13 416 in May - or a whopping 8,8% lower than at the same month of 2022.

"So it's no surprise that an increasing number of homeowners are now struggling to make their monthly home loan repayments, as well as the repayments on other types of debt which have also gone up because of the steep rise in interest rates," says Gerhard Kotzé, CEO of the RealNet property group.

"Add these to the higher costs of basics such as food, transport and utilities thanks to inflation, and you have a picture of many SA households under severe financial pressure, and at higher risk of defaulting on their bond instalments."

However, he says, it is important for homeowners not to ignore the problem and let things get to the stage where their property is repossessed and sold off on a sheriff's auction.

"As soon as they find themselves slipping into arrears, or preferably even before that, they need to take decisive action, and fortunately our RealRescue plan makes it really easy to do so, even if they are worried about contacting their bank and admitting that they are in financial trouble.

"All they need to do is contact RealNet about their problem, and we'll appoint an experienced property professional to act as their intermediary and act in their best interests. If they qualify, this representative will ensure that they are listed as a 'distressed seller' with one of the four major banks that offer bank-assisted sales programmes, and then help them to quickly sell their home on the open market at the best possible price so they can pay off their home loan and be free of that debt.

"In this way they can not only avoid the trauma of having a big debt judgment taken against them and their home being repossessed but also the ongoing problems of having their credit record severely damaged. A bank-assisted sale will enable them to move on with their lives and rent or buy a more affordable home without a lot of financial baggage."

Kotzé says the RealRescue plan was specifically created to offer homeowners a discreet and easy way to access the banks' assisted sales programmes, "which have actually existed since the Global Financial Crash of 2008/ 09 and have already provided an alternative to repossession for thousands of relieved clients.

"RealNet is accredited on the assisted sale panels of all four major banks that offer such programmes, so in any area where we are represented, we can help homeowners who are struggling to make their home loan repayments and would like to do something positive to change their situation."

He says the banks always have the final say as to whether a borrower qualifies for a bank assisted sale programme, but that RealNet is happy to assist any homeowner who is in arrears.

*Details of the bank-assisted sale programmes and the RealRescue plan are available at https://www.realnet.co.za/real-rescue/#real-rescue