Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan this week announced the details of the 2017/18 National Budget, saying that it has been “an interesting 14 to 15 months since I was asked to take office in December 2015”. We took a look at what the national budget holds for you, the individual taxpayer. A new high-income tax bracket…
Planning on buying a property? A leading bank believes that homes for first-time buyers are more affordable, relative to income levels, than they were ten years ago. Regardless of the different views on house price growth, the bottom line is that you need a bigger deposit and the bad news is that it’s likely to…
If you have an access bond facility, you can use your home loan as a savings mechanism. This wil help you reduce interest on your home loan as interest is charged on the outstanding balance. When you take into account the reduction in your interest charges, it can often outweigh the lower interest rate that…
During financially stressful times, it may seem easy or tempting to dip into your access bond to tide you over until things get better. However, this is not the answer and before you approach your bank, make sure you know the difference between an access bond facility and a re-advance on your home loan. Mtimkulu…
Your home loan is the single biggest debt you will ever take on, which is why you should do your best to pay as little interest as possible on it. A home loan is commonly regarded as “good” debt because you are buying an appreciating asset and, over the term of a typical home loan…
The credit ombud’s office has been given the added responsibility of handling complaints related to the debt review and debt counselling process, and has received a flood of such complaints – in one case the ombud prevented a bank from auctioning a woman’s house. The credit ombud, Manie van Schalkwyk, has had an influx of…
If you have been invited to a timeshare presentation, be on your guard. The credit ombud has received many complaints from people who were rushed into signing contracts they did not fully understand. You’ll probably be on the lookout for shark warnings when you relax on the beach this December, but you also need to…
The Ntwana family struggled for years to keep their mother in the home she had bought five years before she retired as a nurse. They could not keep up the repayments on her behalf. Mrs Ntwana lost her house and still owes the bank a great deal of money. Dora Ntwana worked as a nurse…
The eight interest rate increases since June 2006, rising inflation, and higher fuel and food prices have made it harder for borrowers to meet their home loan repayments. Some homeowners are no longer able to meet their repayments, and the number of mortgage bond defaulters has increased substantially over the past six months, the four…
