WE MIGHT HAVE THE ANSWERS HERE.

You will need to ….

• Get Pre-Qualified so that we can assess your current affordability and the amount the banks will be willing to lend you.  You will then be able to make an informed decision, whilst househunting.
• Once pre-qualified, we will then request the necessary Bond Application Documents, applicable to your Application.
• You can then find property that falls within your affordability bracket and sign an Offer To Purchase with the Seller of the property or Estate Agent.
• You will Prepare and Complete all the required Bond Application Documentation and send it back through to us.
• Once the Bond Application Documents are complete, we will submit to the Banks, together with a signed Offer to Purchase.
• The banks will take around 5 working days to issue an AIP (Approval in Principal), which means they are happy with you as a client, and your scoring and affordability is in order.
• An AIP is issued, the Valuation of the property will then be requested by the bank.
• The banks Valuator will visit the property to do a Physical Valuation to assess that there is sufficient value for the purchase price, although in some cases and especially with Sectional Title properties, the banks will do a Desktop Valuation, which means they work with the current data on the system as comparable figures, to establish value.
• Once the banks valuation has came back favourably, they will issue a final quotation / formal approval / grant (every bank uses different terminology).
• Once a Final outcome has been given, we will communicate with you to discuss which outcome you want to accept before Signing and sending the Approval back through to us.
• Once you have accepted the Final Approval the Attorneys will be instructed by the banks which will then arrange for you to sign the documents, in preparation for the registration.
• Most registrations takes 8 to 12 weeks before the property is Registered in the buyer’s name, although there are exceptions.

DECIDING TO GET MARRIED?

In Community of Property

Traditionally most people get married “In Community of Property” (COP), which basically means that from the date of marriage, husband and wife would share everything 50/50. In the ideal world that would probably be the romantic thing to do, but the reality of being married COP, means that neither party will be able to buy residential property, without the written consent of the other party.That alone might not sound that problematic, but it is important to understand that when COP couples buy property together, you will not have the luxury of excluding either party. Even with the one parties income not being required for the bond, his/ her name would still have to appear on the Offer to Purchase and also on the Bond Application. The problem comes in when either party has incurred bad debt which resulted in his / her ITC profile to be jeopardised. This will affect the entire application negatively-when you suddenly realise that there is an account which your partner had not paid regularly. It is therefore very important for couples that are married COP, to ensure that both parties handle their various creditors responsibly.

What are the Alternatives?

Being married out of community of property also referred to being married with an Ante-Nuptial Contract (ANC), will give independence to both parties. The independence can be seen that they can act independently and not be liable for the debts of one another. As there is no community of debt, creditors cannot attach the assets of the other spouse. The parties are thus judicially equal but economically unequal. Each party may freely dispose of his/her assets and make a separate will. It is however important to understand that by being married out of community of property, you will not be entitled to your partner’s financial growth over the years, unless you make the accrual system applicable to your marriage.

Being married out of COP, the Accrual System

Once the parties decide to be married out of community of property, they can also have the accrual system made applicable to their marriage. The same principals which regulate the out of community of property marriage apply, but at the dissolution of the marriage either because of death or divorce, the spouse whose estate shows a smaller accrual has a claim against the other spouse for an amount equal to half of the difference between the accrual of the respective estates. In laymen’s terms it means that you will be entitled to 50% of the financial growth your spouse has shown since the day you got married.

The accrual system is sometimes referred to as a form of deferred community of property; however the parties are still independent and not liable for each other’s debts. The net value of a spouse’s estate is to be determined, at commencement and again at the end of the marriage, in order to measure the total growth.

Being married ANC with the accrual system applying, both parties will be able to buy property independently and should one of the parties have a history of poor payment profile with creditors, it will be possible to exclude that party from the transaction, should affordability allow.