cost of living

Hi there!

My husband and I are looking for a place to buy a home and make it a retirement home in the future. We're now in our late 30's but looking ahead.

Could anybody please tell us what is the necessary paperwork to move to S. Africa as well as requirements for buy a home...also some advise as to where: Cape Town, Kruger National Park, etc.

So far everything we've read is great!

Please send me an email via the email link.

Thanks,
Mariela

Buying a house in South Africa is very straightforward there are no restrictions and the prices are 25% to 40% of the price in the U.K.

I recommend Port Elizabeth it is a city of 1 million people but has a good mix between business and pleasure great beaches excellent weather and less than an hour form the Game Reserves, and is a really good place to live.

Cape Town is a hour an a half flight or an 8 hour drive.

Property prices are a lot cheaper than Cape Town and there is a ready rental market. You could use the property for 1 month a year and rent it out for the rest.

An excellent Beach Front Flat would cost approx 1 - 1.2 million Rand a 3 4 bedroom house in a good suburb with swimming pool would be about the same.

Currently to retire in South Africa you would need a pension of 20,000 Rand a month.

If you wanted to start your own business you would need to invest 2.5 million which could include your house.

For some more information on Port Elizabeth take a look at http://www.@#$%&.com/Port%20Elizabeth.htm

Hi Colin!

Thanks for replying to my message. We'll check the website you mentioned.

We're planning to go to S. Africa next April and take a look. Most likely we'll visit Cape Town and Kruger National Park.

We would like to buy our home within the next couple of years so we can have our "own" place. Due to Roberto's (my husband) work we have to travel a lot. In fact we're now living in Egypt.
So let's see if we finally settle in one place.

Again, thanks for your message.
Regards,

Mariela

We

See my other postings-including "Emigrating to South Africa -Look before you leap."
As the future of this Country is extremely uncertain think carefully before you invest in
bricks and mortar.
If there was to be serious political upheaval
remember that you just can't pack your home into a briefcase and leave town on the next plane!

I have been in South Africa since 1995.

Things have got better not worse.

I purchased my house in 1998 and it has increased in value 5 times since then which is much better than the U.K.

Education is great and so is the health service.

Come and join us South Africa is great.

Hi guys!

Thanks to both of you for your replies.
Indeed Cassandra, I agree that before buying a home lots of issue most be covered...and that's why I appreciate our forum on S. Africa. BTW have you had any bad experience in S. Africa?

We're planning to go next year, and before we do so we want to get as many information as we can.

Colin, thanks also for your response. It seems you have been there for a while. Where? In Port Elizabeth? Also, do you live there permanently? If we buy the house we'll be living there for few months during the year because of my husband's job. I might be staying more often and then will be travelling back and forth.
We'll need to know if finding people who can help us with cleaning, maintenance, etc is easy and unexpensive. Is it safe to leave house, car, etc alone for a while.

Again, thanks to both for your messages. I really appreciate them! <img src="[www.africaguide.com]]

Regards,
Mariela

I went to Port Elizabeth on a contract with an American Automotive company and Volkswagen which was the main customer is based in Uitenhage close by.

We decided to stay there as it is a great place to live. I spend a lot of time traveling and it is a good place for my family, they could live anywhere, one of the main reasons is the education I have an 11 year old son in a class of 19.

Finding well paid work in South Africa is very difficult so I am one of many that have made the choice to commute.

There are quite a number of options for housing that can be left a beach front apartment would be your best option or a townhouse which is in a secure complex and find one with a garage for your car.

Finding help with cleaning and maintenance is very easy.

South Africa is entering an economic boom not seen since the 1960s with interest rates even more dropping and economic growth rates rising. SA baby boomers seek their retirement havens which are no longer Karoo villages and dingy security villages (I do not mean upmarket golf estates here), but coastal property. The SA property market has a long way to go over the next 5 years!

Hi Martin,

Thanks for your message.

As I said, we're looking for a place and SA seems like it would be a great place.

Do you live there? If so where? Can you give us more information? We paln to go for first time next April and take a look..Any suggestions as far as places to go?

Regards,
Mariela

Same advice differnt day.

Come and look at Port Elizabeth it is a great place to live.

Hi There

I live in the Channel Islands and have just purchased a beach front apartment in Port Elizabeth. I think Port Elizabeth is the best kept secret in SA for foreign investors (emigrants). You have everything including wonderful weather and lovely beaches not to mention friendly people.

Regards
Moricko

Dear Mariela

I live in Cape Town on the False Bay Coast. Where to buy depends on your tastes. West Coast - quiet and icy cold water. Cape Town - cosmopolitan, False Bay is windy but has warmer water for a short period in summer than the Atlantic coast, summers are sunny, winters have wet spells. Overberg - quiet, windy and warmer water for a short period in summer. Garden Route - quiet with a gentler climate and warm water in summer. Eastern Cape - windy and warm water in summer. KwaZulu-Natal - subtropical, sunny winters and warm water all year round.

Kind regards

Martin

South Africa may take the high road (high economic growth), middle road (moderate economic growth) or low road (low or negative economic growth), a concept developd by Clem Sunter (then chairman of Anglo American) more than a decade ago. In the case of the middle or low roads it makes sense only to buy when you wish to use your property as you enjoyed the utility of your property in spite of the risks involved.

South African markets take a lead from Australian indicators. In Sydney prices for high rise inner city flats have fallen, and money goes for a couple of years now to warm and sunny Queensland. I would think the same will happen in South Africa in a couple of years.

Hi

My partner and I are thinking of moving to cape town but a post on this site says that you need a pension of 20,000 rand to live here? My pension is about half of this amount. Could I live ok with this amount in cape town provided I bought a house over there first?

Also I we could both do some part-time work in education (were both teachers)?

Three ways to get into the country.

Work permit. Requires a skill not available in South Africa the easiest way is to find a position and get the employer to motivate it.

Have a pension of 20,000 per month, this could be reduced if you purchase a house but in theory teaching part time would be a problem as you are not allowed to work.

The other alternative is to start a business which could be teaching. This requires 250,000 Rand to be invested in the country which would include your house.

You will have a much better standard of living with 1,000 pounds a month in South Africa than the U.K. but you will need the part time work to have a decent standard of living. The Rand however is bound to weaken again at some point.

I had a lot of help from the Eastern Cape Development Corporation they are very keen to get investment into the area.

Moricko Kemp.
I see you are fortunate enough to live in the
Channel Islands.
I would like very much to settle in Jersey (C.I.)
and buy a small property.
However there are so many restrictions (apart from the price of property)to be overcome.
Can you please advise a suitable course of action.
One of my informers says that Jersey is no longer as prosperous as in days past.
Many hotels which served the holiday trade have been bulldozed and in their place have been constructed many blocks of flats which remain unoccupied!!!
Is this because they cannot find buyers(e.g. because of a depressed property market)
or is it simply because of greedy investors who put their money into bricks and mortar and are content to leave the flats unoccupied so in due course they can make substantial capital gains??
In such case they are depriving ordinary folk who would wish to settle on a wonderful Island.
I would value your adivice.Thank you. C.H.

'"Muizenberg undoubtedly will be the city's next biggets hotspot, and the rise of smaller towns and villages on the outskirts of cities will continue to be a trend.' Andrew Golding, @#$%&, Pam Golding Properties.' The Property Magazine, Cape Town, January 2005.

My personal hotspots in 2005 are the small caostal towns of Betty's Bay near Cape Town and Hibberdene near Durban, as they still come from a low base and are less than 100km from major centres. Hibberdene is connected to Durban Airport by the Margate Mini Coach, which runs several times a day between the airport and Hibberdene.

Dear Mr Struthmann,
I see from the above posting that you recommend some coastal resorts on the South Coast of Natal.
I am considering moving to Natal from Nigeria.
I have been told that Durban is a very attractive coastal spot but for certain reasons it is not
recommended.
Can you please enlighten me why Durban is seldom mentioned either as a holiday resort or as a good
property investment potential?What is the problem???
Could you please "spill the juice"-warts and all if necessary.
Thank you.O

Dear Obafeni

Durbanites are very friendly people. Durban is humid in summer with thunderstorms, and sunny in winter, and is liked for its climate. Presently they are developing their waterfront and flat prices near the waterfront have skyrocketed last year. Durban, just as KwaZulu-Natal, is lagging somewhat behind the Western Cape. This may largely be due to the violence that occured in KwaZulu-Natal during the years of South Africa's transition. Since then people do not put their trust into this province. Durban and the KwaZulu-Natal coast were favouites for holidays until end of the 1980s, and I would think they will regain this status again in years to come. Durban is definitely a place for entrepreneurship with many opportunities.

Kind regards

Martin Struthmann

Good property investments are about predicting people's behaviour. That is not always easy. People's behaviour is determined by many factors, amongst them personal security, life-style and capital preservation and growth. In the 1990s capital moved into the Western Cape as it was seen as the safest place in South Africa, and consequently property prices the Western Cape shot up sharply and those in Johannesburg dropped and Cape Town quickly caught up with the economic status of Johannesburg. After the turn of the century Johannesburg is picking up strongly again. Johannesburg's newly found economic strength will quickly spill over into the KwaZulu-Natal coast, which is only 600km away. Those who pick up the trends first benefit most.

If you wish to stay in South Africa all year round, the Garden Route is a good choice as it enjoys a gentler climate.

If you can afford two residences, choose one on the KwaZulu-Natal coast for winter (80% sunshine), and one in Cape Town for summer (again 80% sunshine). Gardens do not grow in the Cape Town winter (50% sunshine), and in KwaZulu-Natal you possibly need something without a garden that needs work.

If you wish to stay in South Africa only for the South African summer, Cape Town is a good choice. On the KwaZulu-Natal coast you have only 50% sunshine day hours in summer.

However, if you like to swim in the ocean on a regular basis (not just splashing yourself with water), cut out Cape Town unless you are made of what it takes to cross the Channel.

South Africa's property market is appreciating like the German market in the 1970s and the Irish market in the 1990s. This is typical for economies in a recovery phase after a long depression. The market appreciation takes the curve of a 'S', with price on the X-axis and time on the Y-axis. In 2004, South Africa's property market was likely on the steepest section of the 'S' curve.

While the market is appeciating at a very high rate, all properties gain in value. With a variation of say 10% from the mean rate of appreciation and the rate of appreciation being in the double digits, all property owners are winners, and property owners are subjectively living in a fools paradise where everyone is a winner. However, by the time the 'S' curve flattens, some will visibly be winners and others losers, that is, the loss will be in real and monetary terms.

The German property market has flattened out after the crash of the New Economy. This is particular so in economically depressed areas and housing that is not attractive by today's standards, particular small flats built in the 1970s. How does this relate to inner city high rise flats, coastal property and golf estates in South Africa? Property appreciates most were the money of the well-to-do and rich goes. Does any reader wish to comment on this?

I am looking forward to comments and questions.

A year ago vacant stands could be purchased in Hibberdene for R60 000 and in Struisbaai, St. Helena Bay and Betty's Bay in the R70 000s. Today these stands in Struisbaai and St. Helena Bay go for in the R400 000s, and in Hibberdene and Betty's Bay for in the R200 000s.

These are market inefficiencies to be taken advantage of.

South Africa's economy is booming ahead at over 4% growth of GDP per annum. If house prices rise by 15% per year over the next 5 years, they will be double that of today in nominal terms, in real terms somewhat less as inflation needs to be taken account of.

LAST EDITED ON Jan-19-06 AT 02:33 PM (GMT)

Hi

I currently live in England and have been offered a job in Rondebosch - Cape Town. I have been asked to specify what my salary requirements are but I do not know what to ask for as I have no idea what the cost of living is there.

The job is as follows:

Contract (4 years)
Senior IT System administrator (Exchange)
Location as above

Can some one help me please?

No easy answer to this.

Salaries are about 1/3 to 1/ 2 the U.K. level which is why there are so many South Africans in the U.K. there is also a big skill shortage for the same reason.

It is also depends on your deal are some home flights and accommodation included.

South Africa is a low cost country but interest rates are 9.5% cars and anything imported are 30-50% more expensive. An old car 10 years + 150k miles will cost 30,000 Rand !!!

To rent somewhere reasonable will cost 6-8000 Rand per month school fees 2-2500 Rand, medical aid your portion 1500 rand, electricity water 1,000, security 300, insurance 500.

Petrol however is good 4 Rand per litre and food is much cheaper than England and so is the wine.

U.K. flights during school holidays 8,000 Rand.

If you have to pay for everything yourself and intend to travel around and have a good life you will need 25-30,000 Rand net per month which is about 700k Rand gross which is a huge salary by South African standards, which is back to why there are so many South Africans elsewhere.

Dear Mariela, I grew up in Switzerland and moved to South Africa in 1995,South Africans are the greatest people and I'm a big fan of S.A.
However in 2000 we had our first child and the way the crime was going we did no longer see a safe future, everybody we know us included had experienced crime, burglaries, knife attacks and a friend of ours was nearly killd by a firearm.
So we decided to move away and found a great oportunity in Florida USA. We have made some great $ and are actually thinking of moving back to S.A. After living in Kloof (outside of Durban) we have decided that if we really are going back it would have to be Phalaborwa which is a lovely town right on the Kruger Park.
I have been there a couple of times and it really seems to be much safer then any other place. Check it out for yourself search for "phalaborwa crime rates" lower then any other place.
We are in the 30is and would like to start or buy a Bed and Breakfast.
By the way I have been to cape town, Port Elisabeth, Jo'burg and lived in Margate (South Coast) and don't belive that Port Elisabeth would be much safer then other Citis. It's probably a good place if you need to find a job, but that doesen't make it any safer.
Hope you'll visit Phalaborwa on your trip, who knows maybe we'll see you there.

My husband and I were very keen to move to South Africa, like most people.
After viewing a "a place in the sun" documentary in our lounge in UK, featuring a place called Margate on the Hibiscuss Coast, we decided to go to South Africa to see this place for ourselves in Sep 07.
I made appointments with several estate agencies to view houses before leaving UK and all communications went well via email.When we got there things got very different.The first agent was absolutely shell shocked to see us together when she came to pick us at Margate Hotel.She kept saying "are you sure you are the lady that emailed me.I am surprised you can write that well..." (reading this , you can clearly see that this is not what you would call writing well)We were supposed to view five houses with her and in the end she showed us only one house, made her excusses and left!
The next agent was no different apart from the fact that he was very friendly towards my husband and I did not get any eye contact even though I tried to ask him questions about the houses. All the answers to my questions were directed towards my husband.He just totally blanked me out.Wherever we went, we got evil nasty stares, especially from the elderly.We were introduced to a company that deals with financing of properties and things were no different there either. One of the managers there said with a huge frown "are you two really married? I take it you(pointing at me) sit at home all the time doing housework in england while he is at work" By this time I had had enough and I told her what i thought of her. The funny thing is that I actually run a successful business and had asked my husband to give up his poorly paid stressful teaching job to work with me three months before we met this lady.
When we got to Margate we could not see the " Margate" sign so i decided to ask a lady who was on the durban-margate bus with us whether we had arrived in Margate.She looked at me from head to toe, turned her back and called out to her friends who were just crossing the road "we have got a woman who is asking whether she is in Margate, you wonder where these people come from!" (In the end the white bus driver gave us directions and even offered to call a taxi for us.He was really nice and we were very grateful.)
In contrast, I met a frail elderly lady Milan last month and asked her directions.This lady turned round and walked about a km to show us the place we were looking for. Bless her

I am not suprised when some members on this forum describe south africans as friendly because i saw it for myself. The truth is there is a huge, sad and frightening gap between black and white.My husband was treated differently.I am sure he would have had a good time if i had stayed behind.A few people offered to show him around if he was willing to come on his own because "there was not enough space in the car"
I visited South Africa with high hopes of settling there.Being black,visiting Africa was meant to be special but unfortunately it turned out to be the nastiest place i have been to.

South Africa is a big country and it would be unfair to paint everyone with the same brush. Surely there MUST be some decent white south africans (like the margate-durban bus driver)who can understand that there is more to people than just the colour of their skin.
However, I do not think that Margate, in the Kwazulu Natal province is their favourite location.

Am I still considering to live in South Africa?
With the High Crime and all, the answer is simply no.