Repossession: Don’t Wait Until Its Too Late

With the current slow down in the residential property market, more and more bondholders are losing their homes as a result of falling behind on their payments. Johan van der Merwe, owner of Rawson’s Somerset West, Strand and Gordon’s Bay franchise, says that steps can be taken to avoid or minimize the losses involved when having your home repossessed.

According to Van der Merwe he has yet to find a case where a repossessed home was bought on auction for anything close to its market value. Because of this, it is preferable for a bondholder facing repossession to speak to his estate agent about selling his property as soon as possible. This will ensure a better price than at an auction.

Van der Merwe added that it is not uncommon for an agent to help the bondholder retain his ownership by advising him to negotiate a new deal with a bank.

Managing Director of Rawson’s, Tony Clarke, stated that every bank that he has discussed bondholders’ problems with has indicated that they are prepared to make the necessary adjustments, like extending the bond repayment or allowing the bondholder to pay only the interest for a period of time.

The information in this article is courtesy of Property24, “Don’t Wait Until Repossession”, Property24, 17 October 2008.

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