Buying a new home is a daunting task and with so much choice out there it is easy to lose your way and even worse, give up. 

One way to narrow down your choices is to decide which suit you best, a new development or an existing home. 

The key differences to note are:

New developments

• All the upfront costs such as bond registration and property transfer costs are usually included in the price.
• Generally no transfer duty is payable as the price includes VAT.
• Valuations on price and quality are pre-approved by the banks.
• All new developments need to comply with the latest standards on energy efficiency and should be equipped with either a solar or gas geyser or a heat pump. This can save you thousands in monthly utility costs.
• You may have to wait for your property to be constructed before moving in. This could take as long as 12 months.
• You will need to ensure that the developer delivers quality homes.
• Your new house will come with a warranty on the building, roof and geyser ranging from 90 days to 1 year and a 5 year structural warranty from the NHBRC.

CLICK HERE to view a selection of approved new developments where no deposit is required and where all costs are included.

Existing properties

• As the buyer, you have to pay all legal transfer costs on top of the selling price which, for a house of R 600 000, would be  about R 35 000 and would be about R45 000 for a R900 000 property.
• Additionally, if the value of the property is greater than R 900 000 there can be very substantial transfer duty taxes. For example, on R 2 000 000 the transfer duty is R 60 500.
• You will have more choice as the stock of existing property is larger than the availability of new developments.
• Every house is different and it is sometimes difficult to know if the price is right.
• The bank has to do a valuation separately and sometimes the bank might not find the value asked by the seller. In this case you may have to pay a deposit if you still want the house.
• Transfer should only take about 2 months.

Besides choosing between new or existing there are other ways to narrow down your search. These are understanding your needs, making sure you know how much you can afford to buy for and then finally  finding a suburb where you make make all these factors come together and find you ideal home.