Vartrust Real Estate

12/05/2025

🏡 Landlords — Here’s What You Should Expect from a Good Property Managing Agent in South Africa! 🏡

Managing a rental property can be a full-time job. If you’re a landlord, partnering with the right managing agent can save you time, reduce stress, and help protect your investment.

Here’s what a professional managing agent (like Vartrust 😉) should offer you:

✅ Find & Vet Quality Tenants
From marketing your property to doing background checks and securing reliable tenants.

✅ Handle Lease Agreements
Making sure contracts are clear, fair, and legally compliant.

✅ Collect Rent & Manage Finances
Timely rent collection, managing deposits, municipal accounts & giving you clear financial reports.

✅ Sort Out Maintenance & Repairs
Coordinating trusted contractors, regular inspections & keeping your property in top shape.

✅ Ensure Legal Compliance
Staying on top of rental regulations, safety standards & handling evictions if needed.

✅ Communicate & Resolve Issues
Being the go-to contact for tenants and handling any problems smoothly.

✅ Give You Peace of Mind
So you can relax knowing your property is in expert hands.

At Vartrust, We Perform. Let us take care of your property while you enjoy the returns.

📞 Visit us at www.vartrust.co.za to learn more!

👍 Like & Share if you’re a landlord or tag someone who needs a great managing agent!

There are many reasons to buy or sell property with Vartrust. We offer bond preapprovals, home staging, appraisals & more. Contact us for more info.

15/04/2025

Buying Property in South Africa? Here's What You Need to Know About Compliance Certificates and Mandatory Disclosures

These disclosures and certificates are about ensuring the property is safe, legally compliant, and that there are no hidden surprises waiting after you move in.

As a buyer, these documents give you insight into the condition of the property and help you make an informed decision before signing on the dotted line. In addition to these documents, you do have the right to arrange for a full inspection by a professional at your cost.

What Are Compliance Certificates?
These are legal documents issued by accredited professionals confirming that specific installations in the home meet safety and regulatory standards. As a buyer, you should expect the seller to provide:
1. Electrical Certificate of Compliance (ECOC)
2. Water Installation Certificate (Cape Town-specific)
3. Beetle Certificate (common in coastal areas)
4. Gas Certificate of Conformity (if applicable)
5. Electric Fence Certificate (if applicable)
These certificates must be valid, issued by registered contractors, and provided before transfer of the property.

What Is the Mandatory Disclosure Form?
Under the Property Practitioners Act (2022), every seller is legally required to complete and sign a Mandatory Disclosure Form before a property is listed for sale. This form outlines any known defects or issues with the property — from structural cracks and leaks to roof problems and damp.

❗ Without this disclosure, an agent may not legally market the property.

As a buyer, this document is your first line of defence — it helps you understand any existing or historical issues before committing.

When Should You Receive These Documents?
The Mandatory Disclosure Form should be shared before or at the time of making an Offer to Purchase.

Compliance certificates are usually provided after the OTP is signed but before registration and transfer. They will be called for by the conveyancing attorney prior to registration.

Why These Documents Matter to Buyers
Transparency: You know exactly what you’re buying — and what condition it’s in.
Legal Protection: If something was not disclosed, you may have recourse against the seller.
Safety & Compliance: Certified installations protect your health, safety, and insurance cover.

Compliance certificates and the mandatory disclosure form are there to ensure your dream home doesn’t become a legal or financial nightmare.

10/08/2022

I am humbled by meeting a woman today who wanted a revised valuation on her property.

She introduced me to her family, 3 biological children and 4 adopted. All seven teenagers and young adults happily share one bedroom, three bunks on each side of the room and one mattress on the floor. They range in age from the youngest at 11 years old to a young man completing his qualification as an actuary and a daughter preparing for her final year of study as a teacher. Together with her husband, they share their two-bedroom cottage. Their own home is rented to give the family an additional income.

An amazing sacrifice from all the family to ensure everybody gets a loving family, an education, and an opportunity to succeed. She shared with me that having the large garden space, (they own a small holding), has made it easier to cope as she puts all her frustration into her time working the garden and encourages her family to do the same.

I walked away from that meeting advising her that given the achievable market price, they could not easily replace it with another that would give them the same additional income, let alone garden space and perhaps the timing for a sale was not quite right. Unless they were at risk of losing the property and had no choice, they could be making a mistake.

Was I out of line, should I have been pushing my own agenda and looking for a mandate to sell, leaving it up to them to analyse their options? Where should a property practitioner’s empathy end?

12/10/2021

Vartrust is looking for estate agents in Soweto. We offer a competitive commission, leads, technical support, professional photography, advertising on all the major portals, training and assistance with your qualifications. This is an opportunity to earn well if you have what it takes to succeed. More than one million per year is possible.

To qualify, you are mature (35 - 65), have some sales experience, preferably in real estate or have run your own business. You have your own reliable transport and have a strong drive to succeed and earn well.

Apply now to see whether we are a good fit for each other.

This is a commission only opportunity.

09/03/2021

Are you a gogetter, entrepreneurial, not afraid of rejection and understand what it means to put in hours of work to get a great financial reward?

Are you mature, have plenty of life experience, your own car and can support yourself for three months?

Vartrust is a real estate agency with full support, training, regular leads and a professional, strong, digital presence.
We offer
*Unlimited professional photography
*Advertising on all the major portals
* CRM program
* Access to all support software in the cloud
* Leads provided
* Full training for your qualification

If you want to change career and willing to put the hours in to earn a minimum of R100,000 in commission each month, email your CV and a motivation letter to Nawaal for a discussion about your future.

09/03/2021

We have a vacancy for a Junior Graphic Designer specialising in Photography OR a Photographer with excellent design and editing skills.

Job description
This position requires you to shoot residential property for estate agents to provide excellent stills, video and 3D VR images. You will edit, upload to social media, agency website and produce flyers and brochures.

Required:

Valid driver's license (own car an advantage)
Photography skills (own Nikon or Canon DSLR camera an advantage)
Graphic Design Skills
Knowledge of a graphic design software package
Experience with editing video

We will consider an intern with limited experience. Please submit your CV and portfolio

09/10/2020

Residential Rentals – the COVID-19 dilemma for landlords
Everyone is talking about the COVID-19 pandemic and the enormous impact it is having on our lives and the economy. And unfortunately, there seems to be no relief in sight until well into 2021 and even beyond.
One area that has been affected is the residential rental property market and landlords that have invested in residential properties to rent. With the advent of the pandemic, a new dynamic has entered this market.
Vartrust Real Estate has seen a significant shift in terms of requirements by potential tenants. In the past, security was the number one prerequisite, with access control and 24 by 7 guarding being the foremost consideration. With COVID-19, while security is still an important condition, it is no longer the primary one. Instead, tenants are looking for homes that can comfortably accommodate their entire family (and sometimes an extended one); where they can work from home; and where they can control their living environment in that they do not have to share communal spaces, such as play areas and swimming pools, with other tenants. As a result of this trend to cocooning, there is a bigger demand for free standing properties, including small holdings. Significantly, these rentals are holding steady and stable or even increasing slightly as tenants are prepared to pay a premium for these types of rental properties.
Conversely, when it comes to the sectional title rental property market, landlords are experiencing a decline in both demand and rental prices. Landlords in this market are seeing more vacancies and are finding that in order to attract quality tenants, they are having to become much more competitive on rental pricing. While landlords in the lower market may have been happy with a 5% to 8% escalation in rental pricing this year, they are in fact seeing a 5% to 8% de-escalation. And for landlords with larger and more expensive units in the R11,000 plus range, they are finding that they are having to reduce rental prices by 10% - 15%.
The primary cause is one of affordability on the part of tenants. With the COVID-19 pandemic there has been widespread business shutdowns and a consequential rise in retrenchments; and for those tenants lucky enough to still be employed, many have had to take salary cuts. This has impacted their ability to pay rent as many tenants lose either all or part of their income.
According to the Q2 2020 PayProp1 Rental Index, year-on-year rental growth rates for April, May and June were 2.3%, 1.1% and 1.6% respectively – half of the 3.2% growth measured in the previous quarter. This is the lowest quarterly growth rate in the history of the PayProp Rental Index and was below the rate of inflation – even as the latter figure dipped to its lowest level in years. At 2.1% year-on-year, the inflation number for May reached its lowest point since September 2004.
The effect of COVID-19 on rent is as expected. Rental growth over the last quarter was extremely low, and we don’t expect it to pick up anytime soon.
Added to this is the fact that many tenants are beginning to default on their rental payments.
According to the TPN2 Q2 2020 Residential Rental Monitor Report, the percentage of total tenants that were recorded as being in good standing with their landlords dropped sharply in the second quarter of 2020. From 81.52% of tenants being in good standing in the first quarter, the percentage declined to 73.5% in the second quarter, a decline of 8 percentage points. Those tenants that paid on time (those who paid late and those with grace periods making up the rest of the tenants in good standing) amounted to 59.48% of total tenants in the second quarter, down from 64.84% in the previous quarter.
So, where to from here for the residential rental property market and how will landlords survive and thrive in this new COVID-19 era? There are several areas that landlords need to focus on and explore in order to remain competitive:
1. Get the right tenants: It is now more important than ever to ensure that landlords have arrears under control, and that they vet tenants properly when placing them.
2. If your rental properties are bonded, look at dropping rental prices in order to retain or attract quality tenants. While low rental inflation may seem to be a negative for landlords on the one hand, the positive side is that it has contributed to low consumer price inflation (rentals being a significant weighting in the Consumer Price Index), and as such has assisted in taking interest rates lower for bonded landlords. And with the drop in interest rates, landlords are able to drop rental prices to bring them in line with their bond payments.
3. Landlords also need to change their perspective in terms of the kind of tenants they want to attract. For example, while single families may have been an ideal target market pre-COVID-19, perhaps it is time to begin exploring the “house-share” phenomenon. House share is about renting out a property to unrelated tenants. So, no longer would a landlord rent out a two-bedroom apartment to a single tenant, but would rent it out to two single tenants who would then each have a bedroom and share the living areas. For the tenants, giving up the privacy of their own apartment and sharing is a lot less expensive than a single person renting a one-bedroom apartment. And while some landlords may believe that this opportunity is restricted to the student market, this is not the case. More and more young professionals are looking at sharing as a way to save money and be able to live in areas that they may not have been able to afford had they rented on their own.
At the end of the day it comes down to thinking more creatively and exploring new and innovative ways to attract prospective tenants and maintain the right occupancy level for your properties.
Until next time.

1. The PayProp Rental Index is a quarterly guide outlining trends in the South African residential rental market and is compiled from transactional data collected by PayProp, the largest processor of residential letting transactions in South Africa.
2. TPN is a registered credit bureau which services the rental market in South Africa.

30/08/2020

On the market at R1,3 million. Water and Electrical points not supplied, but available. Suitable for farming, trucks, a business, accommodation or your own private estate. Situated in Keeshond road, Austin View, Midrand.

07/06/2020

We have just listed this awesome one bedroom furnished unit in the heart of Sandton City at the Michaelangelo Towers. Have a look at how beautiful this unit is.

The Michelangelo Towers is the ideal location for your business needs. One is spoilt for shopping and dining choices with direct access to the Michelangelo Towers Mall which is directly opposite Sandton City and Nelson Mandela Square.

A fully furnished luxurious upmarket 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom apartment. Please view the detailed 360 degree virtual tour directly on the Vartrust website, ref RL2059.

The reception area has beautiful solid wooden floors throughout. A gourmet kitchen with Caesar stone tops, a hob with built in oven and microwave and space for an under counter appliance.

The open plan dining and lounge leads out to the patio.

The bedroom is fitted with thick carpets with a main en-suite and a walk-in dressing room with air conditioning/ heating. A spacious luxurious bathroom with fine finishes.

One under ground parking and plenty of guest parking.

28/05/2020

Nicole Poltera works as a professional real estate agent for Vartrust Real Estate. She specialises in property sales and rentals in Parkmore, Sandown, Riverclub and Bryanston. She is a dynamic go-getter with an exceptional track record that has earned her membership of the exclusive Vartrust Platinu...

12/05/2020

Do you need to move home?

If you bought a property and it was transferred prior to lock down or if you signed a lease before or during lock down, you can now move as long as you do it before the 7th June.

What you need to do:

1. Take the new lease and the old lease agreement if you are renting or
2. The letter from the conveyancer and the transfer documents confirming the change of ownership or residence (certified copies should be fine)

to your local police station station and request a permit from the Station Commander or the person the commander has delegated.