Paul Nyakazeya
MOST potential home and residential stand owners are easily lured by affordability rather than quality, despite cheap services and products having negative fulfilment, property expert Dumisani Manokore said.
Manokore said it was worrying that some individuals make deliberate choices to buy stands in areas they will “sometimes never be allowed to inhabit”. “Surprisingly, no one is forced to buy where there are no roads, no water systems and sewage reticulation. Unless if you claim that the stand was bought on your behalf while you were out of the country,” he said.
He said usually when a buyer sends an ignorant or “slothful” person they will not recognise that the stand is not serviced. “When a developer gets planning and subdivision permission from a local authority to carry out a residential development he is also obliged to perform certain tasks,” he said
Manokore said usually the developer is required to put up culverts, roads, and water and sewage reticulation.
“When the developer satisfies these requirements which will be written on the town planning permit, a certificate of compliance is issued,” he said.“Normally if a developer fails to complete any one of the obligations or requirements, title deeds will not be issued and sometimes no one is allowed to occupy or put up any improvements,” said Manokore.
He said the trend today however, is that some developments may get title deeds before full services. “The developers just create dirt roads and park their plant and machinery on site so that buyers will get the impression that there is work in progress,” he said.
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“Another disadvantage is that you may not enjoy the full benefits of owning a stand because, imagine owning a stand without water, sewer and even access roads. Sometimes you cannot even identify the stand because no pegs are visible and the stand is not accessible,” he said.
Ultimately some developers will just give some general idea of where the stand might be. “Remember that the main factor that affects value is location. If your stand is located in an unserviced area, do not ever dream that value will appreciate. You will have to wait for services to be completed before you can talk of a good price,” said Manokore.
The worst disadvantage of an unserviced stand according to Manokore is that the developer may fail to develop or may request for additional payments to complete the development.
Buyers he added believe that if the price is low then it is a bargain. However, many end up selling their unserviced stands because they cannot enjoy them. There is high risk in buying unserviced stands unless the developer is reputable.
However, some reputable organisations/developers have also failed to complete some projects which have been pending for years now.
