Jobs and real estate in SA?

[jacob.es.johansson]

Hi!

Me and my girlfriend are planning to go to SA on a work visa, buy a property to live in and then study for a bachelor for approx 3 years.

Anyone who knows a bit about jobs, what sort of salary you could expect and what kind of jobs that are most common (for uneducated, not a great deal of work experience in a specific area.. ehh .. people)

and also is it worth it buying a property in SA, that is, would it be a good investment?
Looked around a bit and it seems like you can get a pretty nice 2 bedroom apartments for less than AU$100.000 /US$86.000/ ZAR 600.000 while where we live now (Westen Australia) you're lucky if you find an equivalent house for AU$600.000/ US$500.000/ ZAR 4.000.000!
...guess its different everywhere though..

Regards Jake

[Anu]

Originally Posted by jacob.es.johansson

Hi!

Me and my girlfriend are planning to go to SA on a work visa, buy a property to live in and then study for a bachelor for approx 3 years.

Anyone who knows a bit about jobs, what sort of salary you could expect and what kind of jobs that are most common (for uneducated, not a great deal of work experience in a specific area.. ehh .. people)

and also is it worth it buying a property in SA, that is, would it be a good investment?
Looked around a bit and it seems like you can get a pretty nice 2 bedroom apartments for less than AU$100.000 /US$86.000/ ZAR 600.000 while where we live now (Westen Australia) you're lucky if you find an equivalent house for AU$600.000/ US$500.000/ ZAR 4.000.000!
...guess its different everywhere though..

Regards Jake

Very difficult to get visa,unless u have some skill which is not already available in SA, Been struggling for visa from few years, though i come under skilled labor.

[jacob.es.johansson]

Originally Posted by Anu

Very difficult to get visa,unless u have some skill which is not already available in SA, Been struggling for visa from few years, though i come under skilled labor.

I came in contact with some guy from the immigration and he said thats since me and my girlfriend are under 25 years of age we could get some sort of "exchange visa"? which allow you to stay and work with one employer for 12 months and then we can get a student visa.

a student visa should be easier to get right?, hope so otherwise our plans are down the drain!

[Daxk]

Have you phoned the International admin section of the Uni you wish to attend?
They will tell you exactly what you need to know.

[Gonealongtime]

Hi Jake,

I immigrated to Australia (from SA) 26years ago and have lived mainly in Perth (but also Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney).

I'll be going to Cape Town to look at Property in December 2009, so my advice is to consider the following:

1) the ZAR/DOLLAR exchange rate,,,,, is it likely to move in favour of the Aussie (meaning that the Aussie will strengthen) over the next 12-18 months (say), making property cheaper for you to buy? How will SA property increases negate that?
Negligible?

2) When you make an investment in a foreign country, you must consider where you'll hold your debt (your asset will obviously be on foreign land) and where you will gain your income. This has mainly to do with exchange rates (see some combination below in 3)

3)
a) Asset in SA, debt in SA (assumed fixed in all cases), all income in SA - No adverse currency movements, no adverse interest rate movements.

b) Asset in SA, debt in SA, income from Australia - great if ZAR weakens. Otherwise, potential payment problems.

c) Asset in SA, debt in Aussie, income from Australia - no currency effect on payments, but potential Capital losses on weakening ZAR


There are more combinations to add to the above, but my point is this, you need to consider:

a) Where you hold your debt and your income to service that debt
b) What the interest rate differentials are between SA and Aussie (recently 15% in SA, 7% in Aussie at the equivalent time). I realize that it’s different now.
b) How long will you keep your investment?
c) Management and ability to rent out, if you leave and cannot sell.
d) Who'll buy your property (does property appeal to foreign buyers or just locals).

Regards Glenn

Originally Posted by jacob.es.johansson

Hi!

Me and my girlfriend are planning to go to SA on a work visa, buy a property to live in and then study for a bachelor for approx 3 years.

Anyone who knows a bit about jobs, what sort of salary you could expect and what kind of jobs that are most common (for uneducated, not a great deal of work experience in a specific area.. ehh .. people)

and also is it worth it buying a property in SA, that is, would it be a good investment?
Looked around a bit and it seems like you can get a pretty nice 2 bedroom apartments for less than AU$100.000 /US$86.000/ ZAR 600.000 while where we live now (Westen Australia) you're lucky if you find an equivalent house for AU$600.000/ US$500.000/ ZAR 4.000.000!
...guess its different everywhere though..

Regards Jake

[Gonealongtime]

Oh Jake


Forgot to add.

SA property VERY cheap compared to WA.

When you need to compare, the most suitable way is to do so on a unit basis (not total costs). So find a comparable suburb and divided the total costs into the amount of sqm of land (or unit floor space).

Here's an example
If you were to take a top shelf suburb like Constantia in the Cape, you'll find that the SQM cost are approx $ $300-$350 including the building. Current at 7:1 exchange. Compare this to our top shelf, in Perth (say Dalkeith), and you'll be shocked as its SQM cost for the equivalent would easily hit 7-10 times Constantia. Search y and see what a house on 4000 SQM cost in Constantia, it's pittance in comparison.

Cheers

Originally Posted by jacob.es.johansson

Hi!

Me and my girlfriend are planning to go to SA on a work visa, buy a property to live in and then study for a bachelor for approx 3 years.

Anyone who knows a bit about jobs, what sort of salary you could expect and what kind of jobs that are most common (for uneducated, not a great deal of work experience in a specific area.. ehh .. people)

and also is it worth it buying a property in SA, that is, would it be a good investment?
Looked around a bit and it seems like you can get a pretty nice 2 bedroom apartments for less than AU$100.000 /US$86.000/ ZAR 600.000 while where we live now (Westen Australia) you're lucky if you find an equivalent house for AU$600.000/ US$500.000/ ZAR 4.000.000!
...guess its different everywhere though..

Regards Jake

[Stevan]

hi

great advise above.

Somthing to remember, owning a property in South Africa will not help your visa application. If you are planning on settling then get your visas sorted before you start investing.

[Tike]

Further to this question, is there anywhere which advises which skills are most likely to get a visa please?