Cape Town homeowners have only until Tuesday in which to object to the City’s General Valuation (GV) 2018 valuation roll.
April 30 will be the final opportunity for any online or email objections to the values of the approximately 870 000 registered properties in the city, says Mike Greeff, chief executive of Greeff Christie’s International Real Estate.
“Should homeowners wish to object to the valuation conducted by the City, they are encouraged to enlist the aid of a qualified and experienced real estate agent from a reputable agency to perform an independent evaluation on the property in order to provide a more realistic, industry-aligned figure to work with.”
This data, he explains, provides homeowners with a market-related assessment of their property and serves as intellectual, educated data in support of their objections.
“Having this data also assists owners that are looking to sell in future. A property valuation done at regular intervals allows owners to review area trends and growth potential for property investments.”
By law, a city is obliged to perform a General Valuation every four years, but the City of Cape Town has chosen to adopt a three-year period in order to minimise potential shocks to property owners.
The fairness of the valuations roll, Greeff explains, is ensured through an auditing process carried out by an external, independent body with physical inspections of properties only being undertaken when the property’s information on the roll is doubtful or in the event that changes have been made to the property.
Valuations are undertaken by comparing values of similar properties with additional comparisons made between valuated properties and properties that have been sold. The use of aerial photography has also become commonplace in the valuation process to aid in data collection.
According to the City of Cape Town, he says factors that are considered in the process include the property or erf size, number of rooms, number of bathrooms as well as the general quality of materials used in the building and condition of the property.
Valuations are based on actual property sales that have taken place in the market around the date of valuation for each particular area with the attributes of the area also taken into account.
“It is vitally important that homeowners know the consequences of the City’s General Valuation. A lower valuation could translate to lower offers being made on your property should you ever decide to sell. There are proactive steps that you can take to counter the lowering in value of your property. Having access to property expertise in the form of a real estate agent or agency is fundamental to keeping your property’s value exactly where it should be.”