Leverage: A property that has been sitting unsold for 12 months is a negotiation opportunity. Picture: Pexels
A thread on X went viral this week. A guy named Thendo Muloiwa shared that he had spent two years renting a flat in Victory Park, Johannesburg, for R12 000 a month. His landlord had listed the unit for sale at R1.4 million.
Thendo did the math (out loud, for all of X to see). What he found was uncomfortable reading for anyone who has been told that buying property is the golden path to wealth.
His numbers were blunt when he typed that bond repayments at prime would run at R14 479 a month. Add levies of R2 500 and rates of R1 200 and the total cost of owning the flat comes to R18 200 a month.
Compare that to the R12 000 he was paying to rent the space and suddenly the “Why rent when you can own?” crowd goes silent.
