Starting my buy-to-let portfolio in South Africa - Some questions

[Marno Fourie]

I have been reading, listening to podcasts, audio books, jumped on a ton of forums, asking everyone I come into contact with who is involved with real estate investments and even gone as far as to start taking some online courses on the topic - perhaps I am stuck in the "analysis paralysis" phase, or perhaps I just have these last couple of questions answered before I can go on to buy my first property in South Africa...

I have the finances in place for a deposit, but I just don't seem to know where to start.

Here are some questions that might help me clear things up:

1. How long after buying a property can one refinance and use the equity as a deposit on the next property?

2. Is it worth buying a brand new (or under development) flat/apartment off plan? (considering I can get it with no deposit and of course no transfer costs)

3. With regards to Section 13sex of the tax act - does this mean I need to own at least 5 NEW units, or can I benefit from this as long as one of the five properties is a newly built unit?

4. Should I first establish a trust (or legal entity) of some kind as a foundation to buy all my future properties in its name? Or is it better to do it in my personal name?

5. Any advice or resources that you can share for finding local auctions or properties under market value? Or should I first focus on buying a "safer/non fixer upper" property at market value to gain some experience and build up a team of contractors, before heading in this direction?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!