Who is Buyers Trust?

Buyers Trust is a part of the ooba Group that pioneered the home loan origination industry in South Africa 20 years ago.  The ooba Group includes, ooba home loans, South Africa’s largest bond originator as well as ooba insure which offers a range of insurance products to home loan customers.  The ooba Group has a national footprint with its head office in Cape Town and regional sales offices across the country.  The ooba Group has a diverse shareholding base that includes both listed and non-listed companies.  The ooba Group is a level 7 BEE rated company.

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What we do

Buying a property is one of the largest financial investments that you will make in your life, and understandably this decision comes with some insecurities around the complexity of the transaction.

One of the parts of the transaction that you are expected to manage, is the property deposit. Most sellers require you to put down a 10% cash deposit on the sale of a property, shortly after signing the Offer to Purchase.  The deposit is required to demonstrate your commitment to purchase the property.

Any Offer to Purchase that you sign with the Seller will generally provide you with options to invest your deposit either into the real estate company’s trust account, or alternatively into the trust account of the attorney chosen by the seller to do the property transfer. Ideally, like any investment, you would want to ensure that your deposit is safe and that you are able to realize the best financial return on your deposit for the entire period pending the transfer and registration of your property in the deeds office (this period normally takes about 3 to 4 months).

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Benefits of using Buyers Trust

Alternative Investment Proposition

In short, Buyers Trust provides property buyers an alternative proposition for the investment of their property deposit. The investment is with a reputable South African bank, in an account in the buyers own name, operated by Buyers Trust (an FSCA registered entity) under an investment mandate signed by the buyer. The proposition provides buyers with security, transparency and a competitive investment return on their deposit.
On the Offer to Purchase that you sign with the Seller, you select Buyers Trust as the financial service provider with whom you wish to invest your deposit.

Once your Offer to Purchase is accepted by the Seller, Buyers Trust will electronically arrange for you to sign a simple investment mandate and to be FICA’ed. They will then seamlessly open a bank account for you, in your own name through a reputable South African bank. The account will be opened in your name so the account is secure. Buyers Trust will only have the ability to transact on the account on your specific instructions under the written mandate you provide to us. You will have access to your account status at any stage at your request which we will upload to the Buyers Trust web-application. Statements are also distributed monthly.  This will provide you with 100% transparency on your investment, any costs and your investment returns.

As required by your Offer to Purchase, Buyers Trust will issue the transferring attorney on the transaction (who is acting on behalf of the seller) with a bank guarantee for the full amount of the deposit, fulfilling your requirements in terms of the Offer to Purchase while keeping your funds secure and in your own account.
Buyers Trust will administer your account, provide you with monthly statements and when called upon to do so by the transferring attorney, fulfill the guarantee and transfer the monies to the transferring attorney for disbursement to the seller, so that you can take ownership of your property.
Buyers Trust will then calculate the full net interest earned on the account over the period and pay that over to you and also provide you with detailed reporting in this regard, including a tax certificate for the interest earned. Once that is done will we close the account.

Common questions and advice

Fraud &
Crime

The real estate cyber fraudster

Buying or selling your home will likely be one of the biggest transactions of your life. So it’s no surprise that it poses a major risk for cybercrime. The most dominant of these are phishing scams, a trend that is on the rise due to an increase in online communications, working from home and poor software security systems.

Phishing, which has hiked by 350% since the pandemic began according to a Google Report, is a cybercrime performed by persons or groups who contact potential victims by posing as legitimate institutions to persuade them into providing private data, such as banking and credit card details, passwords, or personal identification information.

Read more at privateproperty.co.za

Rising cybercrime posing a threat to online real estate transactions

Rising rates of cybercrime globally are posing a serious threat to online transactions in the real estate space.

The OFM Business Hour, sat down with Jackie Smith, the head of Buyers Trust, which is a subsidiary of ooba on how real estate agencies need to be cogniscant of how they handle clients’ personal information because cybercriminals are on the alert. Listen to more of the conversation below.

Read more on ofm.co.za

South Africa’s real estate industry is worried about the impact of this type of crime

Protecting potential victims from fraud is in the spotlight as many people are unaware of the dangers they face daily when transacting and communicating online.

Having increased by over 300% during the pandemic, cybercrime is fast becoming one of the biggest threats to businesses globally – and the real estate industry is no exception, says Jackie Smith, head of Buyers Trust – a subsidiary of ooba Group.

Read more at businesstech.co.za

Ransomware: SA among the world's biggest targets - and crooks are getting craftier

South Africa remains one of the countries where the greatest number of ransomware attacks are detected by global cybersecurity company Kaspersky, with ransomware threats increasing 23% in SA in the second quarter of 2021 compared to the first quarter.

Read more at news24.com

'300% spike' in Cybercrime | How not to lose your deposit to a phishing scam

The Real Estate industry’s fraud risk has been brought under the spotlight, as cybercrime has increased by over 300% during the COVID-19 pandemic – making it one of the biggest threats to businesses around the globe.

“Every. 32 seconds, a hacker defrauds someone online. This equates to cybercrimes being committed around 2,244 times per day, with small businesses highlighted as the most vulnerable to these attacks,” says Jackie Smith, Head of Buyers Trust (a subsidiary of ooba Group) – a safe and secure bank-hosted deposit solution for homebuyers.

Read more at property24.com

Real Estate phishing scams are on the rise: here’s what you need to know

Real estate transactions are at high risk of cybercrimes, particularly phishing scams, a trend that is spiking due to an increase in online communications, work from home policies, and weak software security systems.

Phishing, which has risen by 350% since the pandemic began according to a Google Report, is a cybercrime perpetrated by persons or groups who contact potential victims posing as legitimate institutions to lure them into providing private data, such as banking and credit card details, passwords, or personal identification information.

Read more at rei.co.za

General

Home buyers need to know where to keep deposits under new law

Seeing that the new property laws have come into effect under the Property Practitioners Act (PPA) at the beginning of this month, both homeowners and the property industry at large now have new options available to them when choosing how to manage their deposit.

Read more at propertyprofessional.co.za

Buying a home: Are deposits still needed?

When it comes to home buying, nothing attracts the attention of the seller quite like a deposit. Putting down a deposit when signing an offer to purchase (OTP) is seen as a show of commitment.

A deposit – usually 10% of the cost of the property – indicates to both the banks and the seller that you are a serious buyer.

Read more at businesstech.co.za

New property laws affect where homebuyers can keep their deposits: Here’s what you need to know

New property laws came into effect under the Property Practitioners Act (PPA) on 01 February 2022. 

These changes affect both homeowners and the industry at large, with one of the most significant changes being centered around trust accounts. Explains Jackie Smith, head of Buyers Trust – a subsidiary of ooba Group: “Property practitioners (estate agents) can now be exempt from having to have a trust account should they meet certain conditions.”

Read more at engineeringnews.co.za

Home buyers need to know where to keep deposits under new law

Seeing that the new property laws have come into effect under the Property Practitioners Act (PPA) at the beginning of this month, both homeowners and the property industry at large now have new options available to them when choosing how to manage their deposit.

These changes affect both homeowners and the industry at large, with one of the most significant changes being centered around trust accounts. Explains Jackie Smith, head of Buyers Trust – a subsidiary of ooba Group: “Property practitioners (estate agents) can now be exempt from having to have a trust account should they meet certain conditions.”

Read more at propertyprofessional.co.za

How does Buyers Trust work?

Trust is fundamentally important to every business transaction and in the case of a property sale it becomes absolutely crucial.

When you buy or sell your Cape Town home, you’ll need to know that your deposit is in good hands. This will also prevent unexpected delays from cropping up due to payment issues from the buyer’s side. 

Read more at caperealty.co.za

How much a deposit will save you on your bond repayments
  • A deposit lowers your monthly repayments and gains you more favourable interest rates, saving you money in the long-term.
  • A deposit shows the seller and lender you’re committed, and makes you less of a risk to the lender.
  • It is possible to get a 100% home loan, removing the need for a deposit, but doing so will lead to higher interest rates and higher monthly repayments.

Buying a home  usually requires you to pay 10% to 20% of the purchase price up front. This lump sum is referred to as the deposit; and while saving up for the deposit may be a challenge, it can benefit you for a number of reasons, and save you money in the long-term.

Read more at simplyonline.co.za

Let’s make contact

call us on 087 828 8400

Address

33 Bree Street, Cape Town, Western Cape, 8001, South Africa