To help you along here are a few extra pointers:

• Typically, our clients are foreign or South African home owners who primarily live abroad or up country and spend time during the summer at their holiday home in Cape Town.
• Often we most benefit home owners who have become stressed with poor management of their home due to trying to entrust this to a friend or neighbour who is not professional.
• We only manage homes for owners who wish to use their second home primarily for themselves or rent them out on a long term basis.
• We do not manage holiday homes that the owner wants to rent out on a short term holiday letting basis either directly, or via a rental agency, or use web based advertising services such as “airbnb” etc.

 
Terms and Conditions as follows:

1. The referral fee amount is calculated as follows:
   1. R10 000.00 for signing of a full management package and R5000.00 for signing of a half management package. Typically, large family homes will be signed to a full management package. Sectional Title apartments would be signed to a half management package.
   2. Should our management package rates be discounted upon meeting the home owner, then the percentage discounted would reduce the incentive amount by the same percentage. For example, if our full management package is discounted by 10% then the incentive will also be discounted by 10%, i.e. R1 000.00 making the incentive R9 000.00 on a fully managed large home.
2. The first 50% of the agreed referral will be paid out when each of the following conditions have been met:
   1. Successful signing of a property management mandate between HQM Properties cc and the home owner. Our management mandates are signed for a minimum of 3 months with a 2 month notice period.
   2. HQM Properties cc has received the keys for the property.
   3. HQM Properties cc has received the required owners trust funds for upcoming property expenses to manage their property.
3. The balance of 50% of the referral fee will be paid out 3 months to the date of the signed management mandate.
4. HQM Properties reserves the right not to sign a referred client should we feel they are not a good match for our portfolio, business practice or model. Whether they are a match will depend on the home owner, the property, the management they require, the location of the property and a number of other factors. This will be determined by HQM Properties CC after our initial introduction meeting with the homeowner.
   
5. This referral scheme applies to our Cape Town branch only.
   

​If you’re a Cape home owner then no doubt there is one word that gives you chills down your spine: winter. Fortunately, you can layer-up and pile-on warm things, but how do you take care of your home during these cold months? We chatted to Roofing specialist company Metro founder Adam Commerford for some advice and this is what he had to say:

Get your leaves out of the gutter
Literally take time to clean leaves and sticks and muck out of your gutters. When winter rains come it can cause your gutters to get blocked messing your home’s drainage system in the process. The thought of having to fish out twigs from an overflowing drain or gutter in the middle of a torrential downpour is no one’s idea of a good time. Fortunately that can be avoided.
 
More than just cleaning your gutters, if they are old or broken in any way, perhaps it’s time to get them replaced. Our services at Metro include guttering – we supply and install guttering to meet design specifications. Click here for more information.
 
Fix your short circuit quickly
Winter is like a small child – it requires a lot of energy. It’s a different kind of energy but it’s requires constant attention nevertheless. That’s why we offer home energy audits, so you can rest assured there won’t be anything that goes flash-bang in the night. All external and internal circuits, plug points, switches and light systems are assessed. From there you can see what needs fixing and what (if anything) needs to be replaced altogether.
 
In fact, if you’ve never had a home energy audit done, it comes highly recommended for full safety all year round. Read all about it here.
 
Take time to trim the trees
With winter comes strong winds, heavy rains and unpredictable weather patterns. The trick is to make sure your home is safe when you are there and when you are not. Take some time to trim any trees that are near your house. Look for branches that hang over or near your roof. Identify and remove any dead branches that might break and fall onto your roof. Even if branches and trees don’t cause actual damage, they could block your gutters or damage other parts of the house.
 
Here are some other easy things to check to make sure you’re really ready for the frost:

• If you have a fireplace, put a screen in front of it to prevent sparks from popping out.
• Check that the cord of your electric blanket isn’t frayed.
• Don’t leave heaters on overnight if they’re unattended.
• Keep any candles or gas lamps and heaters out of the way of children.

 
Stay safe, stay warm!