Pooling your resources with someone else to buy property can make a lot of sense, whether you plan to share a house, a holiday home, an office or just an excellent investment.

Just remember the old Roman law maxim “co-ownership is the mother of disputes”. Plan upfront for the day that relationships sour or disagreements arise. Otherwise you risk all the hassle, cost and delay of dispute and litigation.

Luckily there’s a simple solution. Read on for your pre-purchase checklist…

They’re everywhere online – tick boxes asking us to agree to a whole plethora of terms and conditions before we can order a new bicycle, or subscribe to a magazine, or use a website service. Most of us have become very relaxed about “ticking” away blindly, but a recent High Court case shows just what a risk we take when we do that.

We discuss the case of the online gambler who thought he’d won R5m and was most put out when the bookmaker directed him to a clause in the Ts and Cs limiting him to a R1m payout.

The very strict enforcement provisions of POPI (the Protection of Personal Information Act) aren’t in effect yet, but we are at risk even now for any failure to safeguard personal information.

A high-profile illustration comes from the media fallout following an insurance company’s sales call to King Goodwill Zwelithini.  A recording of the call found its way onto social media, triggering threats of a damages claim.

And did you know that the European Union’s new GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) will, from 25 May apply to some South African businesses?

What rate of VAT applies to you if you bought or sold property before the 1 April increase from 14% to 15%?

There’s a lot at stake here - if for example you bought a house from a developer for R10m + VAT, that extra 1% adds R100,000 to your cost. 

Let’s have a look at what SARS has to say about it, and at a little-known (until now) section of the VAT Act that provides some relief to residential property buyers…

Successful entrepreneurs and corporates understand that a happy, healthy workplace environment is a productive one, and that a productive office is a key driver of profitability.

Now picture such a productive office, what springs to mind? What is its colour scheme, how much light is there? Is the temperature comfortable, how are the noise levels, is there a subtle fragrance in the air?

Create your own checklist for creating a really productive office with “5 Office Design Hacks That Will Increase Employee’s Productivity” on the Dumb Little Man website.