Colin Cullis has worked in media for over two decades. He has created on-air and digital content for Primedia Broadcasting's brands including CapeTalk 567 and Kfm 94.5.

The opportunity to use his experience in property maintenance led to the founding of Home Investor in 2024.

1. Home Investor is a service to help home owners make better and more timely decisions about their property. It is operated by Colin Cullis as sole proprietor and trades as Home Investor available via homeinvestor.co.za

2. These terms and conditions are to clarify what service Home Investor offers. Home Investor provides context and guidance about what work may be required on your property, when it should be done and provides an estimate of the potential costs. This is subject to an assessment of the property and a consultation with the primary contact about the priorities and budgets to determine the best plan. It is not a maintenance business that undertakes to do the work or certify work that was carried out according to compliance regulations. The onus remains with the property owner to pay selected contractors and accept their work as complete.

3. Primary Contact is the homeowner that undertakes to sign off on the required priorities and budgets when setting up the plan.

4. The Maintenance Plan is a set of tools to note all the elements of a property and their condition. It will consist of a report to list the state of the property, a plan for when the prioritised work should be carried out and a budgetary tool to track the progress for gathering the funds to carry out the work.

5. Contractors are those tasked with doing the prioritised work at the scheduled times and may be suggested by Home Investor or the homeowner. The homeowner remains the principal contact of the contractors.

6. The Assessment Report is a broad overview of the property to begin the process to create a maintenance plan. It is based on publicly available imagery of the property and notes the property size, its likely age and type and condition of the roof, paint on walls, doors and windows (if visible).

7. The central service is the Maintenance Plan, defined above. It requires a visit to the property and the completion of an extensive survey including multiple images. Once complete, the plan itself can be created based on the priorities of the owner(s), the state of the property and the available budget for work. It is a subscription based plan that renews annually and is paid monthly or annually. The initial plan comes with a year’s subscription. The cost is R1000 paid upfront and R200 per month (R3400 for first year) thereafter R200 per month.

8. The subscription includes regular updates on savings progress and assistance with preparations for planned work. It also manages the scheduling for needed inspections for items like geysers, gate motors and alarm systems. 

9. The service does not undertake to cover unforeseen instances like pipe bursts or power issues as a consequence of extreme circumstances like loadshedding, storms, droughts or heatwaves.

10. For technical assessments and compliance needs a specialist inspector will be recommended.

11. The service undertakes to be proactive and responsive when emergencies arise, but it does not replace the need for homeowners to have an emergency insurance contact to assist for such instances. 

12. Payment is via Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) and debit order billed monthly. Subscriptions run year to year but can be cancelled with one month's notice. If in the first year the balance of the initial R3400 will need to be be settled. 

13. You will have access to your plan and benefit from updates and suggestions for optimum times to do routine maintenance while subscribed. Should you terminate the subscription you will retain access to your plan for a further calendar year.

14. Home Investor is a tool to assist in managing your property assets and does not replace the need for insurance nor cover the risks for any damages arising from the property owners chosen contractors or for damage arising from work not being undertaken. 

15. Home Investor seeks to be your source of credible information but liability for any actions carried out are taken by the homeowner and so all liability remains with the homeowner.

16. The Maintenance plan is an annual subscription that auto-renews each year but can be cancelled at any time with one month notice.

17. No personal information is shared with third parties without the consent of the owner. Sharing would assist with contractors and suppliers being able to offer service more easily and accurately and potentially save a call out being needed to plan for work.