The term "CONVEYANCING" describes the legal process whereby a person, company, close corporation or trust becomes the registered and lawful owner of fixed property and ensures that such ownership cannot be challenged. It also encompasses the process of the registration of mortgage bonds. (See our brochure on "Mortgage Bonds").

A Conveyancer is an attorney who also passed the national conveyancing examination and by law is the only person who can register fixed property transfers. This is necessary to ensure the protection of the various interests the parties have in the transaction and to maintain the high standard of land registration.

The seller usually appoints a Conveyancer to attend to the transfer of fixed property, although this, like other aspects of a sale agreement, can be varied by negotiation between the parties.

In a normal conveyancing matter there are 3 attorneys:

1. Transferring attorney – attend to the overall transfer of the property from the seller to the buyers’ name.
2. Bond cancellation attorney – attend to the cancellation of the bond which is in the name of the seller.
3. Bond registration attorney – deals with the registration of the bond in the name of the buyer.

Transfer fees are based on the value of the property. These fees are suggested by the Legal Council. The feespublished is only a guideline  to the transferring and bond attorneys. The disbursements, however, are at the discretion of the attorneys and these may vary from attorney to attorney. Transfer fees are negotiable within reason.

This is a question without a definite answer. The standard time is from 6-12 weeks however there may be different factors that can make this time frame longer or even shorter.

The municipality’s system takes anything from 6 - 52 weeks and more to refund the Seller. The municipality will request the seller to provide an instruction letter from the transferring attorneys to process the refund. There is no time frame in which the municipality operates to attend to the refund and this can unfortunately take any amount of time.

Once the matter registers in the deeds office, payments will usually be made 1-3 days after registration. This is to allow time for a bond to pay out and for the attorney to work out the finances.

The transfer costs are usually payable after the purchaser has signed the transfer documents.

Yes they can, however certain rules for signing will need to be followed. The procedure to be followed will depend on the country where the documents are being signed. E.g. The documents may need to be signed before a Notary Public and then Apostilled or they can be signed at the South Africa embassy.

Registration usually takes approximately 7-10 working days from date of lodgement. However, this time period differs depending on the Deeds Office where the transfer is lodged.

After registration the transfer documents (including the title deed) are microfilmed by the Deeds Office and thereafter they are released to the transferring attorneys. If there is a bond registered over the property the transferring attorneys will hand the original title deed to the bond attorneys who will then deliver same to the bank. The bank will hold onto the original title deed until the bond is cancelled. If no bond is registered over the property the transferring attorneys will hand the original title deed to the new owner thereof for safe keeping.

A deed of sale is a legal document that contains the terms of a contract of sale of a piece of land or an apartment in a block of flats and which must be signed by the seller and the buyer or their authorized agents.

By operation of the law, documents that are intended for the registration of transfer or mortgaging (making subject to a bond) property must be prepared by a conveyancer. A conveyancer is an admitted and practicing attorney and who has also been admitted to practice as a conveyancer.

A copy of a title deed, for information purposes, is obtainable from any Deeds Office upon written application to the Registrar of Deeds and payment of the prescribed fee which changes from time to time. The officials at the information section of a Deeds Office assist members of the public with the completion of the request forms and with the payment of the prescribed fee. You can also contact us and we will gladly order a copy online at a small fee.

Your deposit can be paid either to the estate agency or the conveyancers appointed to handle the transfer. They both have trust accounts where your money will be held pending the registration of transfer. Parties must stipulate in the offer to purchase where the deposit must be paid and as well as the date the deposit is due. We prefer that the deposit be paid into the trust account of the transferring attorney. Remember to sign an authority to invest enabliong the attorney to invest the money on your behalf until needed. Guarantees may also be issued against these investments.

The purchaser is usually liable for the following costs:
Transfer duty, which is a tax levied on property and based on the purchase price;
Transfer fees payable to the transferring attorneys;
Bond Registration Fees payable to the bond registration attorneys.

The Seller is usually liable for the following costs:
Agents commission as agreed between the seller and the estate agent;
Cost related to cancelling the existing mortgage bond registered over the property;
Rates and taxes that are due on the property, as well as outstanding levies in respect of a sectional title unit;
Costs related to obtaining compliance certificates eg: gas, fence, electrical certificates.

The Seller is usually liable for the following costs:
Agents commission as agreed between the seller and the estate agent;
Cost related to cancelling the existing mortgage bond registered over the property;
Rates and taxes that are due on the property, as well as outstanding levies in respect of a sectional title unit;
Costs related to obtaining compliance certificates eg: gas, fence, electrical certificates.

Bond costs are broken done similarly to transfer costs, being attorney’s fees. The amount payable will be determined by the value of the bond and by attorney’s tariffs. Depending on the bank you choose to go with, an initiation fee will be payable by the purchaser. This initiation fee is payable to the attorneys who will pay the fee directly to the bank.

Transfer Duty is a tax levied on the value of any property acquired by any person by way of a transaction or in any other way. Transfer duty has to be paid before the transfer can be completed. No transfer duty is payable on property acquired up to R950 000. Transfer duty is payable by the purchaser of the property.

Occupational rent typically comes into play when a buyer moves into the property before transfer and registration has taken place, or a seller remains in occupation of the property for a period after that point. Occupational rent is a form of financial compensation for the use of a property that the party does not own.

The Deeds Office keeps a record of all property transactions. If a title deed is destroyed or lost, application can be made to the deeds office for a duplicate original of the deed, at a fee. The application is accompanied by an affidavit stating that the deed is actually lost or destroyed and that diligent search has been made for the deed. Once the Registrar is satisfied he will then issue a certified copy of the title deed which will, for all purposes, be treated as if it were the original.

There are up to five certificates that may have to be supplied to the Purchaser when selling your house, namely, electrical, beetle, gas, water/plumbing and electrical fence. It is the Seller’s responsibility to pay for these certificates and to fix anything required in order to obtain the certificates.

After all the documentation has been signed and the costs paid, the transfer, new bond and cancellation bond documents are prepared by the respective attorneys for lodgment in the deeds office. All the documents are lodged in the Deeds Office by arrangement with the attorneys concerned.

Yes, you should keep on paying these as you will be refunded after registration for any surplus amounts paid.

Section 2(1) of the Alienation of Land Act No 68 of 1981, stipulates that no alienation of land shall be of any force or effect unless signed by the parties to it or by their agents acting on their written authority.  Someone signing on behalf of someone else must be authorised by a written Power of Attorney.

Conveyancing has become a very stressful profession, with conveyancers and their staff often under immense pressure to perform to clients' expectations.

Much of the process, which they have to coordinate, is actually out of their hands. They are heavily dependent on banks, city councils, revenue offices and other role players (including local deeds offices) to perform their duties by furnishing them with bond instructions, rates clearances and so on.

Conveyancers and their secretaries are delayed and compromised by buyers who fail to pay deposits or rentals on time, or by both buyers and/or sellers wanting to change agreements resulting in inevitable further delays. Often it is just one party that defaults, resulting in the other pressuring the conveyancer to remedy the situation, hassles with electrical certificates and latent defects pressurise conveyancers even further.

• protect the interest of his client, the Seller, at all times and these interests should outweigh all other considerations except of course issues of legality;

• inform the seller of the conveyancing procedure and keep the seller informed of the progress of the transaction;

• advise the seller on the content of the Offer to Purchase, especially regarding suspensive conditions;

• advise the seller on the cancellation of his bond , any penalties, notice periods and other administrative charges which may affect the settlement figure;

• obtain the seller’s instruction before issuing any guarantees in respect of the transaction;

• do everything in his power to register the transaction on or as close as possible to the date agreed to in the offer to purchase;

• advise the seller on his obligations in terms of the offer to purchase, so as to ensure that the transfer is not delayed;

• meet with the seller to explain, as well as sign the necessary documentation in order to conclude the transaction;

• prepare the deeds for lodgement with care , so as to minimise the risk of rejection of the documentation by the Deeds Office;

• inform the seller of the transfer on the day of registration;

• account to the seller for finances relating to the transaction within two days after registration.

• contact his/her bank to find out whether or not s/he qualifies for a home loan and if so, what amount s/he qualifies for;
• make sure that s/he can afford the monthly loan repayments and other costs like, rates and taxes, water and electricity, insurance premiums and so on;
• find out about any once off costs, for example, legal costs, transfer duty or value added tax, loan administration, initiation and registration fees and so on;
• consider his/her future needs, for example, whether the property that s/he intends to buy is close to his/her work, shops, schools, hospitals and so on;
• examine the property s/he intends to buy thoroughly for any defects or potential defects, for example, cracks in the walls, damage to the roof, faulty plumbing and so on. The defects may be taken into consideration when negotiating the purchase price of the property; and
• ask the person selling the property (“seller”) to provide him/her with the following documents: copies of the title deed and diagram; any existing lease agreements; approved building plans; and any other relevant information (such as zoning, town planning or municipality requirements). These documents must also be taken into consideration when negotiating the purchase price of the property.

• After examining the property and perusing the documentation, the buyer must decide whether or not s/he is interested in buying the property. If the buyer is interested in buying the seller’s property, s/he can make an offer to the seller or his/her estate agent.
• When the terms and conditions of an offer to purchase are being negotiated, the buyer will be asked for the date that s/he intends to move into the property (occupation date). If no date is set, the seller has the right to remain in the property until the property has been registered (transferred) into the buyer’s name and the seller has received the purchase price.
• After the buyer and seller have reached an agreement on the terms and conditions of the sale, the offer to purchase must be reduced to writing (if not already done so) and signed by both the buyer and the seller in acceptance; a sale agreement comes into existence.
• Any change to the sale agreement must be done in writing and signed by both the buyer and the seller.

No. When a seller decides to sell his/her property privately, it is advisable that s/he  approach a professional to draw up a sale agreement. The professional must have the necessary knowledge and skills to advise the seller and draft a sale agreement best suited for the particular sale. Contact us to assist with the contract, fee quotation, and transfer of the property?

• Identity of the seller and the buyer: by including their names, identity numbers, addresses, marital statuses and so on.
• Description of the property being sold by the seller: by including the deeds office’s description, size, and/or street address of the property being sold.
• Purchase price of the property payable by the buyer: by including how the purchase price is going to be paid for by the buyer, for example, in cash or by obtaining a loan, and whether or not a deposit is payable. If a deposit is payable, the deposit must be held in an interest-bearing trust account by the conveyancer (the attorney instructed to transfer the property). If the purchase price is R250 000 or less, a cooling-off period of five working days will apply.

• The terms and conditions that the seller and the buyer MAY also agree on are, for example:

• Fixtures and fittings: anything else included in the sale of the property must be specified, for example, a tool-shed, curtains, remotes and so on.
• Conveyancer: details of the conveyancer handling the transfer. Usually the seller decides on a conveyancer, however, the seller and the buyer may also agree on a conveyancer.
• Costs: person responsible for certain costs relating to the transfer of the property, for example, obtaining a clearance certificate, transfer duty or value added tax and so on. The buyer and the seller are usually responsible for their own costs relating to obtaining, or cancelling of, a loan for the property.
• Occupation: the date of occupation by the buyer (on registration or a specified date before or after registration of the property into the buyer’s name) and the amount of occupational rent payable by the seller or the buyer, if any.
• Voetstoots: when a property is sold “as is” (current condition). The defects or possible defects must be disclosed to the buyer to avoid liability for damages.
• Estate agent: name of the estate agent and the amount of commission payable, if any. The commission is negotiable between the seller and the estate agent.
• Certificates: the seller must provide, at his/her costs, an electrical compliance certificate, electrical fence certificate, pest control certificate and/or a gas compliance certificate.
• Suspensive conditions: for example, whether the sale is subject to the buyer obtaining a loan within an agreed period of time. The sale cannot proceed until all the suspensive conditions have been met.
• Breach: what will happen if the seller or the buyer does not comply with the sale agreement, for example, if the buyer breaches the agreement of sale, the seller will notify the buyer to fix the breach within seven days. If the buyer does not fix the breach, the seller will be entitled to proceed with a claim for performance in court or cancel the sale agreement and proceed with a claim for damages in court.

A suspensive condition is an uncertain future event. The Offer to Purchase is thus subject to the happening of this uncertain future event. Should the Purchaser fail to comply with the suspensive conditions pertaining to his/her specific offer within the allotted time frame, the Offer to Purchase becomes null and void and is of no effect.