Property Law & Conveyancing

What you need to know about Property Conveyancing Services:

Property and Conveyancing Services

Ownership of property is not obtained on signature of the offer to purchase document or even on payment of the purchase price. Ownership is only obtained on registration of the property, into the buyer’s name in the Deeds Registry Office and that is what our Conveyancing Attorneys assist our clients with.

Our team of specialists will ensure a smooth and fast registration dealing with all role players such as the municipalities, Deeds Registry Offices, and banks.

We deal with Residential Conveyancing and Commercial Conveyancing.

Property Transfer

What are the first steps to Property Transfer?

Conveyancing Process

Firstly, your Offer to Purchase.

When buying a property, it is very important to ensure that you are well informed and know exactly which documents will be required to successfully Transfer your new Property. Therefore, it is our Job at to provide you with a hassle-free Conveyancing service, ensuring a smooth Property Transfer.

Getting your offer to purchase signed. Offer to purchase is also known as (OTP) normally the offer to purchase is signed by the buyer, seller, and estate agent. We as conveyancers are ready to jump in and make sure all the relevant information is gathered.

Providing you with an excellent conveyancing service. We will make sure that all the correct details have been submitted.

The 10 steps

Step 1 : OTP (Offer to Purchase)

The Conveyancing Process explained in 10 steps:

The buyer signs an offer to purchase (OTP). Thus known to conveyancers as (The sale agreement) or (Deed of sale) this is a binding contract between the buyer and the seller that forms the basis of the transaction. Normally at this point, our Conveyancer will also ensure these below-listed documents are in place.

Certified Copies of all the Identity documents related to purchase
Proof of Residential Address
Marriage Certificate or Ante-nuptial Contract
Company’s Memorandum of Incorporation of the seller and buyer

These are very important documents to do a successful property transfer it also is our duty to ensure that all the FICA requirements are adhered to. Remember we got your back! What is FICA you may ask? Financial Intelligence Centre Act (FICA).

Step 2: Finance Application / Bond

Home Loans

Beforehand the Estate Agent should also ensure that their clients are well informed giving the Buyer and seller peace of mind. Knowing if the Buyer needs finance and helping with referral or recommendation of a bond originator. The buyer or bond originator applies to the bank for finance. A bond application will normally form part of the suspensive conditions, which are events that need to happen before the sale is finalised. Another common suspensive condition is the sale of the buyer’s existing home. At this stage, once finance is approved the next step is our appointment.

More on bond application process from reliable sources:

Step 3: Appointing a Conveyancer

The Conveyancer

Once the OTP is out of the way the buyer will appoint the Conveyancer. The estate agent will send the sale agreement to the transferring attorney – who is the first one of three attorneys that will be appointed during the process. If there is an existing bond over the property, the transferring attorney will then contact the seller’s bank and request the original title deed and cancellation figures, also referred to as discharge costs – this is the figure required to settle the seller’s bond.

Step 4: Rates Clearance and Homeowners association Levy (Where applicable)

Rates Clearance

We quickly sort out your Rates and Clearance ensuring fast and speedy Conveyancing Services all the time. Part of our Conveyancing duties is to request other information such as the Seller’s existing bond as well as the Rates Assessment and/or Levy Assessment from the Body Corporate or Homeowners Association. So, if you have all this information beforehand, and it is paid up in full then it will make the process work faster.

The conveyancer will still request for rates clearance figures from the Municipality.
Make sure that your electricity and water readings are up to date (and not estimates) and all your services are paid in full then it will make the process faster. Why we do this is it can be a long process and remember our job is to save you time and provide solutions to give you the best Conveyancing experience.

According to South African law, a property can only be transferred once all municipal charges and associated costs have been paid in full to the relevant parties.
Once this is done, a rates clearance certificate will be issued by the local council. The seller may be required to pay a few months in advance to obtain the certificate; however, any credit on the account on the date of transfer will be refunded. At this stage, the transferring attorney will also do a Deeds Office search to check all the details of the property.
After this has been done, the transferring attorney will assemble and prepare the required documentation.

See these useful links:

Step 5: Bank Instruction and Guarantees

The Bank

The buyer’s bank will then instruct a bond attorney to register a mortgage bond, which is a special loan that uses the fixed property as security and is registered with the Deeds Office.

Then the seller’s bank instructs its attorney, ie. the cancellation attorney, to cancel the seller’s bond. The cancelation attorney then sends the title deed and guarantee requirements to the bond attorney and the transferring attorney.

Step 6: Signing of Documentation Buyer

Signing

At this stage the buyer will be contacted by the transferring attorney to come in and sign the documents. The buyer will be required to sign a power of attorney to transfer, as well as a number of affidavits to verify his or her marital status, financial status, and identity.

Buyers can prepare for this by getting the following documentation in order:

Proof of address (not older than three months)
A certified copy of their identity documents
Their income tax numbers
Declaration in respect of marital and solvency status
Particulars concerning the identity of the attorney transferring the purchaser’s property if the buyer is utilising the proceeds to pay for his or her purchase
Particulars of the bond granted

These documents will be needed to meet the Financial Intelligence Centre Act (FICA) requirements. Apart from FICA, the transfer process is required to satisfy the necessary criteria of several regulatory instruments, such as the Transfer Duty Act and the Value Added Tax Act for the South African Revenue Service (SARS), and the Municipal Property Rates Act.

Step 7: Paying of Costs and Lodgement

Transfer costs etc.

Now that all of the above is out the way the buyer now pays the transfer costs and his or her share of the rates and taxes. Our conveyancer will be required to present A pro forma account will be presented to the buyer with estimated costs. The buyer will receive a final account after the property has been registered and the actual costs are known. The costs vary because the date of registration is unknown at this stage of the process and a portion of the costs are determined by this date. Once the costs are received the transferring attorney instructs the lodging attorney to lodge the documents with the Deeds Office. The lodging attorney is located near the Deeds Office and acts on behalf of the transferring attorney, who may not be in the vicinity.

Step 8: Guarantees

Document Lodgement

The lodging attorney will contact both the cancelling attorney and bond attorney to ensure that all the documents are in order and ensure that the documents are are lodged on the same day. The documents must be registered at the same time to ensure the smooth transaction and that the seller’s bank has the required guarantees to ensure the security of payment and when it will be paid once the bond is cancelled, and they will not cancel the bond until the new bond is registered with all Guarantees in place.

See more examples of what a Guarantee is:

Step 9: Deed Office

Deeds Office Examiner

A Deeds Office examiner will carefully check all the documentation. This will take between seven and ten working days, depending on how busy the Deeds Office is. Once the documents have been examined, the examiner will contact all the attorneys to inform them that the documents are in order and will be registered the following day.

Step 10: Ownership

Your new Property!

Once all the documents are registered all bills paid, transferring costs, lodgement fees, levies, rates, tax, vat and SARS etc. – Just take a deep breathe as now it is official the buyer becomes the new owner of the property and the seller is paid out the net proceeds. At this stage the estate agent will also be paid his commission. The transferring attorney will at this stage send the original title deed to the buyer’s bank. In the instance where the buyer does not have a bond, the title deed will be sent directly to the buyer. The conveyancer job is now completed.