The Property Transfer Process may be summarized as follows:
- Receive Offer to Purchase
- Securing the Purchase Price
- Obtain Relevant Documents
- Sign Transfer Documents
- Obtain Clearance Certificates
- Lodge in Deeds Office
- Registration and Finances
1. Receive offer to purchase
The transfer process starts once an offer to purchase has been signed by both the buyer and the seller and presented to the transferring attorney.
It becomes legally binding once accepted by the seller.
2. Securing the purchase price
The purchase price can either be payable in cash or through bank finance or a combination of both.
If the purchase price or a portion thereof is to be secured through bank finance, the purchaser will apply for a loan from a bank.
Once the purchaser’s loan application has been approved, a bond registration attorney will be appointed by the bank to register a mortgage bond over the property as security for the bank.
3. Obtain relevant documents
Bond cancellation figures for the seller’s existing bond over the property.
Rates clearance figures from a local municipality.
Levy clearance figures from a body corporate or homeowner’s association.
Transfer duty receipt or exemption certificate from SARS.
4. Sign transfer documents
The transferring attorney will prepare the transfer documents to be signed by the seller and the purchaser.
Both parties must sign various FICA affidavits confirming their personal information and a SARS transfer duty declaration indicating whether transfer duty is payable.
The seller will sign a Power of Attorney to pass transfer.
A Power of Attorney to pass transfer is lodged in the deeds office authorizing a conveyancer to appear before the Registrar of Deeds and pass transfer of the property to the buyer on behalf of the seller.
5. Obtain clearance certificates
The purchaser will pay the transfer costs to the transferring attorney which will include the transfer duty payable to SARS, if applicable.
The transferring attorney will pay the transfer duty to SARS and obtain a transfer duty receipt, if applicable. If the transaction is exempt from transfer duty the transferring attorney will obtain a transfer duty exemption certificate.
The seller will be liable for payment of the municipal and levy-clearance figures.
The seller is also responsible to arrange the issuing of the electrical compliance certificate, gas compliance certificate and electrical fence certificate, if applicable.
6. Lodge in Deeds Office
Once all the documents have been received, the transfer documents will be submitted to the deeds office for registration.
If there are various attorneys attending to different aspects of the transaction their documents will to be linked and lodged simultaneously with the transferring attorney’s documents.
7.Registration and Finances
The process of registration in the deeds office normally takes between 8-10 working days from date of lodgment.
Once registration is complete a new title deed will be issued confirming that the purchaser is the registered owner of the property.
Upon registration the transferring attorney will finalize the seller’s and purchaser’s statements of account and pay the proceeds of sale to the seller.