Objective information on the conveyancing steps involved in buying a sectional title unit: Offer to Purchase review, Deeds Office searches, body corporate records, clearance certificates and registration of transfer. vindarop explains each step in plain South African English.
Weeks from acceptance to registration
Attorneys in a typical bonded sale
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About vindarop
vindarop provides fact-based informational support for residential property transfers in South Africa. Our office in Rosebank, Johannesburg is open 08:00–17:00 SAST, Monday to Friday, and consultations focus on the sequence of steps, the documents involved and the certificates a transfer requires.
Conveyancer
Sipho is an admitted attorney and conveyancer regulated by the Legal Practice Council (reg. {lpc_number}). He gives neutral, factual explanations of how a transfer moves from signature of the Offer to Purchase to registration in the Deeds Office.
Conveyancer, Residential Transfers
Priya specialises in residential transfers and sectional title schemes under the Sectional Titles Act 95 of 1986 and the STSMA. She works through sectional plans, conduct and management rules, levy statements and reserve fund records, and explains a buyer's obligations in clear, accessible language.
Conveyancing Secretary, Transfers
Deon supports the transfer file end to end: FICA verification, rates and levy clearance applications to the municipality and body corporate, electrical compliance certificates, transfer duty submissions to SARS and lodgement dates at the Deeds Office.
Buying a sectional title unit in South Africa runs through a defined sequence of steps that determine when ownership actually passes and what it costs to get there. It begins with the Offer to Purchase: a written, signed agreement that usually carries suspensive conditions for bond approval and, where relevant, the sale of the buyer's existing property. The seller then appoints the transferring attorney — an admitted conveyancer — while the bank appoints a separate bond attorney and, where the seller still has a bond, a cancellation attorney. The transferring attorney conducts Deeds Office searches on the title deed and the sectional plan, checking for servitudes, endorsements, interdicts and the existing bond that must be cancelled. For a unit in a sectional title scheme the due diligence widens to the scheme's conduct and management rules (PMR and CR under the STSMA), the body corporate's budget and levy roll, the reserve fund required by the STSMA, trustee and general meeting minutes, and any special levy that has been raised or is being contemplated. Before lodgement the file must gather a rates clearance certificate from the municipality, a levy clearance certificate from the body corporate, an electrical compliance certificate (CoC) and, depending on the property and the municipality, plumbing, gas, electric fence and beetle certificates. Transfer duty is paid to SARS unless the seller is a VAT-registered developer, in which case VAT applies instead of transfer duty — never both. FICA verification of both parties is compulsory. vindarop explains these checkpoints and the order they happen in, without promising outcomes for any particular transaction.
The first review focuses on the Offer to Purchase, the suspensive conditions attached to it and any clause that sets a deadline or a penalty. Typical suspensive conditions are bond approval within a stated number of days and, where relevant, the sale of the buyer's existing property. The review clarifies who carries which transfer costs, what fixtures and fittings are included or excluded, how the deposit is held in the transferring attorney's trust account, and what the voetstoots clause does and does not cover alongside the seller's duty to disclose known defects. It also confirms the FICA documents both parties must supply and, for a sectional title unit, which body corporate records the buyer is entitled to see. The point of the exercise is to set expectations early so the buyer can decide within the dates written into the agreement.
A Deeds Office search examines the property's registration history to reveal the existing bond, servitudes, endorsements, conditions of title, interdicts and any attachment that could affect the buyer's rights. Where something is found, the conveyancer explains its legal effect and what has to happen before the transfer can be lodged — a bond cancellation figure requested from the bank, a servitude noted in the title deed, or an interdict that must first be uplifted. In a sectional title scheme the search widens to the sectional plan, the participation quota that fixes the levy, exclusive use areas registered or allocated under the rules, and whether the body corporate has raised or resolved on a special levy. Arrear rates on the municipal account and arrear levies at the body corporate both block clearance certificates, so they surface here rather than at the last minute.
Registration is the moment ownership passes. The transferring, bond and cancellation attorneys lodge together at the Deeds Office, the deed is examined and, on registration, the purchase price is paid over, the seller's old bond is cancelled and the buyer's new bond is registered on the same day. Before that, the transferring attorney draws a statement of account itemising transfer duty paid to SARS, Deeds Office fees, conveyancing fees, rates and levies paid in advance for clearance, the CSOS levy where a sectional title scheme is involved, and any pro rata adjustment refunded to the seller. After registration the buyer opens municipal accounts, gives the body corporate its bank details for levies, and files the title deed — usually held by the bank while the bond runs. Keep every document from the transfer file, and query anything unexpected that arrives afterwards.
A read-through of the OTP, its suspensive conditions, the bond approval deadline and the voetstoots clause, so obligations and dates are clear before signature.
Learn more about the processA search of the title deed and sectional plan for servitudes, endorsements, interdicts and the existing bond that must be cancelled on registration.
Learn more about the processExamination of the sectional plan, the scheme's conduct and management rules, levy statements, the STSMA reserve fund and trustee minutes for special levies.
Learn more about the processRates and levy clearance certificates, the electrical compliance certificate, transfer duty to SARS, and lodgement alongside the bond and cancellation attorneys.
Learn more about the processBefore signing an Offer to Purchase, check that the bond approval period is realistic, ask the seller or the property practitioner for the body corporate's levy statement and rules if the unit is in a sectional title scheme, and allow for the six to twelve weeks a transfer normally takes. Raising a question early is far cheaper than raising it after lodgement.
South Africa splits the work across three attorneys. The seller appoints the transferring attorney, who is an admitted conveyancer and drives the transfer. The buyer's bank appoints the bond attorney to register the new bond, and the seller's bank appoints the cancellation attorney to cancel the old one. All three lodge at the Deeds Office together. Estate agents are property practitioners regulated by the PPRA and must hold a valid Fidelity Fund Certificate.
Six to twelve weeks from acceptance to registration is normal, and longer when the Deeds Office is backlogged. The usual hold-ups are late bond grants, a rates clearance figure that takes weeks to issue, arrear levies at the body corporate, an outstanding electrical compliance certificate, and FICA documents that arrive in pieces. Keeping buyer, seller, bank and conveyancer talking is what shortens a transfer.
Transfer costs scale with the purchase price. Expect transfer duty to SARS (nil below roughly R1.2 million, on a sliding scale above that), conveyancing fees, Deeds Office fees, search and FICA disbursements, bond registration costs, and the CSOS levy on a sectional title unit. Ask for an itemised pro forma account in rand before you sign anything.
Send us the basics and a member of the team will reply with informational guidance on the transfer steps that apply to your purchase. vindarop does not give case-specific outcomes in a first informational reply.
Suite 12, The Bond, 30 Jellicoe Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg, Gauteng, 2196
+27 11 447 3082 · 011 447 3082
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Checklist
Resources for South African buyers
Checklist
A short checklist of the documents to ask for and the questions to put to the seller or property practitioner before you sign an Offer to Purchase.
Explore guidesFAQ
Answers to the questions we hear most often about Deeds Office searches, transfer duty, transfer costs and body corporate records.
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Tips
What to have ready for lodgement and registration, from FICA documents and proof of banking details to occupation dates and keys.
Explore guides