I’VE SIGNED – NOW WHAT?

The agent forwards a copy of the signed Offer to Purchase to the seller , the purchaser and the seller's attorney who will serve as transferring attorney on behalf of the seller, (to avoid delays make quite sure that this attorney is a qualified and practicing conveyancer), who checks the document on behalf of the seller and requests both purchaser and seller to provide the comprehensive personal and financial details required to initiate the transfer process.

Should the seller have a bond to cancel, the transferring attorney calls on the bondholder to provide him with the title deed of the property and a note of the amount required to cancel the bond.

The transferring attorney conducts a deeds office search to verify both property and bond details and to discover whether there are any restrictive conditions of title or interdicts of any kind registered against the property.

The bondholder instructs its own attorney , the cancellation attorney , to provide the transferring attorney with the cancellation figure.

If the purchaser requires a bond, the financial institution granting the bond will also instruct an attorney , the bond attorney , to arrange for registration of the new bond over the property.

The bond attorney prepares the bond documents and calls on the purchase r to sign for the bond and pay the bond registration fee and costs.

On being advised by the agent and the bond attorney that any suspensive conditions contained in the Offer to Purchase have been fulfilled, the transferring attorney draws the transfer documents and calls on the purchaser and/or the financial institution granting the bond to issue guarantees in the amount necessary to cancel the seller's bond.

The transferring attorney calls upon the purchaser and seller to sign the completed transfer documents and in the case of the purchaser to make payment of any outstanding balance of the purchase price and the relevant taxes fees and costs of transfer.

If a bond is required guarantees for the purchaser's bond are provided to the transferring attorney by the bond attorney

The transferring attorney pays the transfer duty and applies for the transfer duty receipt

The transferring attorney obtains the consent to cancel the existing bond by sending a financial guarantee to the cancellation attorney.

The transferring attorney requests a rates clearance certificate from the relevant municipality.

The cancellation attorney sends his guarantee to the bondholder who in his turn signs a final consent to cancel thus enabling the cancellation attorney to cancel the bond

As soon as this process has been completed satisfactorily each of the attorneys involved will arrange to lodge his documents in the deeds office simultaneously with each of the others in order to enable transfer to take place. Once transfer duty has been paid and the documents lodged, registration of transfer currently takes from 7 – 10 working days. The seller is normally paid out on the day following transfer.

Recent Government Acts, particularly those empowering the Financial Investigation Centre and the South African Revenue Service now require all parties to a sale to provide much more comprehensive (and verifiable) financial information than has previously been the case. Failure to provide this information at the commencement of the transfer process may result in delays and SARS has the power to hold up transfer should it be discovered that any of the parties has irregularities in their tax affairs!

Obviously the speed at which this process can take place depends upon the efficiency of the attorneys involved, the availability of the necessary documents, the whereabouts of the key participants and the willingness of all parties concerned to provide and verify the necessary documentation and to honour their financial commitments timeously.

Sounds reasonably simple? Always bear in mind Murphy's First Law of Property – if something can go wrong it will!

This brief is for general information only – no warranty as to accuracy is given or implied

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