Conveyancing and Property Transactions
Herewith follows a brief synopsis of the conveyancing process when buying a property and how we as the conveyancer will assist in the swift and successful finalization of the process.
Conveyancing is the legal process whereby immovable property is transferred from the registered owner to a third party (the Purchaser).
When you purchase a property, a conveyancer will assist you in the legalities of the process. A conveyancer is an attorney with a specialist qualification who by law is the only person entitled to attend to the transfer of immovable property.
The seller is entitled to appoint his own conveyancer to attend to the transfer. This however can be varied by agreement between the Purchaser and the Seller. The first step when buying a property and in the conveyancing process, is the conclusion of a written agreement of sale. The agreement must be in writing and signed by both the Purchaser and the Seller. The sale is most often subject to a loan, which is secured by a mortgage bond. The Purchaser obtains a loan from a financial institution and the sale becomes binding between the parties when the Purchaser’s loan is approved. Therefore, the transfer can only proceed when the Purchaser’s loan has been granted and the financial institution, which grants the loan, appoints its own conveyancer to register the bond. We are on the panel for ABSA and accordingly register mortgage bonds for ABSA.
The next step and in order to draw the transfer documents (which is required to lodge the transfer of the property with the Deeds Registry), is that the conveyancer will then need to obtain the Title Deed to the property. This can take between three to four weeks, sometimes longer. If there is an existing mortgage bond over the property, it must be repaid and cancelled. The Seller’s conveyancer, must accordingly arrange for a letter of undertaking, referred to as a guarantee, in terms of which the financial institution granting the Purchaser’s new bond undertakes to repay the Sellers old bond on registration. On receipt of the guarantee, the conveyancer cancelling the Sellers bond can then prepare consent to cancellation, which will be signed by the financial institution.
Formal transfer documents must then be signed at the offices of the Seller’s conveyancer. At this stage the Purchaser must also sign the bond documents at the office of the conveyancer attending to the registration of the Purchaser’s bond. With regards to payment, the Purchaser must pay the cost of registration of the bond and the cost of the registration of transfer. These funds must be available on request from the respective conveyancers attending to the transfer and the bond. The Seller’s conveyancer collects the purchase price either in cash form or in the form of guarantees in favour of the Seller’s conveyancer. Transfer duty must also be paid by the Purchaser to SARS, who then issues a transfer duty receipt. The Seller’s conveyancer must collect the transfer duty from the Purchaser and pay it over to SARS.
Once all the necessary documents have been signed, a rates clearance certificate must be obtained from the Municipality which confirms that all rates and service charges for the current Municipal year have been paid in full. This process can take up to two weeks, if the rates have been paid in full, and considerably longer if there are rates and service charges outstanding.Once all the necessary documents have been signed, rates clearance certificate must be obtained from the Municipality which confirms that all rates and service charges for the current Municipal year have been paid in full. This process can take up to two weeks, if the rates have been paid in full, and considerably longer if there are rates and service charges outstanding.
Upon receipt of the rates clearance certificate and the transfer duty certificate, the Seller’s conveyancer can lodge the transfer documentation in the Deeds Registry. All the signed transfer documentation, bond documentation and bond cancellation is then sent for lodgment in the Deeds Registry, where the documents are checked by examiners in the Deeds Registry to ensure that the comply with all legal requirements. Should all be found to be in order, registration takes place approximately ten working days form the date of lodgment.
It can thus be seen that the conveyancing process is a somewhat complex process and we endeavour to assist you every step of the way to make the process as swift and as possible.
Over the years, we have built and sustained personal and reliable relationships with all the top estate agencies in East London and surrounds. We are also on the panels of all the major banks and financial institutions where we have been consistent top performers on these panels.
Further to the above and in particular, we endeavour to ensure the following, in the following fields of property law:
The areas of expertise undertaken by this department are the following:
