Selling property privately
in South Africa

How to sell your house privately in South Africa

A complete step-by-step guide to selling your home without an estate agent in South Africa: pricing, compliance certificates, disclosure, offers, conveyancing and transfer.

How to buy a house privately in South Africa

A step-by-step guide to buying a house directly from the owner in South Africa: the real cost stack, due diligence, verifying ownership, red flags and the transfer process.

Is it safe to sell your house privately in South Africa?

The legal protections in a South African property sale (the conveyancer's trust account and the Deeds Office) are identical with or without an agent. Here is the real risk, and how to manage it.

What it really costs to sell a house in South Africa

Every cost a South African seller pays (agent commission and VAT, bond cancellation, compliance certificates, rates and levy clearance), with worked examples at R1m, R2m and R5m.

How to price your house in South Africa

How to set an asking price when selling privately, using sold prices rather than asking prices, what a Lightstone report tells you, and why overpricing costs more than it gains.

Transfer duty and transfer costs in South Africa

SARS transfer duty rates for the 2026/27 tax year, who pays, when it is due, how it interacts with VAT, and the other transfer costs a buyer carries.

Capital gains tax when you sell property in South Africa

When CGT applies on a property sale, the R3 000 000 primary residence exclusion, how the gain and base cost are worked out, and the inclusion rates for individuals, companies and trusts.

Sole mandates and estate agent contracts

What a sole mandate commits you to, how long one may run, what commission you owe if you sell privately during or after it, the effective cause of sale rule, and how to end a mandate properly.

Compliance certificates you need to sell a house in South Africa

Which certificates of compliance a South African seller must provide (electrical, gas, electric fence, plumbing and beetle), who pays, what they cost and how long they last.

Seller disclosure and the voetstoots clause

What a South African seller must disclose about a property's condition, how the voetstoots clause works, and why it does not protect a seller who conceals a known defect.

Rates clearance and levy clearance certificates when selling

How municipal rates and body corporate levy clearance certificates work: who applies, the months you pay in advance, why they delay transfers, and how to get your credit back.

FICA compliance when selling a house in South Africa

What FICA requires when you sell a house in South Africa: the documents your conveyancer must verify for buyer and seller, and why they ask about your source of funds.

What is an offer to purchase in South Africa?

What an offer to purchase must contain, when signing makes it a binding sale agreement, and the one narrow legal exception that lets a buyer cancel.

The OTP decoded: six elements every seller and buyer must know

A conveyancing attorney's guide to the six elements that decide whether an offer to purchase protects you: signatures, the four Ps, suspensive conditions, the 72 hour clause and voetstoots.

Safeda and Associates

Suspensive conditions and 'subject to bond approval'

What a suspensive condition does to a signed sale agreement, how 'subject to bond approval' works, what happens when the date passes, and how resolutive conditions differ.

What is occupational rent in South Africa?

What occupational rent is, when it becomes payable, how the amount is set, who pays whom, and what early occupation actually risks for a seller and a buyer.

Selling a house with a bond in South Africa

How the bond gets settled when you sell in South Africa: the 90-day cancellation notice, penalty interest, who appoints the cancellation attorney, and what happens if you owe more than the sale price.

Conveyancing and the property transfer process

How property transfer works in South Africa: who appoints the conveyancer, the three attorneys involved, what happens at each stage, and why transfers take two to three months.

First-time home buyer guide for South Africa

A first-time buyer's guide to South Africa: what you can afford, the full cash needed beyond the deposit, transfer duty rules and First Home Finance (FLISP).

How much deposit do you need to buy a house in South Africa?

How much deposit you actually need to buy in South Africa, how 100% bonds work, what a deposit does to your monthly bond repayment, and who holds your money until registration.

Bond pre-qualification and pre-approval in South Africa

The real difference between bond pre-qualification and pre-approval in South Africa, what banks assess under the National Credit Act, the documents you need, and why it matters when you make an offer.

Sectional title vs freehold in South Africa

What sectional title, freehold and HOA-governed full title actually mean in South Africa: levies, the body corporate, and what a buyer must check before signing.

Selling an inherited house in South Africa

How to sell a house in a deceased estate: reporting to the Master, executor authority, timelines, transfer duty and CGT on inheritance, and what to do when heirs disagree.

Selling a house during or after divorce

How your marital property regime decides who must sign, why a divorce order does not move the house on its own, transfer duty and CGT on transfers between ex-spouses, and how to sequence the sale.

Selling South African property as a non-resident

The SARS section 35A withholding tax on the purchase price, the rates by seller type, how to apply for a directive to reduce it, and getting the proceeds out of South Africa.

Buying off-plan in a new development

How buying off plan differs from an existing home: VAT inside the price instead of transfer duty, the NHBRC warranty, snag lists, and what happens if the developer runs late or goes insolvent.