How to sell your house privately in South Africa

Yes. As we read the Property Practitioners Act, it does not require an owner to appoint an estate agent. The Act regulates property practitioners, and section 1 defines one as a person who, for gain, acts on the instructions of or on behalf of someone else. An owner selling their own home is acting for themselves.

Section 1 also leaves out of its intermediary and facilitator limb (paragraph (a)(v)(aa) and (bb)) a person who is not acting "in the ordinary course of business", and a natural person who, in the ordinary course of business, offers for sale a property that belongs to them personally. Both exclusions turn on that phrase, so we do not rely on them alone.

That is our reading, not legal advice, and it depends on the facts. If your sale is unusual (for example you sell through a company or a trust, or you sell property regularly), ask a conveyancing attorney how the Act applies before you list.

One part of the process is reserved: the deed of transfer is prepared by a conveyancer before the Deeds Office registers it (section 15 of the Deeds Registries Act; the linked copy is the 1937 Gazette text, so your attorney can confirm the current wording). That is true of every property sale in the country, agent or no agent. What changes when you sell privately is that you keep control of the marketing and the negotiation, and you do not pay commission. See the full cost breakdown for what you save.

• Step 1: Get an independent valuation. Start from actual sold prices in your suburb, not asking prices. See how to price your house. If you have a bond, ask your bank now for its settlement terms in writing.
• Step 2: Arrange your compliance certificates early. Expect to need a valid electrical certificate of compliance. Your offer to purchase and your conveyancing attorney will say which others are needed: gas, electric fence, plumbing and beetle certificates are commonly asked for where you have that installation or the buyer's bank or the offer asks for one. Repairs take time, so book the inspections before you list. See compliance certificates.
• Step 3: Complete a written [disclosure of known defects](/guides/seller-disclosure-and-voetstoots). Putting what you know in writing shows the buyer was told, which matters if a dispute comes later.
• Step 4: Prepare the listing. Good photographs, an accurate floor size, the rates and levies figures, and a description that does not oversell.
• Step 5: Market it where buyers actually look. List online, put up a board if your area or estate allows one, and tell people you know. With no agent, the marketing is yours.
• Step 6: Handle viewings and check that buyers can fund the purchase. Sellers commonly ask for proof of a deposit, a bond pre-approval or proof of cash before they take the property off the market. Viewing safety is covered in is it safe to sell privately.
• Step 7: Negotiate the offer in writing and have it reviewed. A sale of land has no legal force unless it is in writing and signed by both parties, and a usual step is to have a conveyancing attorney review the draft before either side signs. See the offer to purchase. If either side will move in or stay on outside the transfer date, occupational rent sets out who pays.
• Step 8: Choose the transferring attorney, then sign. The offer to purchase names the transferring attorney. Sellers commonly nominate one, but the offer decides, so settle it in the draft before either side signs. See how conveyancing works or browse conveyancing attorneys on Privately.
• Step 9: Transfer and registration. The attorney runs the transfer: the FICA checks, the clearance certificates, your bond cancellation and the Deeds Office registration. The "After you sign" section below covers the parts that involve you. Allow several weeks to a few months from an accepted offer to registration, depending on the buyer's bond, the clearance and the Deeds Office. The conveyancing guide walks through the stages.

Which of these apply depends on your property and on your offer to purchase, so use the table as a checklist to put to your conveyancing attorney. Your attorney may ask for more.

The electrical certificate is the one most sellers need. Regulation 7(5) of the Electrical Installation Regulations says the user or lessor of an installation (for a home you live in, usually you) may not allow a change of ownership if the certificate of compliance is older than two years. That provision is itself subject to section 10(4) of the Act the regulations are made under. Regulation 7(3) exempts an installation that existed before 23 October 1992 and where there was no change of ownership after 1 March 1994, so as the wording reads, a home that has changed hands since March 1994 would not fit it. Ask your attorney or an electrician which applies to your home.

Section 67 of the Property Practitioners Act sets a mandatory disclosure form. Section 67(1) puts a duty on a property practitioner who accepts a mandate. Section 67(2) adds that where the form is not completed, signed and attached to the agreement, the agreement is read as if no defects were disclosed to the purchaser. Whether that reaches a sale with no practitioner involved is a question for your attorney. A written disclosure of the defects you know about is sensible either way.

Selling privately removes one cost, the agent's commission, which only exists if you appoint an agent. The other costs of a sale do not depend on how you found the buyer. Apart from transfer duty, which is a tax on the buyer's purchase, the offer to purchase sets who pays each cost, so read yours before you sign.

For scale: commission is negotiable. We use a working range of 5% to 7.5% plus VAT for the examples, which is R115 000 to R172 500 on a R2 000 000 sale and R172 500 to R258 750 on R3 000 000. The buyer's transfer duty on the same two prices is R33 786 and R107 356 in the 2026/27 tax year. The cost of selling guide adds up every cost, and the transfer duty guide explains the duty.

Section 2(1) of the Alienation of Land Act says a sale of land has no force unless it is in writing and signed by the parties, or by agents acting on their written authority. A verbal agreement to sell a house, however sincere, has no force as a sale of land.

This is the one part of a private sale where an attorney's input is common. A usual step is to have a conveyancing attorney draft or review the offer to purchase before either side signs, because that document governs what follows: the price, the conditions, who pays which cost and the dates. Attorneys set their own fees for this, so ask for a quote first. The offer to purchase guide explains what the document should contain.

If your home is in a security estate, a complex or a sectional title scheme, the rules that matter most are in your scheme's own documents, not in the general law. Read them before you list, and put these questions to your homeowners association or managing agent.

• Gate access and viewings. How are visitors admitted, and do viewers need to be booked in at the gate?
• Show days and boards. Do the estate's rules allow a for sale board or an open house, and on which days?
• Consent to transfer. Some homeowners associations ask for their written consent or a clearance before a house in the estate can transfer. Whether yours does, and on what terms, depends on your title deed and the estate's own documents, so ask for the process and how long it takes.
• Levies and clearance. A sectional title sale usually needs a levy clearance certificate from the body corporate. The rates and levy clearance guide explains both.

If you signed a sole mandate with an estate agent, read it before you market the house yourself. Whether your own private sale during the mandate triggers commission depends on the wording of your signed document, and wording differs between agencies. The sole mandate guide explains the common clauses and how a mandate ends. Get advice before you sign an offer with a buyer you found yourself.

A private sale does not change who normally holds the money: the buyer's deposit and the purchase price usually go to the conveyancing attorney's trust account rather than to you. Check where your offer says the deposit is paid before you accept money from a buyer directly. Be most careful with emailed changes of banking details. A known fraud pattern is a message that looks like it comes from the attorney's firm and says the account details have changed. Phone the firm on a number you already hold, not one printed in the email, before any money moves.

Viewings call for care too: check who you are letting in, have someone with you, and lock valuables away. Is it safe to sell your house privately? covers the risks and the defences, and lists its sources.

Once both of you have signed the offer, the conveyancing attorney takes over the transfer. These are the parts that still involve you.

• FICA. The attorney must verify your identity, your address and, where relevant, your source of funds. Have your documents ready: see FICA when selling.
• Rates and levy clearance. The attorney applies, you pay the figures the municipality issues, and clearance is often the slowest step. See rates and levy clearance.
• Your bond, if you have one. Your bank's cancellation attorney settles it from the proceeds when the transfer registers. Tell your bank early that you intend to cancel. Banks set their own notice periods, often 90 days, and the National Credit Act limits what a bank may charge for settling early with less notice: selling a house with a bond explains the cap.
• The buyer's bond, if the buyer needs one. An offer is often subject to the buyer's bond being approved within a stated period, and if it is refused the sale can lapse, depending on the wording of the offer. See suspensive conditions.
• Your certificates. Your attorney will ask for the certificates that apply to your property, so have them ready.
• Timing. Allow several weeks to a few months from an accepted offer to registration, depending on the buyer's bond, the clearance and the Deeds Office. Your attorney can estimate it for your file. How conveyancing works walks through the stages.

Selling privately is not free of cost, it is free of commission. You take on the work an agent would have done: photographing the property, writing the listing, answering enquiries, running viewings, checking buyers and holding your nerve in a negotiation. How long that takes depends on your property, your area and how much of it you hand to an attorney.

On a R2 000 000 sale, commission at 5% plus VAT is R115 000, and at 7.5% plus VAT it is R172 500. That saving is what makes selling privately attractive to many owners. Whether it suits you depends on how much of an agent's work you can do yourself. Put your own price into the selling cost calculators to see your own figures.

Some owners prefer an agent for reasons that have nothing to do with price: they live in another city, cannot be home for viewings, or do not want to negotiate with a buyer face to face. Neither route is right for everyone. If you do appoint an agent, read the mandate before you sign it: the sole mandate guide explains the common clauses.

If you decide to sell yourself, you can start a listing on Privately and save a draft first. The ID check comes when you publish.