--- title: "Guides to selling property privately in South Africa" url: "https://privately.co.za/guides" updated: "2026-09-28" count: 29 --- # Guides Practical guides to selling and buying property privately in South Africa: costs, tax, compliance and the transfer process. Figures are current as at 2026-09-28. ## How to sell your house privately in South Africa Yes, you may sell your own home in South Africa without an estate agent. As we read the Property Practitioners Act, it regulates people who sell property for others, not owners selling their own; a conveyancing attorney can confirm that for your sale. The sale must be in writing and signed by both parties, and a conveyancing attorney must prepare the transfer. You save the agent's commission, which is negotiable; our working range is 5% to 7.5% plus VAT. Read: https://privately.co.za/guides/how-to-sell-your-house-privately-in-south-africa · Markdown: https://privately.co.za/md/guides/how-to-sell-your-house-privately-in-south-africa ## What it really costs to sell a house in South Africa A seller's largest cost is usually estate agent commission, typically 5% to 7.5% of the price plus 15% VAT, so a quoted 5% costs 5.75%: R115 000 on a R2 000 000 sale. Transfer duty is paid by the buyer. Whether you use an agent or sell privately, you still pay to cancel your bond and for the certificates and clearances the sale needs. Read: https://privately.co.za/guides/cost-of-selling-a-house-in-south-africa · Markdown: https://privately.co.za/md/guides/cost-of-selling-a-house-in-south-africa ## Transfer duty and transfer costs in South Africa Transfer duty is a tax the buyer pays SARS when buying property. For 2026/27, unchanged from last year, no duty is payable up to R1 210 000, then it rises in bands from 3% to 13%. On R2 000 000 the duty is R33 786. If the seller is a VAT vendor and the sale is part of their enterprise, VAT applies instead. With attorney and Deeds Office fees, transferring a R2 000 000 cash purchase costs about R77 982. Read: https://privately.co.za/guides/transfer-duty-and-transfer-costs · Markdown: https://privately.co.za/md/guides/transfer-duty-and-transfer-costs ## Compliance certificates you need to sell a house in South Africa Selling normally means holding a valid electrical certificate of compliance. Regulation 7 of the Electrical Installation Regulations, 2009 puts that duty on the user or lessor and, subject to a proviso in the Act, bars a change of ownership on a certificate older than two years. Gas and fence certificates apply where you have those installations, a water certificate where a municipality such as Cape Town requires one, and a beetle certificate only where the bank or the offer asks. Read: https://privately.co.za/guides/compliance-certificates-when-selling-a-house · Markdown: https://privately.co.za/md/guides/compliance-certificates-when-selling-a-house ## Seller disclosure and the voetstoots clause A voetstoots clause means the buyer takes the house as it stands. It protects a seller against defects the seller did not know of, but not one who knew of a hidden defect and deliberately kept quiet to sell. The Supreme Court of Appeal set that out in Odendaal v Ferraris (2008), and in Le Roux v Zietsman (2023) dismissed a seller's appeal against damages. Whether the Property Practitioners Act's disclosure form binds a seller with no agent is for an attorney. Read: https://privately.co.za/guides/seller-disclosure-and-voetstoots · Markdown: https://privately.co.za/md/guides/seller-disclosure-and-voetstoots ## Conveyancing and the property transfer process In South Africa a deed of transfer can be registered only if a conveyancer prepared it, so transfer is the one part of a private sale you cannot do yourself. The Deeds Office says the seller typically chooses the transferring attorney, though either party can. Ownership passes, and the seller is paid, once the transfer registers. One law firm's typical range is 8 to 12 weeks from a signed, unconditional offer with no bond, and 10 to 14 with one. Read: https://privately.co.za/guides/conveyancing-and-the-transfer-process · Markdown: https://privately.co.za/md/guides/conveyancing-and-the-transfer-process ## How to price your house in South Africa Price your house from what similar homes nearby actually sold for, not from what other sellers are asking. Registered sale prices are recorded at the Deeds Office, and Lightstone reports list them by street. Your municipal valuation is set for rates and is a different number. Then test the price against who can afford it: a buyer needs a deposit, transfer duty and an income that carries the repayment. Read: https://privately.co.za/guides/how-to-price-your-house-south-africa · Markdown: https://privately.co.za/md/guides/how-to-price-your-house-south-africa ## What is an offer to purchase in South Africa? Yes: an offer to purchase is binding once both sides have signed it, because the Alienation of Land Act requires a sale of land to be in writing and signed by the parties. Conditions, such as bond approval, still apply. Section 29A gives some buyers of a home, natural persons paying R250 000 or less (or a higher amount the Minister may prescribe), five days to revoke, excluding weekends and public holidays. Have an attorney read the offer first. Read: https://privately.co.za/guides/offer-to-purchase-south-africa · Markdown: https://privately.co.za/md/guides/offer-to-purchase-south-africa ## Selling a house with a bond in South Africa Yes. A bond does not stop a sale: your bank is paid out of the purchase price and the bond is cancelled when transfer registers at the Deeds Office. Banks such as FNB ask for 90 days' notice in their own terms. For a variable-rate home loan, the National Credit Act as gazetted in 2006 limits the early termination charge to three months' interest, less any notice you gave. Ask your conveyancing attorney to confirm the current text. Read: https://privately.co.za/guides/selling-a-house-with-a-bond-south-africa · Markdown: https://privately.co.za/md/guides/selling-a-house-with-a-bond-south-africa ## FICA compliance when selling a house in South Africa Before transfer, your conveyancing attorney must identify and verify its clients under the Financial Intelligence Centre Act (FICA), in practice both seller and buyer. Expect to give your ID, a recent proof of residential address, your SARS tax number and your marriage details, and at some firms a bank confirmation letter. Trusts and companies add their founding and beneficial ownership documents. Selling privately does not change this, because the duty sits with the conveyancer. Each firm sets its own list, so ask yours. Read: https://privately.co.za/guides/fica-when-selling-property-south-africa · Markdown: https://privately.co.za/md/guides/fica-when-selling-property-south-africa ## Is it safe to sell your house privately in South Africa? Selling without an agent does not change who handles the price or how ownership passes. With no agent, the deposit and price normally go into the transferring attorney's trust account, which the Legal Practice Act requires practices to keep. Ownership passes only when the transfer registers at the Deeds Office. What changes is the work before the offer: viewings and buyers who cannot pay. Emailed payment fraud follows payments, not private sales. An attorney can confirm how this applies. Read: https://privately.co.za/guides/is-it-safe-to-sell-your-house-privately · Markdown: https://privately.co.za/md/guides/is-it-safe-to-sell-your-house-privately ## How to buy a house privately in South Africa Yes. You can buy a house in South Africa without an estate agent, and the legal steps are the same: a signed offer to purchase, then a conveyancing attorney takes the sale to registration at the Deeds Office. The safer place for a deposit is the attorney's trust account named in the offer, not the seller's, after phoning the firm on a number you found yourself. Transfer duty is the same either way: R33 786 on a R2 000 000 home in the 2026/27 tax year. Read: https://privately.co.za/guides/how-to-buy-a-house-privately-in-south-africa · Markdown: https://privately.co.za/md/guides/how-to-buy-a-house-privately-in-south-africa ## First-time home buyer guide for South Africa SARS's transfer duty table has no discount for first-time buyers: every buyer pays nil up to R1 210 000 in the 2026/27 tax year. The help that exists is the government's First Home Finance subsidy (formerly FLISP), for households earning R3 501 to R22 000 a month that meet its other criteria, such as never having owned a home. Whatever you earn, you need cash beyond the deposit for transfer and bond costs. Read: https://privately.co.za/guides/first-time-home-buyer-guide-south-africa · Markdown: https://privately.co.za/md/guides/first-time-home-buyer-guide-south-africa ## How much deposit do you need to buy a house in South Africa? It depends on your bank. Banks set the deposit they ask for, and 100% bonds exist, so a lender may finance the full price. In ooba's first quarter 2026 figures buyers put down 12.8% on average, and first-time buyers 8.2%. On a R1 500 000 home at prime of 10.75% from 25 September 2026, 10% down lowers the 20-year repayment from about R15 228 to about R13 706 a month. Transfer duty and attorney fees come on top. Read: https://privately.co.za/guides/house-deposit-south-africa · Markdown: https://privately.co.za/md/guides/house-deposit-south-africa ## Bond pre-qualification and pre-approval in South Africa In South Africa the two words overlap. Absa's pre-qualification works from details you give it. SA Home Loans calls its pre-approval an estimate. BetterBond's pre-approval includes a credit check and a certificate it says is valid for 90 days. So ask what was checked. Neither is a bond: the National Credit Act mentions a pre-approval statement only as a lender merely indicating willingness to consider an application, and the bank decides after a signed offer and its own checks. Read: https://privately.co.za/guides/bond-pre-approval-south-africa · Markdown: https://privately.co.za/md/guides/bond-pre-approval-south-africa ## The prime rate in South Africa: the current figure, its history and your bond South Africa's prime lending rate is 10.75% from 25 September 2026, 3.5 percentage points above the SARB policy rate (the repo rate) of 7.25%. The Monetary Policy Committee raised the policy rate on 23 September 2026, which adds about R170 a month on a R1 000 000 bond over 20 years. The next announcement is expected on 19 November 2026. Read: https://privately.co.za/guides/prime-rate-south-africa · Markdown: https://privately.co.za/md/guides/prime-rate-south-africa ## Sectional title vs freehold in South Africa With freehold, also called full title, you own the land and the house on it and maintain all of it yourself. With sectional title you own your section plus a share of the common property, including the land, and you pay levies to a body corporate that maintains it. A full-title house in an estate sits in between: you own the erf outright, but a homeowners' association charges levies, for example for roads, security and common areas. Read: https://privately.co.za/guides/sectional-title-vs-freehold-south-africa · Markdown: https://privately.co.za/md/guides/sectional-title-vs-freehold-south-africa ## Selling an inherited house in South Africa Only the executor the Master of the High Court appoints (or, in a small estate, the representative named in Letters of Authority) can sign the sale of an inherited house, on terms the heirs approve in writing. An heir pays no transfer duty on receiving it, but a buyer from the estate does. Capital gains tax at death is assessed in the deceased's final return, with a R440 000 exclusion in that year. Ask your conveyancing attorney to confirm the steps. Read: https://privately.co.za/guides/selling-an-inherited-house-south-africa · Markdown: https://privately.co.za/md/guides/selling-an-inherited-house-south-africa ## Suspensive conditions and 'subject to bond approval' A suspensive condition holds a signed sale in suspense until an uncertain event, most often written bond approval, happens by an agreed date. If the date passes unfulfilled, the agreement lapses. That is not in itself a breach, and the deposit normally goes back to the buyer. In 2024 a majority of the Supreme Court of Appeal held that a later addendum cannot revive a lapsed sale: an extension has to be agreed before the date, and the safe form is an addendum signed by both. Read: https://privately.co.za/guides/suspensive-conditions-subject-to-bond · Markdown: https://privately.co.za/md/guides/suspensive-conditions-subject-to-bond ## What is occupational rent in South Africa? Occupational rent is what a buyer pays the seller for living in the house before transfer registers, or what a seller pays the buyer for staying on afterwards, if the agreement provides for it. Ownership normally passes only when the Deeds Office registers the transfer, so the rent covers the gap between the occupation date and registration. We found no law that sets the amount: it is the monthly figure written into the signed offer to purchase. Read: https://privately.co.za/guides/occupational-rent-south-africa · Markdown: https://privately.co.za/md/guides/occupational-rent-south-africa ## Rates clearance and levy clearance certificates when selling A rates clearance certificate is the municipality's confirmation that the rates and service charges on a property are paid. Section 118 of the Municipal Systems Act stops the Deeds Office registering a transfer without one. Your conveyancer applies, you pay the arrears plus an amount billed in advance, and the certificate is valid for 60 days from issue. A sectional title unit also needs a levy clearance from the body corporate. Read: https://privately.co.za/guides/rates-clearance-certificate-south-africa · Markdown: https://privately.co.za/md/guides/rates-clearance-certificate-south-africa ## Capital gains tax when you sell property in South Africa Selling property is a capital gains tax event, but the tax is on the gain, not the price. The 2026 Budget announced a R3 000 000 primary residence exclusion and a R50 000 annual exclusion for individuals, for sales that became unconditional from 1 March 2026. After those, an individual includes 40% of the net gain in taxable income, so pays at most 18% of it. A tax practitioner should confirm the announced amounts' legal status. Read: https://privately.co.za/guides/capital-gains-tax-property-south-africa · Markdown: https://privately.co.za/md/guides/capital-gains-tax-property-south-africa ## Should you buy property in a trust or company in South Africa? Whether to buy property in a trust, a company or your own name has no single answer in South Africa. A company pays 27% on its profit, a trust that keeps its income 45%, and a person 18% to 45%. A company or ordinary trust gets no home or annual exclusion on a sale, and moving a home you own into one counts as a sale at market value. Which costs less depends on your income, bond and plans. Read: https://privately.co.za/guides/own-name-company-or-trust-south-africa · Markdown: https://privately.co.za/md/guides/own-name-company-or-trust-south-africa ## Rental property portfolio in South Africa: several rentals in your own name, a company or trust? No owner is cheapest for every South African rental portfolio. Selling favours your own name, but a trust vesting income and gains in adult resident children beat it in 22 of 36 sold cases in Privately's own model, mostly at 41% and 45%, and that money then belongs to the children. A company tends to suit a high-rate owner of low-growth homes who leaves profit inside. At death, a trust that hands its income out tends to do best; one that keeps it was usually behind your own name. This is general information, not advice. A registered tax practitioner or financial adviser can advise on your own situation. Read: https://privately.co.za/guides/property-portfolio-company-or-trust · Markdown: https://privately.co.za/md/guides/property-portfolio-company-or-trust ## Sole mandates in South Africa: the rules, commission and cancelling A sole mandate is a written agreement in which a seller promises not to give another property practitioner a similar mandate before a set date. The estate agents' Code of Conduct requires a calendar expiry date and bars an option to extend. If the Consumer Protection Act covers your mandate, you can cancel on 20 business days' notice, subject to a reasonable penalty; an attorney can say whether it does. Commission on a sale you find yourself depends on your document. Read: https://privately.co.za/guides/sole-mandate-estate-agent-south-africa · Markdown: https://privately.co.za/md/guides/sole-mandate-estate-agent-south-africa ## Selling a house during or after divorce Your marital regime decides who signs. In community of property, the Matrimonial Property Act, as we read it, needs your spouse's written consent, attested by two witnesses, to sell the house, whoever the deed names; if they refuse, a court can give leave. Out of community, only the registered owner signs. A divorce order does not transfer the house: registration does. A transfer to an ex-spouse under the order can be exempt from transfer duty; capital gains tax is deferred, not forgiven. Read: https://privately.co.za/guides/selling-a-house-during-divorce-south-africa · Markdown: https://privately.co.za/md/guides/selling-a-house-during-divorce-south-africa ## Selling South African property as a non-resident If you are not a South African tax resident and sell property here for more than R2 000 000, the buyer must withhold 7.5% of the price (10% for a company, 15% for a trust) and pay it to SARS. It is an advance on your tax for the year, not a final tax. You can apply on form NR03 for a directive to reduce it, which SARS generally processes within 21 business days. Read: https://privately.co.za/guides/selling-property-as-a-non-resident-south-africa · Markdown: https://privately.co.za/md/guides/selling-property-as-a-non-resident-south-africa ## Buying off-plan in a new development When you buy off-plan from a VAT-registered developer, VAT at 15% is normally already inside the price and you pay no transfer duty, because a sale carries VAT or transfer duty, never both. The developer may take your deposit only against a bank or insurer guarantee. Otherwise it must stay in an attorney's or estate agent's trust account until the unit can be registered. The builder's statutory warranties run from the date you accept the home, not from transfer. Read: https://privately.co.za/guides/buying-off-plan-south-africa · Markdown: https://privately.co.za/md/guides/buying-off-plan-south-africa ## The OTP decoded: six elements every seller and buyer must know An offer to purchase becomes a binding sale agreement the moment both parties sign it, and neither side can then walk away without facing penalties. Six things decide whether it protects you: it must be signed in wet ink, it must name the parties, property, price and possession, and it must be clear about suspensive conditions, the 72 hour clause, the voetstoots clause and which fixtures and fittings are included. Read: https://privately.co.za/guides/offer-to-purchase-decoded-six-elements · Markdown: https://privately.co.za/md/guides/offer-to-purchase-decoded-six-elements