Eight weeks in the dark, or eight stages you can name.

The agent sends the signed offer. We check the parties, the price and the property description, and write to both of you the same day.

• A copy of the offer, with every annexure
• Both parties get the same list of what we need
• A file reference to quote on everything after this

Every party is verified before we may act. This is the stage clients hold up most often and the cheapest one to get right.

• Identity document or passport, every owner
• Proof of address under three months old
• Marriage certificate and antenuptial contract, if any
• Income tax number — SARS will not assess the duty without it

We apply the week we are instructed because it is the longest stage and we cannot shorten it. Sectional title adds a levy clearance from the body corporate.

• The council quotes several months of rates in advance
• The seller pays it and is refunded what is not used
• A disputed municipal account stops the transfer entirely

Duty is assessed on the purchase price. Where the seller is a VAT vendor selling in the course of business, VAT applies instead and no duty is payable.

• Submitted once both parties have signed
• The receipt must be in hand before lodgement
• On a new development the price usually includes the VAT

Buyer and seller sign separately, at our offices, about twenty minutes each. You leave with a copy of everything you signed.

• The buyer signs the transfer documents and declarations
• The seller signs the power of attorney to pass transfer
• Neither of you needs the other in the room

The transfer, the new bond and the cancellation of the seller’s bond are lodged on the same day, linked as one batch.

• Any one firm not ready holds up the other two
• A batch short one document is not lodged at all
• This is the day the registration date becomes predictable

Examiners check every page. Seven to ten working days when the office is running well, longer at the end of a financial year.

• A note raised on any document sends the batch back
• Correcting and re-lodging restarts this stage
• We tell you the day it happens and what caused it

The property transfers into your name and the bond registers against it. The seller is paid the same day or the next working day.

• We telephone before we email
• Keys pass on registration unless your offer says otherwise
• The title deed follows some months later