I am buying a property for the first time. What questions should I ask before signing?

How to use this guide

Record each answer in a clause and evidence register. If an answer matters to your decision but is not supported or written into the agreement where required, mark it as a no-go item. South African land-sale law makes the written and signed deed of alienation central; an oral promise should not be treated as a hidden contract term.

Use a clause and evidence register

Create these columns before the document review:

The answer owner may be the seller, property practitioner, lender, conveyancer, body corporate, municipality, inspector or your independent lawyer. The person who answers a factual question is not automatically the person who should advise on its legal effect.

Do not accept “standard clause,” “the lawyers will sort it out” or “it always works this way” as the final entry. Ask for the document and identify what remains unresolved.

1. Who exactly will be bound?

Ask:

• Are the full names or entity details of every buyer and seller correct?
• Is the seller the registered owner?
• Is anyone signing for a company, trust, deceased estate or another person?
• What authority must that representative hold, and when?
• Does marital status or matrimonial-property law affect capacity or consent?
• Who may accept, amend, extend, waive, notify or cancel under the agreement?

If authority is unclear, do not assume it can be supplied informally later. Ask the conveyancer or independent lawyer what is required for the contract and transfer stages. A Deeds Registry record can help confirm ownership but does not establish every signer's current authority.

2. What exact property and rights are included?

Ask:

• Does the legal property description match the address and property shown?
• Is this an erf, portion, sectional-title section or another registered right?
• Are the garage, parking bay, storeroom or exclusive-use area legally included?
• Which fixtures and movable items stay, and which are excluded?
• Do servitudes, title conditions, interdicts, leases or other registered matters affect use?
• Are boundaries, access and intended use supported by the correct records?

List each item you care about. A photograph, unit number, estate-agent description or seller statement may not prove a registered right. The agreement should describe important included movables or conditions clearly enough to avoid an evidence dispute.

Official Deeds Registry information is useful for registered records. It does not certify zoning, approved building plans, physical condition or future registration.

3. What are the price and complete funding obligations?

Ask:

• What is the purchase price and how is it funded?
• What deposit is due, to whom, by when and on what trust and release terms?
• What happens to the deposit if a condition fails or the sale is cancelled?
• What loan amount must be approved under the bond condition?
• Who covers any valuation or finance shortfall?
• What guarantees are required and by when?
• Which amounts are separate from the purchase price?

Request a written, itemised estimate separating transfer duty or VAT, transfer fees, bond-registration fees, Deeds Office charges, disbursements, adjustments and other cash requirements. There is no general transfer-duty exemption simply because the buyer is purchasing a first home. A 0% duty band also does not mean the transaction has no fees or declarations.

Use the buyer cost guide for the estimate and reconciliation task.

4. What exactly must happen for the sale to proceed?

For every condition, ask:

• What event satisfies it?
• What evidence proves satisfaction?
• What amount, quality or approval standard applies?
• Who benefits from it?
• What is the exact date and delivery method?
• Can it be extended or waived, by whom and in what form?
• What does the agreement say happens if it is not met?

Do not treat pre-approval, bank valuation, quotation, final credit approval, bond instruction and guarantee as the same event. Make sure the finance condition matches the amount and protection you need.

Do not assume a missed date automatically cancels or preserves the sale. Clause wording, beneficiary, valid extension or waiver and conduct may matter. If the effect is unclear, ask for advice before signing or acting.

5. What property-condition evidence will exist before I am bound?

Ask:

• Has the prescribed mandatory disclosure form been completed and supplied?
• Are any items unanswered, qualified or inconsistent with what I saw?
• May I obtain an independent inspection before a stated date?
• Is a satisfactory inspection a condition or only an information exercise?
• Which repairs, certificates or specialist reports must be supplied?
• What seller or property-practitioner representations am I relying on?
• Are those material representations recorded in the written agreement?
• How does the agreement allocate defect and condition risk?

The mandatory disclosure form is important but is not a professional inspection or warranty. If an inspection outcome must let you renegotiate or exit, do not assume that right exists unless the agreement creates it validly.

Avoid blanket assumptions about voetstoots clauses or the Consumer Protection Act. The seller's status, transaction facts, knowledge, representations and the exact agreement can affect the analysis.

6. What official, municipal or scheme information matters?

Ask which records will answer your intended-use questions. These may include:

• deed and title conditions;
• zoning or land-use information;
• approved building plans;
• municipal account and rates status;
• service information;
• sectional plan and participation quota;
• body-corporate rules, budgets, financial statements and insurance;
• ordinary and special levies;
• maintenance plans, major projects and relevant minutes; and
• exclusive-use records.

Rates clearance helps enable transfer but is not title, zoning, plan or defect clearance. A sectional-title levy-clearance process is also separate. If a pet, short-term letting, parking space, renovation or business use is essential, make it a specific evidence and clause question before signing.

7. Who appoints and instructs the transaction lawyers?

Ask:

• Who nominates the transferring conveyancer under the agreement?
• Has that firm accepted instruction?
• Which firm will attend to bond registration and any existing-bond cancellation?
• Whose interests and mandate does each practitioner hold?
• Who will receive the deposit and other funds?
• How will bank details and later changes be verified?
• When should you obtain separate buyer advice?

The seller commonly nominates the transferring conveyancer in South African practice, but do not treat custom as an immutable legal rule; check the agreement. The transfer conveyancer has professional duties but is not automatically your independent adviser on whether the bargain is right for you.

Use the property-lawyer timing guide where the clause, authority, title, defect, payment or occupation risk needs independent review.

8. When do occupation, possession, risk and ownership change?

Ask:

• Is occupation on registration or another date?
• What occupational rent or amount applies and how is it calculated?
• Who pays utilities, levies and other running costs in the interim?
• Who handles maintenance, damage, access and security?
• Who insures the property and when does contractual risk move?
• What happens if transfer is delayed or the sale does not proceed?
• May either party make alterations before registration?

Receiving keys or moving in is not the same as becoming owner. Ownership passes through registration in the Deeds Registry. Ensure the agreement separates occupation, payment, risk and ownership rather than relying on one informal “handover date.”

9. What happens if someone does not perform?

Ask:

• What is a breach under this agreement?
• Must written notice be delivered, and how?
• Is there a period to remedy, and how is it calculated?
• What remedies may the aggrieved party choose?
• When could cancellation, damages, interest or retention of money be claimed?
• What happens to occupation and improvements after cancellation?
• Is there an attorney-cost, dispute or jurisdiction clause?

Do not ask only “Can I cancel?” The answer depends on the trigger, clause, notice, facts and any statutory rights. There is no universal cooling-off period for every residential property sale. Before relying on cancellation or forfeiture language, obtain advice on the exact transaction.

10. How can the agreement be accepted, changed or extended?

Ask:

• How long is the offer open and how may it be withdrawn before acceptance?
• What constitutes valid acceptance?
• How and when must acceptance be communicated?
• Must every amendment, extension or waiver be written and signed?
• Are initials required for changes?
• Do the parties need to sign the same complete version?
• Is the proposed electronic-signature method legally appropriate for this land-sale document?

The Electronic Communications and Transactions Act excludes agreements for alienation of immovable property from its general electronic-transaction provisions. Do not assume a platform workflow, typed name or email chain automatically satisfies the land-sale requirements. Obtain transaction-specific confirmation of the signing method.

Keep every final signed page and addendum together. Do not rebuild a contract later from mixed drafts.

11. What proof will I receive after signing or paying?

Ask for:

• the complete version signed by the required parties;
• evidence of delivery and acceptance where relevant;
• written confirmation of any condition satisfaction, extension or waiver;
• independently verified payment instructions;
• receipts and trust-account records for funds paid;
• finance and guarantee status evidence;
• copies of signed transfer or bond documents you are entitled to receive;
• stage-based conveyancing updates; and
• registration and final accounting records when reached.

“Uploaded,” “sent to the lawyer,” “lodged” and “registered” are different stages. Use precise language and preserve the event record.

No-go questions before signature

Do not sign simply because the offer may expire if you still cannot answer:

• Who is legally bound and authorised?
• What exact property and rights am I buying?
• What total cash and finance must I provide?
• Which conditions protect me, and what proves them?
• What defects, restrictions or use issues remain unresolved?
• Which material promises are actually written into the agreement?
• Who receives money and how will instructions be authenticated?
• When do occupation, costs, risk and ownership change?
• What happens after a missed date or breach?
• How may the document be accepted, amended or extended validly?

For forward-looking dependencies beyond the contract wording, use the early risks and delays guide. For a single action after signature, use the next-step go/no-go guide.

FAQs

Related Lexuno paths

Related articles