“Buy land – they’ve stopped making it” (Mark Twain)
Selling or buying a house can seem like a complicated and confusing process but help is at hand! Have a look at this simple overview: “Buying or Selling a House – What You Need to Know” from the Law Society of South Africa on its website at http://www.lssa.org.za/legal-practitioners/resources-for-attorneys/misc/public-information-brochures/misc/buying-and-selling-a-house.
Just remember these important principles (familiar to regular LawDotNews readers) –
- If you are the seller, you have the right to choose the conveyancer (the specialist attorney who will register change of ownership in the Deeds Office). Choose a conveyancer you can trust to act with both speed and integrity.
- When buying into a complex, you are bound by rules and regulations imposed by either a Body Corporate if you are buying a sectional title unit or, if you are buying a separate title property in a complex managed by a Home Owners Association (“HOA”), by the HOA. Thus in the recent High Court case of Randjesfontein Country Estates Limited and Others v Masoom Trading Solutions (Pty) Ltd and Others (43706/14) [2015] ZAGPPHC 199 a homeowner in an equestrian estate was ordered to stop operating her seminar/lecture business because it breached her contractual obligation to the HOA to conform with local town planning laws. Read and understand all rules and regulations before you buy!
- A lot can go seriously wrong with property transactions, and for many people your house is going to be your most important asset, so don’t take any chances: Agree to nothing until you have asked your lawyer for advice!
Jack Crook, Director at DotNews is well known to law firms as the author of LawDotNews since 2005. Jack’s legal qualifications (LLB Lond and LLB Rhod) are supplemented by many years of practical experience in law, in marketing his own firm, and in helping other small and medium sized professional firms to prosper by using simple, low-cost, effective marketing strategies.
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