Conveyancing Attorney
in Pretoria

By convention in South Africa, the seller nominates the transferring attorney. The buyer can request a different attorney, but the seller is entitled to refuse and the convention is honoured in almost every transfer. The seller's choice has historic roots in the seller's liability for delivery and warranty — and remains the practical norm. If you're the buyer and you want to use us, you must agree this with the seller before the OTP is signed, and ideally have it written into the OTP itself.

Conveyancing fees in South Africa follow the recommended (non-binding) tariff published by the Legal Practitioners Fidelity Fund / Law Society of South Africa, scaled by purchase price. A R2 million transfer is typically around R26,000–R30,000 in attorney fees (excluding transfer duty, Deeds Office fees, rates clearance and FICA disbursements). We publish a free property transfer cost calculator and offer fixed-fee packages for cash transfers and first-time buyers.

A clean cash transfer typically registers in 6–8 weeks. A bonded transfer in Pretoria — where bond registration and (if applicable) bond cancellation must lodge simultaneously — usually registers in 8–10 weeks. Complicated matters (deceased estates, sectional title arrears, non-resident sellers, sectional title sub-divisions) routinely extend to 12–16 weeks. The biggest delay variable is bond approval timing; the second is municipal rates clearance turnaround in Tshwane.

Yes — a conveyancer can register a transfer at any Deeds Office in South Africa. Practically, we focus on Pretoria because the Pretoria Deeds Office (which serves Gauteng North and many North West, Limpopo and Mpumalanga areas) is on our doorstep and we have physical lodgement access. For properties registered at Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban or other Deeds Offices, lodgement can still be done — sometimes via a correspondent attorney — but a local conveyancer near that registry is often more efficient.

No, and by law these are usually different firms. The transferring attorney is appointed by the seller; the bond registration attorney is appointed by the bank from its fixed panel. We act as transferring attorney; we coordinate closely with whichever firm the bank instructs as bond attorney. On cash transfers there is no bond attorney and we handle everything.

For an individual: certified ID copy (less than 3 months old), proof of residential address (utility bill or bank statement, less than 3 months old), proof of source of funds for the deposit and any cash portion of the purchase. For a juristic entity: full company / trust documents, CIPC documents for (Pty) Ltds, Letters of Authority for trusts, plus ID and proof-of-address for each director / trustee. We send a checklist with the file-opening letter.

Yes. We serve clients in both English and Afrikaans, and we draft transfer-related correspondence and documents in either language on request. Many of our Pretoria sellers — particularly in older suburbs — prefer Afrikaans for the OTP and transfer correspondence.

For a private home, no — purchase costs (including conveyancing) form part of the base cost for CGT purposes when you eventually sell, but are not deductible against current income. For investment properties or property held by a (Pty) Ltd, conveyancing fees on purchase are also capitalised into the base cost; for property held by a VAT-vendor as trading stock, the fees may be deductible. Speak to your accountant for your specific position.