Absa | Sell your home and buying again

There will come a time in life when you'll want to move because of your needs or circumstances. Then you'll need to sell your current home in order to buy a new one. Because we understand how stressful this can be, we've put together a guide to make selling and buying as easy as possible.

What you need to know about selling and buying again

Plan your finances

How much can you sell your home for:

Do your research. Check out listings for houses in your area, and see what the average selling price is and ask estate agents to give you valuations on your home.

How much can you afford on your new home?

Check out prices in the area that you want to buy in. Chat to local estate agents in that area, they can give you a good idea of the kind of prices properties sell for.
Use the affordability calculator to determine what your monthly payments could be.

When is a good time to sell?

This depends on several things and something you will have to think about carefully.
If your home has increased enough in value then, when you sell, the price you get will cover your remaining bond repayments and even some of the costs of buying your next home.

Consider your costs

The costs you need to consider:

Early termination and bond cancellation fees (if applicable).
Costs of all clearance certificates (COC) - these must be done before the transfer can be effected, e.g. Electrical COC, Gas COC (If any gas installations exists), electrical Fence COC (if applicable) etc.
Agent commission if you use an estate agent to sell your property.
Capital Gains Tax (if applicable) - we suggest you speak to an attorney to see whether you are liable to pay SARS.
Different tax rules apply depending on whether you're selling your primary residence or a property for investment purposes. Speak to your tax consultant or visit the SARS website for more information.

Prioritise

You want to be sure that you sell your home before you buy a new one. This is important because:

Paying for your current property and a new property at the same time will be costly.
You could sell your property first and rent for a short period.
You can agree with the buyer to occupy your old home for a set period after you have sold it.

Plan your transition

Make sure your family has a roof over their head while you are selling one home and buying another:

Put your current home up for sale while you look for your new home.
If you see a property you want to buy but have not sold your current property, you can put in an “offer to purchase” on the new property and make the purchase subject to the sale of your current property.
This lets you secure the new property and gives you some time sell your current home.

Prepare your home

The better your home looks, the more chance there is of selling it:

Declutter your home, make everything look as neat and clean as possible. This will make your house look far more attractive to a potential buyer.
Do all necessary cosmetic repairs and maintenance. Clean your gutters, replace lightbulbs, clean your walls or paint them and more.
Keep your house neat all the time in case a potential buyer wants to quickly view it.

Use an estate agent

A estate agent will handle everything for you:

Advertise your property
Find prospective buyers
Negotiate on the price
Complete all relevant documentation with you such as the “Offer to Purchase” from the buyer
Liaise with attorneys.

You will pay a commission to the agent as a percentage of the sale price.

Sell it yourself

When selling your home yourself:

You will need to do all the administration and negotiating yourself.
You will need to manage all risks and challenges along the way yourself.
You will have to take the time to show, sell and find buyers.

You pay no extra fees or commission.

The steps to selling your home

Buyer completes the “offer to purchase” and applies for finance

Once you accept the offer to purchase, it becomes a binding agreement of sale.
Your buyer will apply for finance from the bank.
Once approved the legal process can begin

Property transfer is initiated

The agreement of sale must be sent to a transferring attorney who will request the title deed for the property and supporting documents from both the Seller/s and Buyer/s.

Buyers bond is registered

Your buyer’s bank will register a mortgage bond against the property as security for the repayment of the loan.

Your existing bond is cancelled

If there is an existing mortgage bond over the property, it will be cancelled together with the registration of the transfer and mortgage bond.
The transferring attorney will request a Rates Clearance Certificate from the municipality, and you will be required to pay a few months in advance to obtain the certificate.
They will also do a Deeds Office search to check your property details

Legal documents are signed

After this, the attorneys will prepare all the relevant documents for signature by both Seller/s and Buyer/s.
Your buyer will be contacted to sign all the applicable documents.
Your buyer will also pay the transfer costs and transfer duty.

Documents are lodged at the deeds office

The transfer, bond registration and bond cancellation documents are lodged with the Deeds Office.
About 2- 3 weeks after lodgement, the documents should be registered and your buyer becomes the new owner on registration.