How to sell your home without an agent in South Africa

Yes. There is no law requiring an estate agent, and selling privately avoids commission, which is negotiable and generally runs 5% to 7.5% of the price plus 15% VAT. Estate agents must hold a Fidelity Fund Certificate from the Property Practitioners Regulatory Authority, but a private owner selling their own home does not. You list directly through the private-seller routes on Property24 and Private Property. By law the transfer must be prepared and registered by a conveyancing attorney at the Deeds Office, so you will need a conveyancer regardless, but that is a separate role from an estate agent.

Yes, the conveyancer is unavoidable. Under the Deeds Registries Act 47 of 1937, transfer deeds and bonds must be prepared by a conveyancer, a specialist property attorney, and lodged at the Deeds Office. The conveyancer obtains your title deed and bond cancellation figures, gets the rates clearance certificate from the municipality (and levy clearance for sectional title), pays transfer duty to SARS, prepares and has the documents signed, lodges everything at the Deeds Office, and on registration pays you the proceeds and settles your bond. By custom the seller nominates the conveyancer but the buyer usually pays the transfer fees.

The buyer pays transfer duty, not the seller. As of the rates effective 1 April 2026, the first R1,210,000 of the price is zero-rated, then duty scales through brackets up to 13% on the portion above R13,310,000. It is collected by SARS, generally payable within six months of the sale, and the conveyancer arranges it because the Deeds Office will not register without a transfer duty receipt. Rates are reviewed each year in the Budget, so confirm the current thresholds with SARS or your conveyancer.

Possibly, through capital gains tax (CGT). A portion of your net gain is added to your taxable income, giving individuals a maximum effective rate of about 18% as of 2026. There is an annual exclusion (R50,000 as of 2026), and crucially a primary residence exclusion: from 1 March 2026 the first R3 million of gain on your main home is generally disregarded. So many ordinary home sellers owe little or no CGT, but holiday homes, rentals, second properties, and non-resident sellers are treated differently. Verify your position with a tax practitioner if your gain is large or the property was not your main home.

Sellers are generally responsible for the required certificates before transfer. An Electrical Compliance Certificate (Certificate of Compliance) is required and is usually expected to be less than two years old with no changes since. A gas certificate is required where there are gas installations, an electric fence certificate where there is an electric fence, and the City of Cape Town also requires a water installation certificate. Use registered installers and arrange them early, since any remedial work takes time to book and complete.

A rates clearance certificate is issued by your municipality confirming that municipal accounts (rates, water, electricity, refuse) tied to the property are settled, typically covering arrears plus an advance period, and it is valid for a limited window (commonly cited around 60 days). The Deeds Office will not register the transfer without it, so any arrears must be cleared to obtain it. For a sectional title unit you also need a levy clearance from the body corporate. The conveyancer requests both, but you should bring the accounts up to date early.

When the written offer to purchase is signed and accepted by both parties. Under the Alienation of Land Act 68 of 1981 a sale of land is only valid if it is in writing and signed, so a verbal agreement or handshake does not bind anyone. A signed, accepted offer to purchase (sometimes called a deed of sale) is generally binding, usually subject to any suspensive conditions in it, such as the buyer's bond being approved by a set date. Have a conveyancer or attorney review the OTP before you sign.

Two phases. Finding a buyer depends on your area and pricing. Then the transfer: from a signed offer to purchase to registration at the Deeds Office generally takes about 8 to 12 weeks. The Deeds Office itself examines lodged deeds within roughly 17 working days when documents are in order, but obtaining bond cancellation figures, rates and levy clearances, compliance certificates, and the buyer's bond can add weeks. Ownership and your payout both happen on registration, not at signing or at handover of keys.

Property24 and Private Property are the two portals buyers search first, and both run a dedicated private-seller (sell it yourself) route, so you do not need an estate agent to be visible. Private-seller listing packages are typically a few thousand rand depending on the portals and duration. MyProperty and other aggregators also carry private listings. You set the asking price yourself and field offers directly, then route the accepted offer to your conveyancer.