Deeds and Property Related Articles

Property Ownership

The Checks to Run on a South African Property Before You Sign an Offer

An offer to purchase is binding once signed. The ownership, bond, boundary and title-condition checks worth running first, and what each one catches.

Title Deeds & Documents

Conditions of Title: The Rules Written Into Your Title Deed

Building plans rejected over a condition from 1952? What conditions of title and restrictive covenants are, how to find yours, and what removing one involves.

Property Ownership

Married In or Out of Community of Property: What It Means When You Buy or Sell a House

Your matrimonial regime decides whose signature a property sale needs and whose asset the house is. How each works, and how to confirm yours with the ANC.

Property Ownership

Sectional Title: What You Actually Own When You Buy a Unit

A sectional title purchase buys a section, a share of common property and often exclusive use rights. Where each is recorded and how to check before buying.

Property Ownership

How Much Is My House Worth in South Africa?

Municipal value, agent appraisal, bank valuation and data-driven estimates measure different things. What each one is for and how to get a defensible number.

Property Ownership

Buying Property in South Africa as a Foreigner

Foreign nationals can buy and own property in South Africa with very few restrictions — the right to own property is not limited to citizens or residents.

Title Deeds & Documents

How to Read a South African Title Deed: A Plain English Guide

A South African Title Deed is the legal document that records ownership of a specific property and the conditions attached to it.

Property Ownership

Servitudes and Your South African Property

A servitude is a registered right that one party holds over another's property — for example, the right to drive across a neighbour's land to access your own, or the right of an…

Property Ownership

Understanding Mineral Rights on South African Property

In South Africa, mineral rights have been vested in the state since the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act 28 of 2002 (MPRDA) came into force in 2004.

Property Ownership

Transferring Property from a Deceased Estate

When a property owner dies in South Africa, the property doesn't automatically transfer to the heirs — it must go through the deceased estate process.

Marriage Contracts

Antenuptial Contracts (ANC) in South Africa: A Complete Guide

An Antenuptial Contract — usually shortened to ANC — is a legal contract signed before marriage that sets out the matrimonial property regime that will govern your marriage in…

Property Ownership

Sectional Title vs Full Title Ownership

In South Africa, full title means you own the land and everything built on it — your name appears on the Title Deed for a specific erf with defined boundaries.

Property Searches

How to Check if a Property Has a Bond Registered Against It

To check if a property has a registered bond in South Africa, run a Deeds Office property search.

Title Deeds & Documents

Lost Your Title Deed? Here's What to Do in South Africa

If you've lost your original Title Deed in South Africa, what you do depends on why you need it.

Property Searches

Verifying Property Ownership in South Africa

To verify who owns a property in South Africa, you query the Deeds Office — either by visiting one of the 11 Deeds Offices in person, using the government's DeedsWEB portal, or…

Deeds Office
Property
General

Using AI for Property Reports

Deeds Office records contain everything you need to assess a property — and almost none of it in language a normal buyer can act on.

Deeds Office
Property

Obtaining Information About Any Property in South Africa

You can find out almost everything of legal substance about any property in South Africa — who owns it, what they paid, what is bonded against it, and what conditions bind it —…

Property
Property Valuations

Free Estate Agent Valuations: The Limits

A free valuation from an estate agent is a useful starting point, but it is not an independent valuation — and treating it as one is how sellers under-price and buyers over-pay.

Property Valuations

Property Valuations and Prices in South Africa

Asking price, municipal value, and market value are three different numbers, and confusing them costs people money on both sides of a sale.

Property
General

Residential Property Ownership in South Africa

“Owning” a home in South Africa can mean several different things in law, and the difference affects what you can do with the property, what you pay, and how ownership is proven.

Property
General

Why You Should Check a Title Deed Before Buying a Property

By the time most buyers see a Title Deed, they have already signed the offer to purchase. That is the wrong order.

Deeds Office
Property
General

Buying or Selling Property in South Africa

A property transaction in South Africa runs on a fixed legal track.

Search Results

Deeds Office Property Search Report Explained

A Deeds Office property search report answers four questions about a property: who owns it, what they paid for it, what is owed against it, and what conditions bind it.

Deeds Office
General

What the Deeds Office Does in a Property Sale

A property sale in South Africa is not final when the contract is signed or even when the money changes hands. It is final when the transfer is registered at the Deeds Office.

Deeds Office

Understanding the South African Deeds Office

Every registered property in South Africa has a paper trail, and that trail leads to a Deeds Office.

Deeds offices we cover

All 11 South African deeds registries. Not sure which one holds your property? Any Instant Property Search tells you.