'A man’s home is his castle.' (Sir Edward Coke, English common law ruling, 1604) Of course, what we all want to hear at the end of our...

Learn the steps and legalities involved for foreigner buyers in SA's property market.

'Don’t wait to buy land, buy land and wait.' (Will Rogers) Summer’s a great time to look for property. Many sellers who’ve been holding...

' This sale agreement is no more! It has ceased to be! This is an EX-sale!' (With apologies to Monty Python) A 'bond clause' – standard...

'…there is no obligation on the [seller] to obtain an occupancy certificate and to furnish it to the [buyers]' (Extract from judgment...

'Good fences make good neighbours.' (Robert Frost) When you buy into a community scheme (such as a security estate, complex or apartment...

'[The buyer] must in the circumstances take responsibility for her failure to protect herself against a known risk' (extract from...

'A verbal contract isn't worth the paper it's written on' (Samuel Goldwyn) Perhaps you are a seller marketing your property through an...

'[w]here a seller recklessly tells a half-truth or knows the facts but does not reveal them because he or she has not bothered to...

'The first thing we do is, let’s kill all the lawyers.' (Shakespeare) Shakespeare must have had an unhappy experience or two with the...

'The conditional acceptance of an offer amounts to rejection of same and not the conclusion of a contract, but may be a counter–offer.'...

'A bad neighbour is as great a calamity as a good one is a great advantage.' (Hesiod, poet of Ancient Greece) Your neighbour’s business...

'If you don't like where you are, move. You are not a tree.' (Jim Rohn) It’s that time of year again – summer sunshine, happy...

'Oh, I'm an alien, I'm a legal alien' (Sting’s ‘Englishman in New York’) South Africa is attractive to overseas property buyers with our...

'Caveat subscriptor'– old legal maxim meaning 'Let the signer beware!' A recent High Court decision once again highlights the dangers of...

'There is no sound more peaceful than rain on the roof, if you're safe asleep in someone else's house.' (Anne Tyler) You move into your...

'Look before you leap' (wise old proverb) Don’t let the excitement of buying a property blind you to the necessity of doing your homework...

'The only bad time to buy property is later.' (Steve Bolton) Buying property, whether to live/work in or on a buy-to-let basis, could be...

'I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.' (Douglas Adams) Here’s yet another reminder from our courts on...

“Co-ownership is the mother of disputes” (old Roman law maxim) There can be big advantages to buying property jointly but be aware of the...