Find A Buyer For Your Property

Download PDF to learn more.

A CMA or comparative market analysis is used by Property Practitioners to determine the market value of a property.

This is done by comparing it to similar properties that have recently sold, and properties that are currently listed for sale in the area.

An experienced Property Practitioner will do a walkthrough and take into consideration all factors affecting the condition of the home.

Factors that are incorporated in a CMA

• Average price per square metre in the area
• Recent sale prices of similar homes
• Comparative prices of other properties still on the market
• Transfer history
• Most recent comparable sales in the surrounding area
• Details of your property
• Expired property listings and properties that failed to sell
• Properties that are withdrawn from the market

• Correctly pricing your home to sell quickly
• As a buyer you can make sure you are paying market value for a home in an area you are not familiar with
• As a homeowner you can use it to make sure your renovations are not over-capitalising your property

In terms of the Property Practitioner Act 22 of 2019, every Property Practitioner and estate agency firm must obtain a Fidelity Fund Certificate (FFC) from the Property Practitioners Regulatory Authority (PPRA). It is illegal to operate as a Property Practitioner unless the PPRA have issued you with an FFC for the current calendar year. It is also illegal to claim commission if you did not have a valid FFC at the time you rendered the services to the client.

This applies not only to Property Practitioners who sell residential property, but also to letting Property Practitioners, commercial and industrial property brokers, agricultural property brokers, business brokers, and Property Practitioners who “exhibit” properties which are for sale or to let (e.g. ‘showhouse sitters’).

You can check the validity of an Property Practitioners FFC on the PPRA website. https://theppra.org.za/home 

Anything that forms a permanent part of the property is deemed to be a fixture and is therefore included in the sale. This includes

• doors (and their keys), windows,
• built-in cupboards,
• wall-to-wall carpets and
• bar/kitchen counters (and the stools that go with them),
• as well as plants and shrubs in the garden.

The seller may not remove them when he leaves, unless it is clearly stipulated in the Sale Agreement that he will do so.

Light fittings are considered fixtures, but a seller may wish to take a chandelier that he bought for the house. However, he needs to specify this in the Sale Agreement, excluding it from the sale, and he ought to replace it with another light fitting, though this can be negotiated.

Expansion of Definition

Property Practitioner now carries with it a wider definition in the Act. Essentially, anyone who deals with Property and related matters in their ordinary course of business falls under the definition of “Property Practitioner”.  Some examples of persons who fall under this definition now include:

• Auctioneers of Property
• Persons who market, canvass buyers or negotiate the sale of Property (Estate Agents in the Traditional Sense).
• Persons who let or hires property (Rental Agents)
• Bond Brokers (More commonly called “Mortgage Originators” in South Africa)
• Property Developers

The EAAB/PPRA

The Estate Agents Affairs Board has ceased to be called by that name.  Instead, the old “board” is now known as the Property Practitioner’s Regulatory Authority, or the PPRA.  The functions of the PPRA will be relatively similar to the EAAB.  Just as Estate Agents are now known as Property Practitioners, the Estate Agent’s Fidelity Fund will now be known as the Property Practitioner’s Fidelity Fund.

The Act aims to provide more transparency in the real estate industry, better regulation of property practitioners, more opportunities for transformation as well as the establishment of a transformation fund.

Furthermore, the Act also provides for consumer protection, compliance with, and enforcement of the provisions of the Act.

More on the act: PROPERTY PRACTITIONERS ACT NO. 22 OF 2019