You don't need to do your house hunting all on your own. Through experience, good real estate agents know which sorts of homes might blow a buyer's checklist out of the water and become the perfect match despite not meeting all the initial criteria. Real estate agents are often privy to listings before they are uploaded to a property portal, which allows you first pick of any suitable listing as soon as they enter the market.

When deciding on what price to offer, it is useful to set three budget targets: the highest offer you can afford to make, your ideal offer, and your low-ball offer. Your real estate agent can then help you decide which of these three numbers you should put forward as your initial offer.

The voetstoots clause protects the seller against all defects — including defects that he does not know about. In the instance that a seller is aware of a defect and conceals it, you will be able to take action against the seller, provided you can prove that the seller deliberately hid it, which is not an easy task. This is why a thorough inspection is so important.

The move-in date will depend on the time it will take to register and transfer the property into the buyer's name before agreeing upon a moving date. This process, which includes registering for the new owner's bond, cancelling the previous owner's bond, and registering the sale at the Deeds Office, can take anywhere around three months.

The move-in date is usually included in the OTP, but can be changed (if both parties agree to it) depending on how quickly the transfer process takes.