Every transfer starts with a question about cost

Your conveyancing practice fields the same four questions all day, and half of them arrive after the office has closed. 247clerk answers them on WhatsApp, establishes whether there is a signed offer behind the enquiry, and books the ones that are real.

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Tuesday

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Hi, we've just signed an offer on a house in Table View for R2.4m. What will the transfer costs be and how long does it take?21:14

Congratulations. On R2.4m you're looking at roughly R63 000 in transfer duty plus our conveyancing fee and Deeds Office costs — I'll have an exact pro forma to you in the morning. Is the purchase cash or bond-financed?21:14

Bond, we're pre-approved with Standard Bank21:16

Good — that usually runs 8 to 12 weeks from signature, most of which is the bank and the Deeds Office rather than us. Mr Petersen can take you through the pro forma Wednesday 09:00 or Thursday 14:00. No charge for that call.21:16

Wednesday 9 works21:18

Booked: Wed 09:00 with Mr Petersen. Please have the signed OTP and both ID documents handy — I've noted the bank as Standard Bank so he can check the bond instruction.21:18

Screened · booked

What it costs you now

The cost question, forty times a week

"What will the transfer cost on a R1.8m property?" is a two-minute answer that consumes a secretary's day and arrives at 21:00 as often as at 11:00.

Signed offer, or someone browsing

An enquiry from a buyer who has not yet made an offer is worth a fraction of one from a purchaser whose OTP was signed this afternoon. The two look identical in your inbox.

The agent gets there first

Estate agents recommend the conveyancer who answered. A firm that replies on Monday morning has already been designated out of the deal.

What your clerk establishes before you read a word

Whether an offer has actually been signed — and when — the single question that separates a live transfer from a browser.
Purchase price and property type — so the transfer duty question is answered with a number, not a promise to call back.
Cash or bond, and which bank — because the timeline answer depends on it and the bond instruction follows from it.
Who the parties are — surfaced up front, so a conflict or an existing seller-side mandate reaches you before the consultation.
Complications worth knowing about early — deceased estate, divorce, sectional title, a trust or company purchaser.
Which agent referred them — so you know which relationships are actually sending you work.

Questions

Can it quote transfer costs?

It can give the standard estimate your firm configures — transfer duty on the purchase price, your conveyancing fee scale and Deeds Office costs — and say plainly that a formal pro forma follows. It will not improvise figures. Anything unusual, such as a trust purchaser or a deceased estate in the chain, is flagged for a person rather than answered.

Does it work with estate agents as well as buyers?

Yes. Agents are frequently the ones messaging after hours to check whether you can take a transfer, and they are the relationship worth protecting. The clerk answers, records which agent the enquiry came from, and puts the transfer on your list with the agent's name attached.

Will it give legal advice about a property dispute?

No. It answers process, cost and timeline questions and screens the matter. Anything touching the merits — a defective OTP, a dispute over occupation, a lapsed suspensive condition — is escalated to an attorney, and the client is told that plainly.