Smart Sell FAQ

Smart Sell is not an auction. It is a transparent, time-limited process for making offers on property or businesses across our 185 markets.

Unlike an auction, the highest offer does not automatically win. At close of the offer window the seller reviews every offer and chooses freely — they may accept any offer, invite two buyers to improve their terms, or decline every offer. A sale becomes legally binding only when both parties sign a deed of sale at their attorneys after the seller has accepted an offer.

Three formats sellers can run:

• Guide Price: The seller publishes a guide price. Offers below or above are still welcome and still shown at close.
• Open Offers: No guide price. Buyers offer what the property is worth to them.
• Live Offer Room: Real-time offer window where every offer is visible to all buyers. Soft-close auto-extends if an offer arrives in the final 5 minutes.

Learn more on the Smart Sell Explained page.

Individual buyers:

• Valid government-issued ID (passport or national ID card)
• Proof of address (utility bill or bank statement dated within 3 months)
• Proof of funds or pre-approval letter from your bank
• Signed acceptance of the Smart Offer Terms & Conditions

Corporate / company buyers additionally need:

• Company registration documents (certificate of incorporation)
• Board resolution authorising the person to make offers on behalf of the company
• Director ID and proof of authority

Before you can submit any offer on a Smart Sell listing, you pay a flat USD 200 non-refundable Smart Offer registration fee for six months of access. The fee covers Propworths’ FICA / KYC verification, buyer onboarding, and unlimited offer-making across every Smart Sell listing on the Platform for six months in any of the 185 supported markets.

How much and how it’s charged: Billed at USD 200, automatically converted to your preferred currency (ZAR, EUR, GBP, AED, SGD, AUD and other supported currencies) at the Peach Payments live FX rate at the moment of payment.

Accepted payment methods: Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Scan to Pay, Pay By Bank (direct bank transfer via Peach), and Money Badger crypto (BTC / ETH / USDC / USDT, ZAR settlement). All payments are processed by Peach Payments under SARB approval and POPIA compliance.

Your six-month window starts once Peach Payments has confirmed payment and Propworths has verified your FICA / KYC submission — whichever is later. We remind you at day 150 and day 175 that your window is closing. To continue offering after six months, re-register and pay USD 200 again for another six months.

The fee is NON-REFUNDABLE except in these three specific circumstances:

• (a) Every Smart Sell listing on which you were registered to offer is cancelled by Propworths or the seller before the offer window opens, and no comparable replacement is available within 30 days of registration;
• (b) your buyer registration is rejected by Propworths on FICA / KYC compliance grounds after you have paid;
• (c) a documented Propworths platform failure prevented you from making offers throughout the six-month window.

In every other case — including you deciding not to submit any offer, being outdone at every window you enter, changing your mind, or any personal / financial change on your side — the USD 200 registration fee is retained by Propworths in full.

No. Smart Sell has no percentage commission on the sale. There is no buyer premium, no hammer commission, and no percentage of the purchase price payable to Propworths on acceptance or on completion.

Your only fee to Propworths is the flat USD 200 six-month Smart Offer registration described above. The seller separately pays Propworths a flat USD 180 platform listing fee to publish the Smart Sell listing — that fee is not paid by you and does not appear on any invoice to you.

Example — sale at USD 500,000:

• You (buyer) pay Propworths USD 200 once for six months of Smart Offer access — regardless of the sale price.
• The full USD 500,000 is paid by you into the seller’s conveyancing attorney’s trust account on the timeline recorded in the deed of sale — nothing is divided with Propworths.
• Compare this to a traditional 10% + VAT commission model where you would have paid an additional USD 57,500 commission to a broker on top of the purchase price. Use the interactive Smart Sell Savings Calculator to compare at any sale price.

Full terms in the Smart Sell Listing Agreement — Section 5 and the Smart Offer Terms — Section 7.

1. USD 200 six-month Smart Offer registration (non-refundable, one-off for the window): Paid via Peach Payments before you can submit any offer on any Smart Sell listing.

2. No percentage commission on the sale: Propworths charges no commission when the seller accepts your offer. Your USD 200 six-month registration is your only Propworths fee.

3. Negotiated deposit (per your offer terms): Typically 10% of the accepted offer, but freely determined in the terms you offer. Paid by you into the trust account of the seller’s conveyancing attorney under the deed of sale — not to Propworths.

4. Balance of the purchase price: Payable to the same conveyancing attorney on the timeline recorded in the deed of sale — typically 30 days for cash buyers or 60 days for bond buyers (subject to bond approval).

5. Transfer / conveyancing / stamp-duty costs: Legal, conveyancing, transfer-duty, and registration fees payable in the country of sale — separate from Propworths and paid directly to those professionals. Check the listing’s special conditions and get local legal advice.

Accepted payment methods (via Peach Payments): Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Scan to Pay, Pay By Bank, and Money Badger crypto (BTC / ETH / USDC / USDT, ZAR settlement).

Yes — and we strongly recommend it. Every Smart Sell listing shows the seller’s viewing window on the listing detail page. You can also request a private viewing through the seller.

Before offering, you should:

• Physically visit the property and verify its condition
• Review the full property / business pack (title deed, survey, zoning, compliance, any disclosed encumbrances)
• Get independent legal advice — once the seller accepts your offer, the Agreement in Principle commits you to instruct an attorney and progress the transaction to a deed of sale in good faith
• Arrange a building inspection if the property type warrants it

Remember: Properties sold via Smart Sell are typically sold “voetstoots” (as-is) where applicable. You cannot claim for defects discovered after the sale unless fraud applies.

Immediately after the offer window closes:

• Propworths delivers the full offer log to the seller with the amount and terms of every offer.
• The seller has 48 hours to review and decide — accept one, invite two buyers to improve terms, or decline every offer.
• You receive an in-app and email notification of the seller’s decision within 48 hours.

If the seller accepts your offer — Agreement in Principle issued:

• Propworths issues an Agreement in Principle recording the parties, the property, the amount and the terms of your accepted offer. This is not a deed of sale and does not on its own transfer property, but it commits both parties to progress the transaction to a deed of sale in good faith.
• You appoint your own attorney; the seller nominates the conveyancing attorney (also the transferring attorney on the sale).

At the attorneys — deed of sale drafted and signed:

• The seller’s conveyancing attorney drafts the deed of sale from the Agreement in Principle. Both parties sign at the attorneys. The sale becomes legally binding on both parties on signature.
• The negotiated deposit (per your offer terms) is paid by you into the seller’s conveyancing attorney’s trust account — never to Propworths.

Within 30 days (cash) or 60 days (bond) of deed-of-sale signing:

• The balance of the purchase price is paid into the same conveyancing attorney’s trust account.
• If your bond is declined within the agreed window, treatment of the deposit is handled by the conveyancing attorney under the deed of sale. Your USD 200 Smart Offer registration is not affected — the window continues for the remainder of your six months.
• The conveyancer handles legal transfer, FICA / AML compliance, and any bond registration.
• Title is registered at the deeds office — keys handed over. Congratulations!

This is a serious matter. Once you sign the deed of sale you are legally bound to complete. If you withdraw in bad faith after acceptance, or fail to sign the deed of sale where it is a fair reflection of the Agreement in Principle:

• Any deposit you paid into the seller’s conveyancing attorney’s trust account may be forfeited under the deed of sale.
• The seller may claim damages, the resale shortfall, and re-listing costs against you.
• Your Smart Offer account may be immediately suspended and the balance of your six-month USD 200 registration window forfeited with no refund.
• Propworths may refer the matter for collection and recover reasonable legal fees, collection costs, and interest at the maximum lawful rate.

Bond decline — important: If the reason you cannot complete is that your bond was formally declined within the agreed window, treatment of the deposit is handled by the conveyancing attorney under the deed of sale. Your USD 200 Smart Offer registration continues for the remainder of your six months, and Propworths does not charge you any additional fee. There is no percentage commission on the sale to be forfeited under Smart Sell — only the USD 200 registration for the buyer.

See Smart Offer Terms — Section 6 for the full withdrawal and default policy.

Yes. Propworths uses:

• Encrypted connections (SSL / TLS) for all offer activity
• FICA / KYC identity verification before Smart Offer registration is activated
• Anti-manipulation monitoring (shill-offering detection, multi-account analysis across six-month registration windows)
• Auto-extend (“soft close”) to prevent last-second submission behaviour
• Full audit trail — every offer is logged with timestamp, IP, and device

See Smart Offer Integrity Policy for our full policy.