Between lodgement and registration, a property transfer goes quiet. The conveyancer has your signed documents, the bank has issued its guarantees, and the answer to "how far are we?" becomes some version of "it's at the Deeds Office". For most buyers and sellers that is the first time in the transaction where nobody involved can give them a date.
The waiting is normal. What is not necessary is being unable to see where the transfer actually is.
What happens after lodgement
Your conveyancer prepares the deeds and lodges them at the Deeds Office that holds the property's records. From there the batch moves through examination, where examiners check the deeds against the Deeds Registries Act and the existing records. Deeds that pass come up "on prep", which means the conveyancer is notified to come in and register. On registration day ownership legally changes, the bonds are registered and cancelled as needed, and the transfer is complete.
Two things about this process cause most of the anxiety. First, the Deeds Office works in queues, and the queue length differs between offices and between months. Second, if an examiner raises a note, the batch is rejected back to the conveyancer to fix, and the clock partly restarts. Neither of these is visible to you unless someone checks the status.
Two ways to check the status yourself
You do not need to be the conveyancer to see where a lodged transfer sits. eDEEDS reads the status directly from the Deeds Office registry, and there are two ways to use that.
A once-off transfer status check costs R235.00 and gives you the current position of the transfer: whether it is in examination, on prep, rejected, or registered. It is delivered within one working day. This suits a single "where are we?" moment, for example when the occupational rent clause is about to kick in and you want to know if registration will beat it.
The automated tracking service costs R795.00 and emails you the status every weekday for up to 14 days or until the transfer registers, whichever comes first. Fourteen days covers the typical registration period after lodgement, and if the transfer runs longer you can extend or submit a new tracking request. This is the option when you would otherwise be phoning the attorney's office every second day.
One limit applies to both: tracking only works once the batch has been lodged. Before lodgement there is nothing at the Deeds Office to track, and the delay sits with document preparation, bank guarantees, clearance certificates, or SARS, not with the registry.
Reading the status
The statuses map to the stages above. "In examination" means the deeds are in the queue or being checked. "Rejected" is not a disaster; it means an examiner raised a note and the conveyancer must correct and re-lodge, which usually adds days rather than weeks. "On prep" is the signal that registration is close, typically within a few days, because the conveyancer must register within a set period once called up. "Registered" means it is done, and the conveyancer will confirm and start the final accounting.
If a tracking update shows the transfer bouncing between rejection and re-lodgement more than once, that is worth a direct conversation with your conveyancer about what the examiner's notes are. The status tells you that something is being fixed; only the conveyancer can tell you what.
Common questions
How long does registration take after lodgement?
Most transfers register within about two weeks of lodgement, which is why our automated tracking runs for 14 days. Rejections and busy periods at a specific Deeds Office can stretch this.
Can I track a transfer before it is lodged?
No. Until the conveyancer lodges the batch there is no record at the Deeds Office to check. Ask your conveyancer for the expected lodgement date, then start tracking from there.
Do I need the conveyancer's permission to check the status?
No. The lodgement status is registry information, and either party to the transaction can have it checked. You will need the property details so the correct batch can be identified.