5 Documents to Ask For Before Buying a Sectional Title Apartment in Cape Town

Buying into a sectional title scheme means buying into a body corporate, whether you realise it or not. The moment you sign the offer to purchase, you become responsible for your share of that building's finances, governance, and future — not just the unit itself.

Most buyers never ask the right questions before they sign, simply because nobody tells them what to ask for. Here's exactly what I tell people, every time.

1. The Levy Statement

This shows you what the current owner is paying every month, and what that money is meant to cover — building insurance, maintenance, security, the managing agent's fee, and contributions to the body corporate's reserve fund.

2. The Rates Account from the City of Cape Town

This is separate from your levies. Levies go toward running the building; rates go to the city, based on your property's municipal valuation. Many first-time sectional title buyers don't realise these are two entirely different bills.

3. The Last Monthly Management Report

Your managing agent is required to produce these for the trustees and owners on request. They show the scheme's bank balance, money in and out, and — most usefully — actual spending against budget. This tells you whether the scheme is financially healthy or quietly sliding into trouble.

4. The Minutes of the Last AGM

Minutes tell you how thorough (or not) the trustees are, what's currently being debated or disputed, and whether decisions are being made and properly recorded. Patchy or vague minutes are often an early sign of weak governance.

5. The Scheme Rules

This is the one people forget. Scheme rules will tell you whether short-term rental (Airbnb-style) letting is allowed in the building — which matters more than most buyers expect, for noise, security, and the day-to-day feel of living there. They'll also cover anything else specific to that building that the standard legislation doesn't.

Why This Matters

None of this is about distrust — it's about knowing what you're actually buying into. A scheme with a healthy reserve fund, clear minutes, and well-managed levies is a genuinely good investment. A scheme where nobody has asked these questions for ten years is often the one where, eventually, the paint starts cracking, the levies spike overnight, and a special levy lands on every owner's desk with no warning.

A little homework before you buy saves a lot of stress after.

Next step: If you're considering a sectional title purchase in Cape Town and want a second pair of eyes on what you've been given, get in touch — I'm happy to help you make sense of it before you sign.