George

Edging ahead of East London we had responses from 5 law firms, representing 8 partners, of whom 7 are conveyancing partners. The findings therefore cannot provide a suitable sample, as can be seen by the Recovery for electronic bond instructions table and its corresponding graph. Nevertheless they read as follows:

Internet connectivity
Permanent connection					66%
Dial up					34%
Recovery of Posts & Petties costs
Transfers				Bonds	Cancellations
High			R 350	R 250	R 228
Low			R 228	R 228	R 150
Average			R 285	R 245	R 200
Recovery of Deeds Office search costs
High					R 75
Low					R 7
Average					R 50
Did not respond					None
Recovery of electronic bond instruction costs
ABS		FNB	NED	STD	AVG
High	R 80	R 80	R 80	R 80	R 80
Low	R 80	R 80	R 80	R 80	R 80
Average	R 80	R 80	R 80	R 80	R 80
Did not respond	75%	75%	75%	75%	75%
Recovery of FICA search costs
Individuals				Companies	Trusts
High			R 250	R 250	R 250
Low			R 200	R 200	R 200
Average			R 226	R 226	R 226
Did not respond			25%	25%	25%
Firms that have increased the recommended tariff					25%
Firms that charge a minimum fee					None
Discounting of fees
High					25%
Low					15%
Average					18%
Did not respond					20%
Percentage of firms which incentivise their secretaries					None
Ratio of senior secretaries to junior secretaries					1 : 2
Matter "legs" per secretary per month
A completed bond and a completed transfer each = 1 leg, while a cancellation = half a leg
High					20
Low					3
Average					11
How long will the property boom last?
Don't know					34%
Over already					22%
Less than 6 months					33%
Less than 1 year					0%
More than 1 year					0%