Property Transfer Cost Calculator
See the total once-off costs of buying property: transfer duty, attorney fees, and bond registration.
Last reviewed: Tax year: 2026/2027Source: SARS — Transfer duty + LSSA tariffs
The five costs of buying property in SA
The purchase price is the headline. The costs you pay in addition to the purchase price are a nasty surprise for first-time buyers. On a R2 million home you can expect to pay roughly R120,000–R180,000 in transfer and bond costs on top of the deposit — about 6–9% of the purchase price.
The five components:
- Transfer duty (to SARS) — progressive, zero below R1.21m, scales up to 13%. See transfer duty calculator.
- Transfer attorney fees (to the seller’s conveyancer) — for registering the change of ownership at the Deeds Office.
- Bond registration costs (to the bank’s attorney) — only if you take a bond. See bond registration calculator.
- Deeds Office fees — small fixed amounts for the transfer deed and the bond registration.
- Miscellaneous — rates clearance certificate (if older than 60 days at transfer), FICA admin, body corporate / HOA clearance if applicable, post and petties.
Typical 2026 transfer attorney fee scale
The transfer attorney’s fee is paid by the buyer even though the seller chose the attorney. Fees follow the LSSA recommended tariff.
| Purchase price | Attorney fee |
|---|---|
| R100,000 – R500,000 | ≈ R7,600 – R11,200 |
| R500,001 – R1,000,000 | ≈ R11,200 – R15,200 |
| R1,000,001 – R1,500,000 | ≈ R15,200 – R19,200 |
| R1,500,001 – R2,000,000 | ≈ R19,200 – R23,200 |
| R2,000,001 – R3,000,000 | ≈ R23,200 – R31,200 |
| R3,000,001 – R5,000,000 | ≈ R31,200 – R47,200 |
| R5,000,001 – R10,000,000 | ≈ R47,200 – R87,200 |
| Purchase price | Deeds Office fee |
|---|---|
| Up to R500,000 | R600 |
| R500,001 – R1,000,000 | R900 |
| R1,000,001 – R2,000,000 | R1,250 |
| R2,000,001 – R4,000,000 | R1,550 |
| R4,000,001 – R6,000,000 | R2,100 |
| R6,000,001 – R8,000,000 | R2,850 |
| R8,000,001 – R10,000,000 | R3,400 |
| R10,000,001 and above | R4,950 |
Worked examples — all-in cost
R1,500,000 first home with 100% bond
Full bond for R1.5m, no deposit. Buyer is paying transfer + bond registration.
- Transfer duty (3% × (1.5m − 1.21m))
- R8,700
- Transfer attorney fee + VAT
- ≈ R22,080
- Bond registration fee + VAT
- ≈ R20,660
- Deeds Office (transfer + bond)
- R2,500
- Rates clearance, FICA, petties
- ≈ R3,000
R3,000,000 home, 20% deposit, R2.4m bond
More typical mid-market purchase with deposit.
- Transfer duty (R106,784 + 11% × R5,200)
- ≈ R107,356
- Transfer attorney fee + VAT
- ≈ R35,880
- Bond registration fee + VAT (R2.4m)
- ≈ R29,160
- Deeds Office fees
- ≈ R3,100
- Rates clearance, FICA, petties
- ≈ R3,500
R800,000 starter home, no bond (cash purchase)
Below the R1.21m transfer duty threshold — much cheaper.
- Transfer duty
- R0 (exempt)
- Transfer attorney fee + VAT
- ≈ R15,640
- Deeds Office fee
- R900
- Rates clearance, FICA, petties
- ≈ R2,500
Key differences from what the estate agent tells you
- The deposit is NOT transfer cost. It’s part of the purchase price. If you have R300k deposit on a R2m home, you still need another ~R150k for transfer + bond.
- Occupational rent — if you move in before transfer registration, you pay the seller a monthly rental until transfer. Not strictly a transfer cost but budgets the same as one.
- Rates and levies in advance — the municipality requires rates paid 2-4 months forward to issue a clearance certificate. You get the balance back from the seller via the attorney, but the cash-flow impact on transfer day is real.
Ways to reduce the total
- Buy below R1.21m — zero transfer duty. Saves R8.7k at R1.5m; R33.8k at R2m.
- Buy VAT-inclusive new-build — if the developer is a VAT vendor, VAT replaces transfer duty (and is usually included in the marketed price). No transfer duty saving, but there’s no duty to pay.
- Negotiate the transfer attorney — while the seller chooses the firm, the buyer can request a market fee comparison. Legitimate firms are usually within 5% of each other.
- Take a bigger deposit — reduces bond amount and therefore bond registration fee (and interest over 20+ years).
How this calculator works
Enter the purchase price and (optionally) the bond amount. The calculator sums all five cost components using the 2026/2027 SARS transfer duty brackets plus the LSSA attorney fee scales plus Deeds Office fee tiers, then adds a typical post-and-petties allowance.
Treat the output as a tight estimate — within R5–10k of what your conveyancer will quote. Always get the formal pro-forma invoice before transfer day so there are no surprises.
Sources
Frequently Asked Questions
Total once-off cost of buying a property, including transfer duty, attorney fees, bond registration, and sundries. It is separate from your bond repayment.
Property inspections, insurance quotes, your own legal advice, property valuation for bond purposes, rates and taxes (transferred proportionally), and home improvements after purchase.
Transfer cost is typically 3–6% of the property price: transfer duty (0–11%), attorney fees (1–2%), bond registration (0.8–1.5%), and sundries (0.2–0.5%).
Transfer duty is set by law. Attorney fees and bond registration costs are somewhat negotiable. Typically, the seller pays transfer duty and the buyer pays attorney/bond registration.