Cost of purchasing a property

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Purchasing a Property in South Africa

Once you find your ideal property in Cape Town you need to make an offer, usually through the seller’s estate agent.

The estate agent requests a formal contract (Offer to Purchase) confirming details of your offer, a time line for it’s acceptance, a prospective completion date, and suspensive clauses (conditions).

This is presented to the seller for approval.
If the seller agrees to the offer, both parties sign the contract, this effectively works as a legal sale agreement.

A deposit is usually paid, with the balance of the purchase price paid on transfer.

The seller will now appoint a conveyancer to deal with the legal aspects of the transaction. While the seller usually chooses the conveyancer, the buyer pays their fees.

You then submit identification documents to the Deeds Registry so you can officially be registered as the new owner. As in other countries, the legal process can take time – often 8-12 weeks.

Once you are officially the new owner, you must pay the remaining balance, the conveyancer then delivers the Title Deed.

Government transfer duty – a significant cost:
visit: sars.gov.za/types-of-tax/transfer-duty/
Legal conveyancing fees – the seller appoints the conveyancing attorney, there is only one attorney involved in the purchase.

Costs of buying property in South Africa

Transfer duty (*paid to the government)
Registration fees
Conveyancing fees
Approximately 12% or less, depending on the *purchase price.

The conveyancer’s fees include:

Rates and / or levy clearance & pro-rata rates / levy: approx. ZAR 3000
FICA (Financial Intelligence Centre Act): approx ZAR 250-750
Deeds Office searches: approx. ZAR 150-300
Electronic document preparation: approx. ZAR 200
Postage and petties: approx. ZAR 300-750

Buying a house or apartment in an estate requires the consent of the Home Owners Association (HOA), a charge of c. ZAR 1000 may apply.

Please note: charges do vary from time to time, some are at the discretion of the conveyancer – we recommend checking with the conveyancing attorney.