What it really costs to sell a house in South Africa
The short answer
Contents
The costs a seller pays
Sellers and buyers pay different things. The buyer carries transfer duty and the transferring attorney's fees; those are large but they are not your costs. What follows is the seller's side only.
| Cost | Who sets it | Typical amount |
|---|---|---|
| Estate agent commission | Negotiable, no fixed tariff | 5 to 7.5% + 15% VAT |
| Bond cancellation attorney | LSSA fee guideline | R4 000 to R6 000 |
| Electrical certificate of compliance | Market | R800 to R2 500 |
| Gas certificate (if applicable) | Market | R500 to R1 500 |
| Electric fence certificate (if applicable) | Market | R800 to R2 000 |
| Plumbing certificate (Cape Town and parts of the W. Cape) | Market | R500 to R1 500 |
| Rates clearance figures | Municipality | Advance payment, refunded |
| Levy clearance (sectional title) | Body corporate | Advance payment, refunded |
| Bond early-cancellation penalty | Your bank | Up to 3 months' interest if <90 days' notice |
Commission: the number that is always bigger than quoted
Estate agent commission in South Africa is negotiable. It is not set by law, and there is no minimum. The market range sits between 5% and 7.5%, with sole mandates usually at the lower end because the agent's commission is guaranteed.
The part that catches sellers out is VAT. When an agency quotes 5%, they mean 5% plus VAT at 15%. The effective rate is 5.75% of your sale price, and it is deducted from your proceeds by the conveyancer at registration. You never see the money.
| Sale price | At 5% + VAT | At 6% + VAT | At 7.5% + VAT |
|---|---|---|---|
| R1 000 000 | R57 500 | R69 000 | R86 250 |
| R1 500 000 | R86 250 | R103 500 | R129 375 |
| R2 000 000 | R115 000 | R138 000 | R172 500 |
| R3 000 000 | R172 500 | R207 000 | R258 750 |
| R5 000 000 | R287 500 | R345 000 | R431 250 |
Timing: when each cost is actually paid
This matters for cash-flow planning. The certificates come out of your pocket up front, months before you see a cent of the sale price. See our conveyancing guide for the full transfer timeline.
- Before listing: compliance certificates, and any repairs needed to obtain them.
- During the transfer: rates and levy clearance, paid in advance to the municipality and body corporate, then reconciled and partly refunded.
- At registration: commission, bond settlement and the cancellation attorney's fee, all deducted from the proceeds before the balance reaches you.
Capital gains tax
If the property is your primary residence, the first R3 000 000 of capital gain is excluded, plus an annual exclusion of R50 000 against your total capital gains for the year. Budget 2026 raised both figures, from R2 000 000 and R40 000 respectively, effective 2026-03-01. Most sellers of an ordinary family home pay no capital gains tax at all.
Timing matters here. CGT looks at the date your sale agreement became unconditionally binding, not the date transfer registers. If you signed before 2026-03-01, the older R2 000 000 exclusion still applies to that sale even though it only transferred later.
Above the exclusion, or on a property that is not your primary residence, a portion of the gain is included in your taxable income. The calculation depends on your marginal rate and on what you can prove you spent on improvements, so keep those records. Speak to your accountant before you sign. This is one of the few seller costs you can legitimately plan around.
A worked example: R2 000 000 sale
The gap is the commission, near enough. Everything else a seller pays is the same either way. The one line that does not net into "proceeds" is the Privately listing fee: at R199/month while your listing is live, it is a flat running cost, not a cut of the sale price, and unlike commission it is never deducted from what the conveyancer pays out at registration. You pay it separately, month to month. That is exactly why commission is the cost worth interrogating. Run your own sale price through our selling cost calculators, then see how to price your home correctly, so it does not sit on the market longer than it needs to.
| With an agent at 5% + VAT | Sold privately | |
|---|---|---|
| Sale price | R2 000 000 | R2 000 000 |
| Agent commission incl. VAT | − R115 000 | − R0 |
| Compliance certificates | − R3 000 | − R3 000 |
| Bond cancellation attorney | − R5 000 | − R5 000 |
| Privately listing fee (R199/month while listed, not a % of price) | n/a | paid separately; not deducted below |
| Proceeds before bond settlement | R1 877 000 | R1 992 000 |
Common questions
- How much is estate agent commission in South Africa?
- Typically 5% to 7.5% of the sale price, plus 15% VAT. Commission is negotiable and not fixed by law. A quoted 5% works out to 5.75% of the sale price once VAT is added, or R115 000 on a R2 000 000 sale.
- Is estate agent commission negotiable in South Africa?
- Yes. There is no legislated commission rate and no minimum. The percentage, and whether VAT is included in the quoted figure, are both matters of agreement between you and the agency before you sign a mandate.
- Who pays the estate agent, the buyer or the seller?
- The seller. Commission is deducted from the sale proceeds by the conveyancing attorney at registration and paid directly to the agency.
- When is estate agent commission payable?
- On registration of transfer at the Deeds Office, not on signature of the offer to purchase. If the sale falls through before registration, no commission is ordinarily payable.
- Do I pay capital gains tax when I sell my house in South Africa?
- On a primary residence, the first R3 000 000 of capital gain is excluded (raised from R2 000 000 in Budget 2026, effective 2026-03-01), so most homeowners pay none. A sale agreed before that date uses the older R2 000 000 exclusion even if transfer only registers afterwards. Gains above the exclusion, and any gain on a property that is not your primary residence, are partly included in your taxable income.
Sources
Every figure on this page traces to one of these.