Quick answer
Before committing all your available cash, ask for one dated schedule that separates the purchase price from every tax, professional fee, registry charge, finance cost, disbursement and agreement-specific payment. Each line should state the amount or calculation basis, who charges it, whether VAT is included, when it is payable and whether it is still an estimate. A single percentage described as “all transfer costs” is not enough for a first purchase.
How to use this guide
First-time status does not create a general transfer-duty exemption. The property may fall within SARS's current zero-rate band, or a specific statutory exemption may apply, but that conclusion must come from the acquisition date, value and transaction structure. Also confirm whether the sale is subject to transfer duty or is a taxable VAT supply; do not budget for both automatically.
Start with the purchase funding
Record the deposit, approved loan and cash balance needed for the purchase price before adding transaction costs. Ask whether the deposit will be held in an estate agent's or attorney's trust account, when it becomes due, whether interest is payable and what happens if a suspensive condition fails. The source of the payment instruction and bank details should be verified independently.
The bank's approval figure is not proof that the loan covers legal fees or every ancillary amount. Obtain the pre-agreement statement and quotation, note the approved bond amount and conditions, and identify initiation, valuation, insurance or other lender-related costs. Mark every item as once-off, recurring, optional or conditional.
Separate tax from legal fees
Ask the transferring conveyancer to identify the acquisition date and value used for transfer duty. SARS says the acquirer pays the duty and that the applicable rate depends on when the property was acquired. The conveyancer normally submits the declaration electronically and obtains the receipt needed in the transfer process.
The transfer duty glossary explains the tax concept. Your written schedule should show the tax separately from the transferring attorney's professional fee, VAT on taxable services and Deeds Office charges. If VAT applies to the property sale instead, ask for the transaction basis and whether the stated purchase price includes it.
Ask for two legal accounts when a bond is registered
The transferring attorney registers ownership in the buyer's name. A bond attorney registers the lender's mortgage bond. Those are different instructions even when the firms happen to be connected. Request a dated estimate for each, showing the professional fee, VAT, government charge and disbursements.
Current LSSA conveyancing amounts are guidelines rather than universal fixed tariffs. Ask which guideline edition, instruction date and value were used, and which additional work is outside the ordinary mandate. The detailed buyer cost guide provides a fuller reconciliation framework.
Identify official and third-party charges
Deeds Office charges are government registry amounts, not attorney profit. A transfer and a new mortgage bond can each attract a registry charge. Because official schedules change, the estimate should identify the version used and be refreshed if lodgement moves across an effective-date change.
Disbursements need useful names. Ask what each search, certificate, electronic service, courier, verification or other supplier item covers; who supplies it; and whether an advance will be reconciled after registration. “Postage and petties” should not hide several unexplained amounts.
Read the sale-agreement cash flows
The agreement may allocate occupational rent, rates or levy adjustments, compliance certificates, guarantees and other payments. These are not automatically transfer attorney fees. Ask who bears each amount, what event triggers it, whether it can change, and how a provisional figure will be reconciled.
Keep inspections, moving, repairs, insurance, utility deposits, rates and levies in a separate homeownership budget. They affect affordability but should not be described as amounts payable to register the property. Use the property transfer checklist to connect cost dates with finance, FICA, signing and clearance milestones.
Require a versioned estimate
Put a version date on the schedule and preserve earlier versions. A revised total should explain what changed: purchase price, bond amount, tax treatment, official tariff, supplier amount or additional instruction. Ask which amounts are final, provisional, refundable or dependent on a future event.
Before making any payment, telephone the responsible firm through a trusted number and follow its bank-verification procedure. An email thread, even a familiar one, is not enough protection against payment-diversion fraud. The conveyancing services route can help you locate relevant assistance, but it cannot authenticate payment details sent to you.
Written questions for the estimate
- Which items fund the property price and which are transaction costs?
- Does transfer duty or VAT apply, and what facts support that treatment?
- Which firms handle transfer and bond registration, and what does each quote include?
- What current tax, professional-fee and Deeds Office schedules were used?
- Which disbursements and agreement adjustments remain estimates?
- What must be paid from cash rather than loan proceeds?
- When will each amount be requested and independently verified?
- When will I receive the final account and any unused balance?
A complete answer lets you reconcile the total instead of trusting it. It does not guarantee registration or remove the need to read the sale and loan documents.
FAQs
Is there a general first-time-buyer transfer-duty exemption?
No. First-time status does not itself create a general exemption. The current zero-rate value band or a transaction-specific statutory exemption may produce no duty, but the legal basis must be checked.
Are transfer and bond-registration fees the same charge?
No. Transfer and mortgage-bond registration are separate legal instructions, may be handled by different firms and generally use different value bases.
Should the bank finance every transaction cost?
Do not assume that. Compare the approved loan and lender quotation with the purchase price and each cash cost to identify any shortfall before payment dates arrive.
Can I rely on an online cost calculator?
Use it only as an early estimate. The appointed firms, lender, SARS treatment, official registry schedule and signed agreement control the transaction-specific figures.
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Legal note
This article is general legal information for South African readers. It is not legal advice. Speak to a qualified legal professional about your specific facts before taking action.