What it costs to buy a house

Transfer duty

A tax to SARS on the value of the property, on a sliding scale with a threshold below which nothing is payable. The scale is reset in the Budget, so any figure written on a page like this one goes stale — the calculator below works off the current table.

Two things worth knowing. Transfer duty is on the value, which is not always the price you agreed. And if the seller is a VAT vendor and the sale is in the course of their enterprise — a developer selling a new build — the sale carries VAT instead, usually inside the price.

The conveyancer

The attorney who transfers the property into your name. The seller chooses them and you pay them, which surprises people every time. The fee follows a recommended guideline based on the price, plus the deeds office fee, searches, FICA and the postage and petties.

The bond attorney

A second firm, appointed by the bank, registering the bond itself. Also paid by you, also on a guideline scale. Two sets of attorney fees on one purchase is normal and is the single most commonly missed cost.

The bank's initiation fee

Capped by section 101 of the National Credit Act. On a home loan the ceiling the platform works to is 1.15% of the bond, capped at R6 037.50 before VAT — R6 943.13 with it. A bank may charge less, and some will waive it to win the business, which is one of the things worth comparing when offers come back.

What you do not pay

Us. The bank pays an origination fee when the bond registers and that is the whole of it — nothing is charged to you and nothing is added to the bond.