Key takeaways
- On top of the hammer price, budget for the deposit on auction day and the buyer’s commission (plus VAT) as the conditions of sale set out, then transfer duty or VAT, the conveyancer’s fee, Deeds Office fees, bond costs if you borrow, and any clearance, levy, certificate and occupation costs the conditions of sale place on the purchaser.
- On a private auction, including ours, the deposit and commission rates are not set by law: each auction sets them in its conditions of sale; the deposit is due at the fall of the hammer from your own funds, and the commission as those conditions set out. A sheriff’s sale in execution is the exception: the prescribed conditions fix a 10% deposit, and the sheriff’s commission follows the court tariff.
- Transfer duty follows SARS’s table and is generally worked out on the price plus your commission and any seller’s debts you take on: nil up to R1,210,000, and R8,700 on a dutiable value of R1,500,000. If the seller is a VAT vendor and the sale is a taxable supply in the course of its VAT enterprise, VAT applies instead.
- Deeds Office fees are fixed by regulation (R1,738 plus a R52 lodgement fee on a transfer between R1 million and R2 million). Conveyancing fees are negotiable; the Law Society guideline is R32,635 plus VAT at R1,500,000.
- The costs that catch auction buyers out are contractual: arrear rates or levies, compliance certificates, occupational rent and insurance from the date risk passes. Read the conditions of sale before you bid.
The checklist
Every property auction has its own conditions of sale, and they decide most of what follows. Use this as the list of questions to answer before you register.
| Cost | When it is due | Who sets the amount |
|---|---|---|
| Registration deposit | When you register to bid; refunded if you do not win | The auction terms |
| Deposit on the price | At the fall of the hammer | The conditions of sale |
| Buyer’s commission, plus VAT | As the conditions of sale set out | The conditions of sale |
| Transfer duty | By law within six months of the date of acquisition; in practice before lodgement | SARS’s table |
| VAT on the price, instead of transfer duty, where the sale is a taxable supply by a VAT vendor | As part of the price, with the balance, as the conditions of sale provide | The VAT Act (15%, the standard rate since 1 April 2018) |
| Conveyancer’s transfer fee, VAT and disbursements | Before lodgement | The conveyancer (negotiable; Law Society guideline) |
| Deeds Office fees | At lodgement | Regulation 84 schedule of fees |
| Bond attorney’s fee, Deeds Office bond fee, bank fees | Before lodgement, and on the loan | The bond attorney, the regulations, your bank |
| Arrear rates and municipal charges | Before the clearance certificate issues | The municipality; the conditions of sale say who carries them |
| Levy or HOA clearance and arrears | Before transfer | The body corporate or HOA; the conditions of sale |
| Compliance certificates and repairs | Before transfer | The contractor; the conditions of sale allocate it |
| Occupational rent | Monthly, if you occupy before registration | The conditions of sale or an occupation agreement |
| Insurance | From the date risk passes to you | Your insurer |
The deposit and buyer’s commission
When the hammer falls on a lot that has met its reserve, you sign the conditions of sale and pay the deposit there and then, and, where the conditions provide for one, the buyer’s commission as they set out. The buying on auction page covers the day itself, and property auctions explains how our property sales run.
The deposit is part of the price
On a private auction, including ours, the deposit is a percentage of the price set in the conditions of sale for that lot, and it counts towards the price rather than adding to it. The catch is timing. A home loan pays out only when transfer registers, so the deposit has to come from your own funds on the day. The same goes for the registration deposit you pay to bid, which is refunded if you do not win.
A sheriff’s sale in execution works differently: the prescribed conditions fix the deposit at 10% of the price, payable on the day, and the sheriff’s commission follows the court tariff.
Commission is on top, and carries VAT
Buyer’s commission is added to the hammer price and goes to the auctioneer. Rates differ between auctions and between property and movables, so read the figure for your lot. Dynamic Auctioneers is registered for VAT, so VAT at 15% generally applies to the commission we charge. Check whether the rate is quoted with or without VAT: under the VAT Act, a vendor’s price is deemed to include VAT if the contract is silent, which is why the conditions of sale should say. Commission also feeds into transfer duty, below. The buyer’s premium guide shows how to build it into your top bid.
Pay only into the account named in the signed conditions of sale, and confirm any change of banking details by phone on a number you already know.
Transfer duty, or VAT instead
Transfer duty is a SARS tax on acquiring property, and the purchaser is liable for it. SARS’s table took effect on 1 April 2025 and was kept unchanged from 1 April 2026:
| Value | Transfer duty |
|---|---|
| Up to R1,210,000 | Nil |
| R1,210,001 to R1,663,800 | 3% of the value above R1,210,000 |
| R1,663,801 to R2,329,300 | R13,614 plus 6% above R1,663,800 |
| R2,329,301 to R2,994,800 | R53,544 plus 8% above R2,329,300 |
| R2,994,801 to R13,310,000 | R106,784 plus 11% above R2,994,800 |
| Over R13,310,000 | R1,241,456 plus 13% above R13,310,000 |
So R1,500,000 attracts R8,700 and R3,000,000 attracts R107,356. On an auction the value is not just the hammer price. Section 6 of the Transfer Duty Act adds commission or fees you pay for the acquisition, and any of the seller’s debts you agree to settle, such as arrear rates. (At a sheriff’s sale in execution, SARS adds only the part of the commission above 5% of the price.) Ask the conveyancer to work out the duty at two or three bid levels before the auction; our transfer duty calculator shows the band and the arithmetic for any value.
Duty is due within six months of the date of acquisition, with interest at 10% a year for each completed month after that. SARS treats that date as the day the last party signs the agreement: auction day if the sale is concluded then, or later if the seller signs or accepts a bid after the auction. A condition in the agreement, such as finance, does not move it. In practice the conveyancer collects it much sooner, because the Deeds Office will not register a transfer without SARS’s receipt.
When VAT applies instead
If the seller is a VAT vendor and the sale is a taxable supply in the course of its VAT enterprise (a developer selling new units, or a company selling commercial premises it traded from), the sale carries VAT at 15% and the Transfer Duty Act exempts it from duty. A vendor’s private home, or a dwelling it let out (an exempt supply) or used for staff housing, generally carries transfer duty instead. The conveyancer confirms which applies. Where VAT applies, you pay it to the seller as part of the price, and the seller accounts for it to SARS. A sale of a business with its property as a going concern between two vendors can be zero-rated if every requirement is met, which is a question for your accountant (see selling a business as a going concern). If you are a VAT vendor buying for your business, ask your accountant whether you can claim the VAT back. The transfer duty guide has the detail.
Conveyancing fees and Deeds Office fees
On an auction sale the conditions of sale normally name the transferring conveyancer, and the purchaser is generally responsible for the transfer costs. Two kinds of cost sit on that account.
The conveyancer’s fee
Conveyancing fees are not fixed by law. The Law Society of South Africa publishes a fee guideline, and it says plainly that fees are negotiable and the figures are neither a minimum nor a maximum. The guideline in force from 1 July 2026, excluding VAT, works like this:
- Up to R1 million: a sliding scale, reaching R26,275 at R1,000,000.
- R1 million to R5 million: R26,275 plus R2,120 for every R200,000 (or part of it) above R1 million. That is R32,635 at R1,500,000, R36,875 at R2,000,000 and R47,475 at R3,000,000.
The guideline applies the scale to the higher of the price and the value used for transfer duty (so commission counts), to the price plus VAT where the sale carries VAT, and, where a sheriff sells in execution or a liquidator or trustee sells by public auction below the municipal valuation, to the municipal valuation.
Add VAT, any separate attendance fees such as FICA compliance (the guideline suggests R375 per natural person, or R745 for a company, close corporation or trust with three or fewer directors, members, trustees or beneficial owners), and disbursements such as searches and courier costs. Ask for a pro forma account before you bid.
Deeds Office fees
These are fixed by the schedule of fees under the Deeds Registries Act, replaced by a notice gazetted on 27 February 2026. There is a lodgement fee of R52 per deed, plus a registration fee on the greater of the price (with any additional consideration) and the fair value:
| Price, or bond amount | Registration fee |
|---|---|
| R300,001 to R600,000 | R956 |
| R600,001 to R800,000 | R1,346 |
| R800,001 to R1,000,000 | R1,546 |
| R1,000,001 to R2,000,000 | R1,738 |
| R2,000,001 to R4,000,000 | R2,408 |
| R4,000,001 to R6,000,000 | R2,922 |
| R6,000,001 to R8,000,000 | R3,480 |
| R8,000,001 to R10,000,000 | R4,068 |
| R10,000,001 to R15,000,000 | R4,844 |
| R15,000,001 to R20,000,000 | R5,818 |
Between R300,000 and R20 million the same amounts apply to registering a bond of the same size. Above R20 million a transfer costs R7,751.
If you are buying with a bond
A bond adds a second set of costs, because your bank’s attorney registers the bond alongside the transfer.
- Bond attorney’s fee. The Law Society guideline uses the same scale, applied to the bond amount: R28,395 plus VAT on a R1,200,000 bond, plus disbursements.
- Deeds Office bond fee. From the table above: R1,738 plus the R52 lodgement fee on that R1,200,000 bond.
- Bank charges. The initiation fee and monthly service fee appear in the bank’s quotation. Compare them across lenders.
- Building insurance. Under the National Credit Act a bank may require insurance on the mortgaged property up to its full value. If it proposes its own policy, it must tell you that you may substitute one of your own choice.
The bond pays the balance of the price on registration. It does not fund the deposit or the commission, and it pays nothing before registration; and unless the conditions of sale make the sale subject to finance, a declined application does not cancel it. If the bank values the property below your bid, the gap is yours to find. The guide to buying on auction with a bond covers pre-approval and the guarantee deadline.
Rates, levies and clearance certificates
Rates clearance
The Deeds Office will not register a transfer without a municipal certificate confirming that rates and municipal charges for the two years before the application have been paid. The certificate is valid for 60 days. Ordinarily the seller carries that debt, but some auction conditions of sale make the purchaser liable for the arrears needed to obtain clearance. On a neglected or long-vacant property that can be a large sum, and under section 6 of the Transfer Duty Act it is added to your value for duty as well. Find that clause, and ask whether the arrears are known, before you bid.
On a sale by the trustee of an insolvent estate, section 118 is subject to section 89 of the Insolvency Act, which changes what has to be paid for clearance. Ask the trustee’s conveyancer what the conditions of sale leave for you; our guide to insolvent estate and liquidation auctions covers those sales.
Levies and homeowners’ associations
For a sectional title unit, transfer cannot register without a conveyancer’s certificate that the body corporate has confirmed everything the seller owes it is paid or provided for. Where the title deed requires an HOA’s consent to transfer, its clearance is needed too. The same question applies: does the conditions of sale put arrears on the purchaser? Also ask whether a special levy has been raised that falls due after transfer.
Adjustments
Rates and levies the seller has paid beyond the registration date are usually adjusted between the parties on registration, as the conditions of sale provide. From registration they are yours, and some municipalities ask for a deposit when you open an account in your name. The guide to what happens after you win explains how clearance fits into the transfer timeline.
Compliance certificates
The law puts the duty to have these certificates on the seller’s side: the electrical regulations name the “user or lessor” of the installation, and Cape Town’s water by-law names the seller. Who pays for the inspection and any repairs is a contract question, and on some auction sales the conditions of sale put that cost on the purchaser. The cost is the inspection plus whatever repairs the contractor needs before issuing the certificate, which on an older property can be the bigger part.
- Electrical. The Electrical Installation Regulations, 2009 say the user or lessor may not allow a change of ownership if the certificate of compliance is older than two years.
- Electric fence. Under the Electrical Machinery Regulations, 2011, the user of an electric fence system must hold a system certificate, and a fence that predates the regulations without one needs one when the premises change ownership after 1 October 2012. The certificate is transferable, so a valid existing one carries over.
- Water (Cape Town). The City of Cape Town’s Water By-law requires the seller, before transfer, to submit an accredited plumber’s certificate on the water installation. Other municipalities have their own rules.
- Gas and beetle. A gas certificate where there is a fixed gas installation, and a beetle certificate, may also be asked for by the contract or the lender.
We sell assets voetstoots (as they stand), so repairs beyond what a certificate needs belong in your budget too. Price in what you see at the viewing, and have anything you are unsure of inspected before you bid. The voetstoots guide explains what buying as it stands covers.
Occupation, occupational rent and insurance
The conditions of sale set the occupation date, often registration. If you move in earlier by agreement, you pay the seller occupational rent (also called occupational interest) until registration, at the rate the conditions or an occupation agreement set. If the seller stays on after registration, the seller pays you.
Check when risk passes. In many conditions of sale it passes to the purchaser on the date of sale or of confirmation, months before you own the property. Insure from that date. For a sectional title unit, the body corporate must insure the buildings to their replacement value, funded through levies, so your own policy covers contents and anything the scheme’s cover leaves out.
If the property is let, ask for the lease before you bid. As a general rule a lease survives a sale, so you may take over the tenant on the existing terms rather than get vacant occupation. The conditions of sale should say which applies, and an attorney can tell you how a particular lease binds you.
If the property is occupied and vacant occupation is not given, removing an unlawful occupier needs a court order, which means legal costs and time. Ask about occupation before you bid; the guide to buying repossessed property covers occupied sales.
Worked example: R1,500,000 and R3,000,000
A cash purchase from a seller who is not a VAT vendor, showing only the costs with an official or published tariff. The deposit is part of the price, and commission depends on your lot’s conditions of sale, so neither is in the table. Remember that commission raises the value for duty, and with it the value the conveyancing guideline works on, so treat these as floors.
| Item | R1,500,000 | R3,000,000 |
|---|---|---|
| Transfer duty (SARS) | R8,700 | R107,356 |
| Deeds Office registration and lodgement | R1,790 | R2,460 |
| Conveyancer at the Law Society guideline, with VAT | R37,530 | R54,596 |
| Total before commission and disbursements | R48,020 | R164,412 |
Then add, as your lot requires: buyer’s commission and its VAT, the conveyancer’s disbursements, any arrears or certificates the conditions of sale make yours, insurance from the date risk passes, and bond costs if you borrow. Amounts are rounded to the nearest rand.
Before you register to bid
- Read the conditions of sale for your lot: deposit, commission and whether it includes VAT, whether the price carries VAT, arrears, certificates, occupation and when risk passes. The rules of auction page explains how those documents fit together.
- Get a pro forma account from the named conveyancer at your intended top bid.
- Get bond pre-approval if you are borrowing, and confirm what the bank will not fund.
- Work back to your ceiling: start with your total budget, take off every cost that is not the bid or the commission, divide what is left by 1 plus the commission rate including VAT (and by 1.15 as well if the lot is sold plus VAT), and round down to the bidding increment. Then check the transfer duty at that bid, because duty rises with the price. Our auction cost calculator does that arithmetic for any bid, with the premium and deposit from your lot’s conditions of sale.
Our current lots are on upcoming auctions. If anything in a lot’s conditions of sale is unclear, ask us before you register, not after the hammer falls.