What a repo property actually costs.
Reserve prices look attractive until you add SARS transfer duty, conveyancing, bond registration and Deeds Office fees on top. This calculator surfaces the all-in number so a sheriff-sale bid doesn’t blow up at the attorney’s office.
Estimate only. Transfer duty is the SARS scale for properties acquired from 1 April 2025. Conveyancing and bond-registration fees use the LPC recommended scale, actual fees vary by attorney. Confirm with the conveyancer the seller bank appoints before bidding at a sheriff sale.
Every cost line that hits between winning a bid and getting the keys.
SARS Transfer Duty
Government tax on the property transfer. Zero up to R1.21m, then a sliding scale up to 13% above R13.31m. The single biggest line for mid-priced properties.
Conveyancing fee
Paid to the attorney handling the property transfer at the Deeds Office. Roughly 1-2% of price, scaling down for higher-value properties. The seller bank appoints them.
Bond registration fee
Paid to the bond attorney (often a different attorney to the conveyancer) for registering the mortgage bond against the title deed. Based on the loan amount, not the price, so larger deposits cut this.
Deeds Office fee
Banded statutory fee paid to the Deeds Office to lodge the transfer documents. Ranges from R460 to R8,775 depending on price band.
How a sheriff-sale purchase actually gets paid.
Auction buying runs on a clock a normal home loan can’t always meet. Here’s the sequence, and where short-term “bridging” finance fits.
1 · Deposit on the day
At a sheriff sale you typically pay a deposit (often around 10%) plus the sheriff’s commission immediately when the hammer falls, usually by bank-guaranteed cheque or EFT, not a card.
2 · Balance within ~21 days
The balance, or an acceptable bank guarantee for it, is due within a short window set in the conditions of sale, commonly around 21 days. Miss it and you can forfeit the deposit.
3 · Where bridging fits
A normal bond can take longer than the window to register. Specialist auction bridging finance covers the deposit or balance for those weeks until your bond pays out. It’s short-term and priced per month, so duration matters.
Bridging a R50 000 deposit for about 3 weeks at a typical specialist rate (~3% per month) costs roughly R1 036 in finance charges.
Indicative only — not an offer. Auction bridging finance is a specialist product; rates vary by lender and risk. RepoLens is not a bank, bond originator or lender and earns nothing from this; it’s shown to help you plan the cashflow of a sheriff-sale purchase.
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