How much will you actually walk away with? Kenya property sale cost breakdown 2026

Sellers focus on the headline sale price. Buyers focus on the same number. The number that actually matters, the amount that lands in your account after every professional, tax, statutory and bank fee has been deducted, is roughly 10 to 13 per cent below the headline for a diaspora seller in 2026. Knowing the exact arithmetic before you list stops the surprises at completion and helps you price the sale to hit the walk-away number that actually matters to you.

The full cost list on a Kenya property sale

Professional fees

• Estate agent commission: typically 3 per cent of sale price inclusive of VAT for a standard mandate. Negotiable on higher-value transactions and on shorter mandates.
• Advocate legal fees: 1 to 2 per cent of sale price on the Advocates Remuneration Order scale, plus disbursements. On a KES 25m sale this typically lands at KES 300,000 to KES 500,000.
• Valuation: KES 25,000 to KES 60,000 depending on property size. One-off cost, paid at listing.
• Presentation cost: professional photography KES 25,000 to KES 45,000; light refresh (paint, repairs, deep clean) typically KES 150,000 to KES 300,000.

Tax

• Capital gains tax: 15 per cent of the gain (sale proceeds less acquisition cost less allowable improvements). Due within 30 days of transfer registration. The most material single line item after commission on most sales.
• Rental income tax on any collected rent up to sale date: the standard MRI or ordinary regime continues to apply through the sale period, and any outstanding rental income tax is expected to be settled at the point of transfer.

Statutory and administrative

• Ardhi House transfer registration fees: nominal for the seller, typically KES 5,000 to KES 12,000.
• Land Control Board consent (for agricultural land): KES 1,000 to KES 5,000 plus attendance if required.
• Sectional or management company consent: where the property is in a managed complex, the sectional or management company typically levies a transfer administration fee of KES 10,000 to KES 40,000.
• Land rates clearance: all outstanding county land rates must be cleared to date before transfer. If arrears have accumulated, this can be material.
• Service charge clearance: all outstanding building service charge must be cleared to date.

Bank and FX (for diaspora repatriation)

• Outbound wire fee: KES 1,500 to KES 5,000 from a Kenya bank.
• FX spread on shilling-to-USD conversion: depending on the bank and the transaction size, 0.5 to 2.5 per cent of the transaction. On a KES 25m repatriation this can range from USD 900 to USD 4,500.
• Receiving bank fee: USD 15 to USD 50 in the destination jurisdiction.

Worked example: KES 25m Kilimani apartment

Diaspora seller in London, apartment originally bought for KES 15m in 2018, no significant improvements, sold in 2026 for KES 25m headline.

• Headline sale price: KES 25,000,000.
• Estate agent commission (3 per cent): KES 750,000.
• Legal fees (1.5 per cent): KES 375,000.
• Valuation, photography, cosmetic refresh: KES 300,000.
• Capital gains tax (15 per cent of KES 10m gain): KES 1,500,000.
• Sectional register transfer administration: KES 25,000.
• Land rates clearance (assume KES 30,000 arrears): KES 30,000.
• Ardhi House transfer registration: KES 10,000.
• Outbound wire and FX (1.5 per cent on KES 22m repatriation): KES 330,000.

Total costs: KES 3,320,000.

Net proceeds to the seller’s overseas account: approximately KES 21,680,000, or roughly 86.7 per cent of the headline sale price.

Sellers who did not model the full cost stack routinely find they receive 12 to 15 per cent less than they were mentally planning for. The cure is the model, not surprise.

Where the levers actually are

Of the roughly 13 per cent cost stack in the example above, three items are genuinely negotiable and one is largely fixed.

• Agent commission. Materially negotiable on higher-value transactions and on exclusive mandates. A KES 100m sale should not pay a full 3 per cent; 2 to 2.25 per cent is more realistic. On a KES 15m sale, agent commission is roughly at market and less negotiable.
• Legal fees. Modestly negotiable within the Advocates Remuneration Order framework. On large transactions, discounted from scale is common.
• FX spread on repatriation. The single most under-negotiated line item. A Kenya-side FX conversion at 2 per cent versus an offshore currency-specialist wire at 0.6 per cent is worth roughly KES 350,000 on a KES 25m repatriation.
• Capital gains tax. Not negotiable. Legitimate reduction exists only where the seller has documented improvements that are properly claimable and where the acquisition cost is fully documented (indexation is not currently applied to Kenyan CGT).

How Goldstay handles the cost stack

For diaspora sellers on Goldstay we produce a written net-proceeds model before the property is listed. Every line is itemised, every estimate is defensible against 2026 rates, and the seller signs off on the walk-away number that corresponds to a defensible listing price. Nothing about the cost stack should surprise a seller at completion. On our book, it does not.

Related reading: the diaspora sale playbook, the diaspora CGT guide, and the USD-repatriation mechanics.