How much do you need to close?
Enter the price. You get the transfer tax, the registry duties and the legal fee at the real rates, and any service you add, in one total.
US dollars. El Salvador has no annual property tax, so what you see here is what buying costs — not what owning costs.
Tick what applies and it is added to the total. Figures marked * are estimates drawn from published Salvadoran rates and comparable work — they move with the size, location and condition of the property, and none of them is a final price until we have seen it.
Estimated items included above:
Figures are calculated from the published rates: transfer tax at 3% on the value above $28,571.43, registry duties at $0.63 per $100 capped at $5,400, and the market rate for legal work. Certifications, municipal solvencies and utility clearances are a few dollars each and land on your estimate, not here. Final amounts follow whatever the authorities assess. Anything marked * is an estimate, not a quotation: we confirm every one of them in writing, after seeing the property and before any work starts.
What people actually ask before they buy here
Short answers, with the rate or the law behind each one.
Roughly 4.5% of the purchase price, once. On a $380,000 purchase that is $10,542.86 in transfer tax, $2,394.00 in registry duties, and about $800 plus 0.95% of the price for the legal work — $17,346.86 in total, before VAT and expenses on the due diligence. On smaller purchases the percentage is lower, because the first $28,571.43 is exempt from transfer tax.
3% on the value above the first $28,571.43. Anything at or below that figure is exempt. So a $60,000 property pays 3% of $31,428.57, which is $942.86 — not 3% of $60,000. The threshold has not been updated since 1993.
$0.63 for every $100 of the registered value, with a legal maximum of $5,400. A $380,000 property pays $2,394.00. Certifications are separate and cost a few dollars each — a certificación extractada is $8.86.
No. El Salvador is the only country in Central America that does not tax land or property annually. What remains are municipal dues, which vary by municipality, plus utilities and any condominium fees. It is why the cost of buying matters far more here than the cost of holding.
Yes. Foreign individuals and companies can own urban Real Estate with essentially the same rights as a Salvadoran. Rural land carries constitutional reciprocity limits, which is one of several reasons the title review matters before you commit rather than after.
Legal due diligence is about $800 plus VAT and expenses, and the deed and its registration about 0.95% of the purchase price, usually paid 70% on acceptance and 30% on completion. There is no official tariff, so it is set freely — which is exactly why you should see the number before you agree to anything.
Verification takes five to ten business days. After signing, inscription at the CNR is what makes you the owner — until the Registry records it, you hold a receipt, not a property. Plan for weeks rather than days, and do not release the balance of the money until the inscription is confirmed.
Numbers are the easy part. The check is what protects you.
A calculator can tell you what the State charges. It can’t tell you whether the title is clean, whether there are liens, or whether the person selling is allowed to. That’s our due diligence: $800 plus VAT and expenses to start, with a written report signed by a Salvadoran notary in 5–10 business days.
Start With Due Diligence — $800 + VAT + expenses →