How much does it cost to sell a property in Iceland?
What does it cost to sell a property in Iceland?
Short answer: Selling a property in Iceland usually costs around one million krónur. The cost is normally calculated as a percentage of the sale price plus VAT, and the söluþóknun (the estate agent's sales commission) is typically between 1% and 2.5% of the sale price. Some agencies offer a fixed fee instead of a percentage. What matters most is not the lowest commission, but choosing an estate agent you are confident will market the property at the highest possible price and without trouble.
How is the söluþóknun calculated?
The most common arrangement in the Icelandic market is a percentage of the final sale price, plus VAT. The percentage usually falls in the 1–2.5% range.
In practice this means two things:
- The commission follows the price. Your interests and the agent's align: a higher sale price means a higher commission for them.
- You do not know the exact amount in krónur in advance, but it is easy to work out. It depends on what the property sells for.
Some agencies offer a fixed fee regardless of the sale price. That can look attractive on paper, particularly on more expensive properties, but the real question is which of the two agents presents the property better and gets a higher price for it — and how much is paid into your account once the property is sold and the costs have been settled.
What is included in the söluþóknun?
At Baldur fasteignasali (licensed estate agent), the following is included in the 1.5% söluþóknun:
- Photography of the property and image editing
- A video of the property, where one can be filmed
- A presentation brochure like this one:
- Advertisement production and all work on the advertising
- Opið hús (open house viewings) and private viewings
- The offer process
- The kaupsamningur (the binding purchase agreement)
- The afsal (the deed of conveyance transferring title)
- Advice and assistance with your own purchase
- Liaison with the other estate agents in the chain
What is not included is an umsýslugjald (administration fee) of ISK 80,600, paid by the seller. It covers gathering the documents and completing the paperwork for the sale, and is charged on top of the söluþóknun.
When you compare offers from estate agents, this is exactly what matters: not just the percentage itself, but what you are left with in your pocket once the sale is done.
Why is the lowest commission rarely the cheapest?
Agents who offer the lowest commissions almost without exception offer the lowest level of service: they produce no presentation material for interested buyers, they follow buyers up poorly, and they rely on buyers turning up at the opið hús without it having been advertised at all.
Every estate agent lists properties on fasteignir.is, the property section of mbl.is and fasteignaleitin.is. That is the baseline and it is the same everywhere. The difference lies in what is done beyond it: professional photography, video, a presentation brochure and paid advertising on social media. That is where agents part ways, and that is the route to more enquiries and more people at the viewings.
If the property is only listed on the portals, you reach only those who are actively searching that week for the right number of rooms, the right postcode and the right price range. Everyone else never sees it — and the highest offer is often hiding in that group.
When does it pay to pay a higher commission?
The arithmetic is simple. Paying a 1.5% söluþóknun can pay for itself if you get 2–3% more for the property in return.
The gap between the lowest and the highest commission can be 0.2–0.5% of the sale price. The gap between a well-marketed property and one nobody saw can be many times that. The question should therefore not be "who is cheapest?" but "who is most likely to get the highest price for me?".
When a property is promoted with paid advertising on Facebook and Instagram, the field Baldur fasteignasali specialises in, it is put in front of people who are looking for a comparable property but were not browsing the property portals that day. A third of buyers come through the advertising, not the property portal. That group is usually willing to pay a higher price, because they are not viewing several properties on the same day.
What should you ask before you sign?
Before you choose an estate agent, get clear answers to the following:
1. What is the commission — a percentage or a fixed fee — and is VAT added to it?
2. What exactly is included, and what is charged separately?
3. Will the property be advertised beyond the portal listings, and if so where?
4. What do the advertisements cost, and does all of it go to Meta, or does the agency or an advertising agency take a commission or a fee for producing them?
5. Who takes the photographs, and is video included?
6. What happens if the property does not sell — how long does the agreement run?
Get the answers in writing. Verbal promises about advertising are hard to enforce when it matters.
In short
- Selling a property in Iceland usually costs around one million krónur.
- The söluþóknun is typically 1–2.5% of the sale price plus VAT.
- Some agencies offer a fixed fee instead of a percentage.
- The lowest commission almost always comes with the lowest service level and no advertising.
- Photography, video, brochure, advertising, opið hús, the offer process, the kaupsamningur and the afsal are included in the söluþóknun at Baldur fasteignasali.
- Paying a 1.5% commission can pay for itself if it delivers 2–3% more on the sale price.
Frequently asked questions
Is VAT included in a quoted söluþóknun?
The commission is usually quoted as a percentage of the sale price plus VAT, so the final amount is higher than the percentage alone suggests. Always ask whether the figure you are given is inclusive or exclusive of VAT, so that you are comparing like with like.
Can a seller negotiate the commission?
The commission is a matter of agreement. Bear in mind, though, that the lowest price has a cost of its own: if advertising is dropped in order to bring the commission down, it can cost you more in sale price than it saves you in commission.
Hopefully this answered your cost to sell a property in Iceland questions.
Get in touch
It costs nothing to get an overview of what selling your property would cost and what that amount buys. If you want to know what it would cost to sell in your case, contact Baldur Jezorski, licensed real estate agent (löggiltur fasteignasali), on 450-0000 or send a message via 450.is. You will be quoted the söluþóknun, told what is included and shown how your property would be marketed. Free and without obligation.
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