Buying a property is a desirable but expensive process. At first glance, it may seem that to purchase a property, you only need to have the amount of money that will cover the property value. In practice, there are a few ancillary costs. In this article, we will tell you how much you should expect to spend when planning to buy property in Austria.
- Property value/purchase price
The property value is indeed the most important amount you must spend. The amount of incidental costs depends on it, such as:
- lawyer‘s fees;
- real estate transfer tax;
- notary‘s fees;
- land registry fee;
- agent‘s commission.
- Lawyer’s fees
A real estate purchase and sale contract is usually drawn up by a lawyer. His/her fee is approximately 1-3% of the purchase price plus 20% VAT. Some lawyers charge a fixed fee for their services.
- Real estatetransfertax (Grunderwerbsteuer)
The prerequisite for the registration of the ownership data in the land register is proof of payment of the land transfer tax to the competent tax office. This tax is usually 3.5% of the purchase price.
- Signature certification fees
For the registration of the title in the land register, it is necessary that the signatures on the purchase contract for the mortgage loan are certified by a court or a notary. The costs for the certification of the signatures are determined by each notary.
- Land registry fee
In Austria, ownership is only deemed to have been acquired when the ownership details have been entered in the land register. An official fee of 1.1 % of the value of the property is charged for this.
If the application is not filed electronically, an additional fee of EUR 47 or EUR 66 is payable.
- Real estate agent’s commission
For the services of a real estate agent, either the buyer or the seller (depending on the terms of the brokerage agreement) pay a commission. The amount of the commission is determined in the same agreement.
The maximum commission for buyers and sellers is calculated on the basis of the purchase price:
| Property value/purchase price | Commission |
| Up to 36.336,42 Euro | 4 % of the purchase price |
| From 36.336,43 Euro to 48.448,51 Euro | 1453,46 Euro |
| From 48.448,52 Euro | 3 % of the purchase price |
The current statutory VAT of 20 % is to be added to these commission amounts.
*The aforementioned amounts represent upper limits but are not ‘official fixed prices’.
As you can see, to purchase a property in Austria, you need to own about 10% of the value of the property itself.
For more information, please contact us. The VigoImmobilien team will be happy to accompany you in your property purchase from start to finish and advise you on all costs.
