When considering the purchase of an apartment, there are a number of costs that have to kept in mind apart from the price of the actual object. In Berlin, Germany, purchasing costs of roundabout 15% will be charged on top of the net-price of the apartment by different institutions.

As banks do not offer loans for these purchasing costs, these extra 15% need to be available on demand as your own capital. Thus, if an apartment costs 100.000 Euros, 15.000 Euros need to be available right up front, on top of the 100.000 Euros purchasing price.

THE DIFFERENT PURCHASING COSTS

1. THE REAL ESTATE TRANSFER TAX (“Grunderwerbsteuer” in German) - which currently is at 6% in Berlin - goes straight to the German state. As the name implies it’s a tax that the state raises on the transfer of a property from one owner to the next. The responsible tax authority will contact you on the matter shortly after your purchase.

2. THE LAND REGISTRY FEES consist of the priority notice of conveyance (“Auflassungsvermerkung” in German) on the one hand, which puts the potential new owner on record at first, and on the other hand eventually the actual transfer of ownership of the apartment onto the new owner. The land registry charges the fees in several different payments, which approximately amount to 0.5% of the purchase price of the property.

3. THE NOTARY FEES lie somewhere between 1-1.5%. The notary serves as a neutral party during the entire process of the purchase deal, from the reservation agreement to the signing of the actual purchasing contract, so in case you require special legal advice on the matter, you have to consult an additional lawyer. This of course results in additional fees, depending on your lawyer.

4. AGENCY COMMISSION: If the apartment is listed with a real estate agency, you will be charged agent commission. The legal limit for the agent commission is 7.14% including VAT in Berlin. However, the agency can choose whether they charge less then that.

So if we add

6% real estate transfer tax

+ 0.5% land registry fees

+ 1.5% notary fees

+ 7.14% agent commission

we get a total of 15.14%.

All these purchasing costs are due after the notary appointment and after the actual purchasing contract is signed. Usually they are charged within 2 weeks after signing the contract and have to be paid within the following 14 days.