What Kind of Hidden Cost You may Have to bear in Buying Home?

We can compare the purchase of a house or an apartment to an iceberg where the price of the property hides a series of additional costs that are not included in the purchase price, often unsuspected but unfortunately mandatory. What are these hidden charges? There are hidden costs of buying a home and you need to have a proper idea for the same now.

Mandatory Fees

Regardless of the situation of the purchaser or of the property purchased, certain costs will automatically be due when acquiring real estate.

Registration fees

This is a tax set by the Regions on the purchase of existing property. It is equivalent to 12.5% ​​of the price in Brussels and Wallonia and 10% in Flanders, except for first-time buyers, who in Brussels are exempt on the first € 175,000 (a gain of € 21,875), c is called abatement. In the North and South of the country, an allowance is also provided in their favor under certain conditions. In addition, so-called “modest” dwellings (whose cadastral income is less than 745 euros) benefit from registration fees reduced by 5% in Flanders or 6% in Wallonia, for a tranche whose amount varies according to the area in which they register.

Notary fees

The notary responsible for preparing the file and for purchasing the property receives fees for his work. Their amount is fixed by a royal decree and is therefore identical for all notaries in Belgium. In addition to these fees, other costs must be added, and these correspond to the research and formalities imposed on the notary by different laws: tax, urban planning, cadastral and mortgage research, but also the costs that result from various attestations (mortgages, soil remediation, …). Finally, after their signature, all deeds of sale and their annexes are deposited by the notary at the mortgage office where they are transcribed in full, this is called the mortgage transcription, which will also be invoiced to the ‘buyer.

Optional Fees

Certain costs are not automatically due, but can potentially be requested from future buyers. This is the case for costs linked to a bank loan: rare are the prospective buyers who are able to finance a property without borrowing a more or less significant part of the price from the bank … which will obviously generate costs

Mortgage loan costs

Using a mortgage loan from a bank is an operation which is also the subject of a notarial act, the act of mortgage credit. Once again, this process has a cost that includes the registration fee, the right to mortgage, notary fees and legal fees.

Of course, interest is added to the loan, calculated according to the rate granted by the lending institution and the risk premium of the buyer.In addition, the lenders impose the taking of a balance outstanding insurance which covers the capital still due, if the borrower were to die before the complete repayment of the credit.