Property Research - Transaction Costs

Property investors often overlook the various buying, selling & running costs involved when purchasing a property, especially abroad. Many property agents are not completely transparent and property investors find it hard to get accurate information.

The table below gives an indication of various costs involved in purchasing property in the listed countries. The exact cost will often depend on the exact size, price and location of the property and of course whether you are being ripped off in the process!

More detailed information can be found under each individual country section.

Please contact us for more information.

	Buying Costs				Selling Costs			Total Costs
Country	Purchase Tax	Legal Fees	Other	Total	Sales Tax	Other	Total	Agents Fees *	Roundtrip Total	Comments
Bulgaria	2%	1%	0.1 - 0.3%	3.1 - 3.3%	0%	0.5%	0.5%	3-15%	6.6 - 18.9%	Generally lowish costs, but beware huge agent fees/commissions.
Cyprus	1.5%	1%	0.1 - 0.3%	2.6 - 2.8%	0%	0.4%	0.4%	3-10%	6.0 - 13.0%	Low purchase costs, but some agents take large commissions.
Czech Republic	0%	1%	0.1 - 0.5%	1.2 - 1.7%	3%	0.2%	3.2%	2 - 3%	6.4 - 7.9%	Need EU card or company to buy
Germany	3.5%	1%	0.8 - 2%	5.3 - 6.5%	0%	0.4%	0.4%	3-6%	8.7 - 12.9%	High transaction costs are hard to avoid.
Hungary	2 - 6%	1%	0.1 - 0.5%	2.1 - 7.5%	0%	0.5%	0.5%	2-7%	4.6 - 15.0%	Costs can be high.
Latvia	1%	1%	0.1 - 0.3%	2.1 - 2.3%	2%	0.4%	2.4%	2 - 5%	6.5 - 9.7%	Generally low costs property environment.
Poland	2%	1%	0.1 - 0.5%	3.1 - 3.5%	0%	0.5%	0.5%	2-5%	5.6 - 9.0%	Not onerous tax levels.
Romania	2-3%	1%	0.1 - 0.5%	3.1 - 4.5%	0%	0.5%	0.5%	3-10%	6.5 - 15.0%	Costs can mount up.
Slovakia	0%	1%	0.1 - 0.4%	1.1 - 1.4%	0%	0.4%	0.4%	2 - 5%	3.5 - 6.8%	Low property transaction costs.
UK	0 - 4%	0.5 - 1%	0.1 - 0.5%	0.6 - 5.5%	0%	0.3%	0.3%	1 - 2%	1.9 - 7.8%	Increasing amount of regulation for landlords.
USA	0%	0.5 - 1%	1.0 - 1.5%	1.5 - 2.5%	0.1 - 2.0%	0.2%	0.3 - 2.2%	6%	7.8 - 10.7%	Varies widely between states.