What are the costs when selling a house or apartment? In this article, we list all the costs. Also the hidden costs. So you avoid surprises.
1. Charges for attestations and certificates.
First of all, you are required to present 10 certificates to the buyer when selling your house or apartment. Do you request these and/or do you have to call in an expert for this? Then this will cost you money. Below you will find price estimates per attestation or certificate. Of course, all costs depend on the size and complexity of your house or apartment. Ask for quotes that clearly state what you can expect from the expert. Always check if the expert is recognized through registers of the organizations. Then compare prices and work.
- Asbestos certificate:
- An asbestos attestation and survey without suspected asbestos, where the surveyor visually inspects, will cost you up to about 200 euros.
- An asbestos attestation and examination with suspected asbestos, where the expert takes superficial samples, will cost you up to about 400 euros.
- An asbestos certificate and survey with strong suspicion of asbestos, where the expert takes samples of hidden and deep materials, will cost you about up to 1,500 euros.
- Contact an expert recognized by OVAM. You can find a list of recognized asbestos experts on the OVAM website.
- Soil mat test:
- A soil attestation of an entire cadastral plot costs 64 euros.
- A soil attestation of part of a cadastral plot costs 257 euros.
- Contact an expert through the web block on the OVAM website.
- Fuel oil tank inspection:
- An inspection of an above-ground fuel oil tank costs about 125 euros.
- An inspection of an underground fuel oil tank costs about 175 euros.
- Contact an expert recognized by VLAREL. You can find a list of approved heating oil tank technicians and a list of approved environmental experts on the Flanders website.
- Energy Performance Certificate (EPC):
- An EPC for a studio or apartment costs about 150 euros.
- An EPC for a terraced or semi-detached house costs about 200 euros.
- An EPC for a detached house costs about 250 euros.
- Contact an expert recognized by VEKA. You can find a list of recognized energy experts on the Flanders website.
- Heritage value information:
- Check for yourself for free whether your house or apartment is in the property inventory through the Flanders Geoportal.
- Cadastral excerpt:
- An application for the cadastral extract through a paper form, costs between 20 and 190 euros and depends on what data you need.
- An online request for the cadastral extract via MyMinfin, costs between 0 and 47.50 euros and depends on what data you need.
- View all prices through the FPS Finance website.
- Request the cadastral extract via My Minfin.
- Electrical installation inspection:
- An inspection of a household electrical installation costs about 225 euros.
- Contact an expert recognized by the FPS Economy. You will find a list of recognized control bodies on the Flanders website.
- Post Intervention Record (PID):
- The cost of a post-intervention file varies enormously. The cost varies between 500 and 1,000 euros.
- Contact a safety coordinator or architect. This expert need not be recognized by any agency.
- Urban planning excerpt:
- An application for the urban planning extract costs between 30 and 250 euros excluding VAT. This depends on your municipality. Find a list of prices per municipality here. On top of that you pay 36.50 euros excl. VAT per request. And a VAT of 21% on top of these costs. So it will cost you a maximum of 346.67 euros.
- Request the urban planning extract through My Citizen Profile.
- Flood certificate:
- Check for yourself for free whether your house or apartment is in a flood zone via Waterinfo Vlaanderen.
Article Tip: 10 mandatory certificates for selling your house or apartment
2. Brokerage fees
A real estate agent arranges the sale of your house or apartment. Realtors often charge a price that is a percentage of the selling price of your home. This is the commission (or brokerage fee) the broker earns. It often costs you between 2 and 6 percent of the sales price. On top of that, you pay a 21 percent VAT. Get quotes that clearly state what you can expect from the broker. For example, there are certain tasks that are sometimes included in the price and sometimes not:
- Appraisal costs: The real estate agent does a valuation of your home (this will cost you up to 800 euros).
- Arranging all attestations and certificates: The broker will ensure that you have all attestations and certificates in a timely manner.
- Legal advice: The broker gives you legal advice and drafts legal documents. E.g., the contract of sale.
- Organize visits: The broker organizes open house days and conducts private visits of potential buyers.
- Measurement Costs: The broker hires a surveyor or measuring company that determines the exact dimensions of the building and land.
- Professional photography and videography: The broker hires a professional photographer and/or videographer to create high-quality images.
- Marketing and advertising costs: The broker advertises the property both online and offline. E.g. placing ads on real estate websites, printing flyers or brochures, etc.
- Staging fees: The real estate agent decorates your home to make it more attractive to potential buyers. He/She rents furniture, decorative items or hires a professional stager.
In addition to the different sets of duties, brokers also have different terms and conditions:
- Period: Over what period of time do they perform the tasks?
- Exclusivity: Does the broker want you to work exclusively with one broker?
- Owner responsibilities: What are your responsibilities?
- Termination: what is the notice period? What is your compensation for early termination?
- Liability: To what extent is the broker liable for any mistakes?
- Payment terms: When do you pay? How do you pay? What payment method does the broker accept?
Note: Automatically choosing the cheapest broker is not smart. Carefully compare the range of tasks and conditions. Ask about experiences of friends, family and colleagues.
3. Value-added tax
If you are a private owner of the property and effectively lived in the property for at least 12 months on an interrupted basis, you do not have to pay capital gains tax. Don’t meet those criteria? Then you pay as much as 16.50 percent capital gains tax on the profit you make when you sell. In turn, you must increase the capital gains tax by the municipal tax. You can find a list of municipal tax rates on the FPS Finance website. Normally, you don’t pay notary fees. The notary fees are for the buyer:
- Selling rights and/or VAT
- Mortgage rights
- Notary fees
- Deed fees
Note: In the sales contract, you make agreements between the buyer and you (seller) about who pays what. So you may deviate from this pattern if you both agree and record this in the sales contract.
4. Additional hidden costs when selling
On top of all the above points, there are hidden costs that are very often forgotten:
4.1. Verplichte uitgaven
- Expert travel costs: Sometimes expert travel costs (e.g. energy expert, real estate agent) are not included in the original price and they charge this separately.
- Expert report fees: Sometimes you have to pay extra for a legally correct report by experts (e.g., energy expert, asbestos experts) and they charge for it separately.
- VAT: Some prices are posted without VAT, which means you have to add the VAT in addition to make a good cost estimate.
- Retrieval fees: Do you have the attestations or certificates retrieved by a notary or broker? Then you sometimes pay an additional fee for this.
- Debts: Pay off your mortgage debt and back taxes before you sell your house or condo. Don’t do this? Then the bank can foreclose on your home.
- Moving and storage costs: If you sell your home, you will obviously pay the cost of moving to a new (temporary) house or apartment. Travel and administrative costs.
4.2. Optionele uitgaven
These are optional expenses for tasks that you can often do yourself or that are included in the broker’s duties:
- Garden maintenance: The broker arranges garden maintenance.
- Cleaning fees: The broker will clean your property thoroughly, both inside and out, or hire a professional cleaning service.
- Refurbishment and repair costs: Any repairs or renovations to deliver the home in better condition for sale. E.g. painting, renovating your outdated bathroom, etc.
Finally, don’t forget your own hours. Just like buying a new home, selling a home is also a big job. You put a lot of hours into this and at times probably even have to take leave from work to get things in order. Don’t underestimate this time and effort.
Sources: Certiweb, Immoweb, Flanders
Would you like to cite this article as a source? Then use:
Stiasteny, L. (2024, Nov. 13). All costs when selling a house or apartment. Apartment.com. Accessed on (date XX/XX/202X), from https://www.appartement.be/kosten-verkoop-huis-of-appartement/
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