Knowledge · Buying
The purchase price is not the price.
Alongside the purchase price stand three items, two of them unavoidable and one negotiable. Together they decide a financing more often than the price itself — because banks as a rule do not finance them.
The answer first. Three items are added: the land transfer tax, whose rate the federal states set (Art. 105(2a) Basic Law; the federal rule names 3.5 per cent, section 11(1) GrEStG), the costs of notary and land registry, which on a purchase of land the buyer bears (section 448(2) BGB), and — where agreed — a commission. These amounts must come from your own funds; they are the commonest reason a financing plan does not hold in the end.
Land transfer tax — and why we name no rate
The federal statute names a rate: the tax is 3.5 per cent (section 11(1) GrEStG). But it applies only where a state has not determined otherwise — and the states expressly have the power to set the rate of land transfer tax (Art. 105(2a) Basic Law). We work in two federal states, and for that reason alone a figure on this page would be wrong for some readers.
Instead of a table that goes stale, we say where you will learn the rate reliably: from the notary’s office, before the appointment, together with the other costs. A notary’s office will tell you on request, and it is the one piece of information nobody has to estimate.
One point that surprises people later: the tax falls due not at the end but beforehand. The land registry may enter the buyer only once the tax office has issued the clearance certificate — and that comes only once the tax has been paid (section 22 GrEStG). Anyone intending to pay it from the proceeds of another property needs to know the order.
Notary and land registry — not negotiable, but known in advance
On a purchase of land the buyer bears the costs of recording the contract of sale and the conveyance, of entry in the land register and of the declarations required for it (section 448(2) BGB). That is the statutory default; departures occur, but they are the exception.
The amount is set by the Court and Notarial Costs Act and follows the transaction value — for a contract of sale, essentially the purchase price. It is therefore not negotiable, and comparing several notaries produces the same amount for the same deed. What differs is accessibility, not price.
Ask for the amount beforehand all the same. Not in order to haggle, but to know what must be in the account — and to see the smaller items that are easily overlooked: the priority notice, the cancellation of old encumbrances, and with a mortgage the registration of the new land charge. What happens at the appointment itself is set out in the notary appointment.
The commission — the only item with room to move
A commission arises only where it has been agreed. Where a consumer buys a single-family house or a flat, the statute sets two limits many people do not know.
Where the agent works for both sides, they may have the commission promised only by both parties in equal shares (section 656c BGB). And where the agent is paid only by the selling side, an agreement obliging the buyer to pay is effective only if the seller remains liable for at least the same amount — and the claim against the buyer falls due only once the seller has demonstrably paid their share (section 656d BGB).
In practice: a commission that lands with you as buyer alone, while the selling side pays nothing, is not the normal case where a consumer buys a single-family house or a flat, but something that needs explaining. What an agent is paid for at all is set out in agent commission and conflict of interest.
What is added to the purchase price?
You enter the three rates yourself — they are in your state law, in your quotation and in your agreement.
No reason for haste — a reason for clarity.
The rate is set by the federal states (Art. 105(2a) Basic Law). The federal rule names 3.5 per cent (section 11(1) GrEStG) — it applies only where a state has not determined otherwise. The notary’s office will tell you your state’s rate.
On a purchase of land the buyer bears these costs (section 448(2) BGB). They are not negotiable but follow the transaction value (GNotKG) — the notary’s office will name the amount in advance.
Fill this in only where a commission has been agreed. Where a consumer buys a single-family house or a flat, limits apply: if the agent works for both sides, the commission is shared equally (section 656c BGB), and the buyer’s share may not exceed the seller’s (section 656d BGB).
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Summary
Your figures, added up
—incidental costs in addition to the purchase price
- Land transfer tax—
- Notary and land registry—
- Commission—
Purchase price and incidental costs together: — · That is — per cent of the purchase price.
Banks as a rule do not finance these incidental costs — they have to come from your own funds. That is the commonest reason a financing plan later fails to hold.
How we calculate
Each rate times the purchase price, the three amounts added. There is nothing more to it — and deliberately no preset rate, because each of the three depends on your federal state, your transaction value or your agreement.
A summary of your own figures, not tax advice and not a quotation. The binding amounts come from the notary’s office and your tax office.
If you like, we will go through it together. Talk to us.
Why this sum decides the financing
Banks as a rule finance the purchase price, not the incidental costs. These amounts must come from your own funds — and they are why a financing that fitted on paper does not hold at the counter.
From this follows an order that works in practice: calculate the incidental costs first, then set your price range — not the other way round. Anyone who fixes the range at the purchase price and discovers the incidental costs afterwards either negotiates downwards or withdraws, and both happen late.
And a calm sentence for the case where it becomes tight: an offer does not bind. A contract concerning land does not take effect without notarial recording (section 311b BGB). Anyone who finds that the sums do not add up can step back until the appointment, losing nothing but time.
And if you buy through us
This page explains items every buyer has — whoever they buy from. How a purchase with us runs, who we work for in it and what you may expect nonetheless is set out on Buying through Wahrgut.
- Why is there no land transfer tax rate for my state here?
- Because the states set the rate themselves (Art. 105(2a) Basic Law) and may change it. A table on a general page would eventually be wrong without anyone noticing. The notary’s office will name the applicable rate before the appointment — together with the other amounts.
- Can I include the incidental costs in my mortgage?
- That is decided by your bank, not by statute — and as a rule it finances the purchase price, not the incidental costs. So plan to cover this part from your own funds, and settle the question before the offer, not after.
- The agent is charging me the full commission. Is that permitted?
- Where a consumer buys a single-family house or a flat, limits apply: if the agent works for both sides, equal shares must be agreed (section 656c BGB); if only the seller instructed the agent, the seller must remain liable for at least the same amount, and the buyer’s share falls due only after the seller has demonstrably paid (section 656d BGB). Whether your case falls under this is best settled with a lawyer before signing.
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