Frequently asked questions about real estate in Austria

In eight steps: clarify financing, check the property and documents, submit a written purchase offer, fix the loan, sign the purchase contract at a notary or lawyer with an escrow account, obtain approval if you are a third-country buyer, take handover and get entered in the land register. Without an approval requirement, it usually takes four to eight weeks from the accepted offer to the entry. How a property purchase works

Yes. Once the seller accepts your written offer, the purchase contract has already come into being. The later contract at the notary or lawyer only puts it into the form the land register needs. That is why conditions such as a financing proviso belong in the offer itself.

Only in narrow cases. If you signed as a consumer on the day of the first viewing and are buying for your urgent housing need, you can withdraw in writing within one week (§ 30a KSchG). More reliable is a condition in the offer itself, for example that the purchase only applies if financing is approved.

With the entry in the land register. Neither the signature, nor the payment, nor the handover of keys make you the owner. Until the entry, your money sits in the notary's or lawyer's escrow account; the seller only receives it afterwards.

The land register (Grundbuch) is the public register for real property. It has three parts: sheet A (plot and area), sheet B (owner) and sheet C (encumbrances such as liens, rights of residence or pre-emption rights). Before any purchase offer, you should see a current extract, especially sheet C.

At least the land register extract and the energy certificate. For flats, also the condominium ownership agreement, the utility value assessment, the minutes of owners’ meetings, the level of the reserve fund and the latest annual operating cost statement. The full checklist is in the guide How a property purchase works.

The reserve fund is the owners' association's joint savings account for repairs and renovations. Since 1 January 2026, the statutory minimum contribution is €1.12 per square metre of usable area per month. A low reserve ahead of planned renovation means later top-up payments for the buyer.

Around 10% of the purchase price, around 11% with a loan. The biggest items: 3.5% property transfer tax, 1.1% land register entry, up to 3% broker commission plus 20% VAT, and about 1–3% for the contract and escrow. With a loan, 1.2% of the registered lien amount is added. Purchase costs

No. The exemption for the main residence applied to applications received by the land registry court by 30 June 2026. For new purchases, 1.1% of the purchase price applies again.

For purchase prices above €48,448.51, at most 3% plus 20% VAT, for each of buyer and seller. The commission is only earned once an effective purchase contract exists. Before your offer, the agent must state all expected costs of the purchase, including the commission, in writing.

The seller, not the buyer, must provide the energy certificate. It shows heating demand (HWB) and overall energy efficiency (fGEE), may be at most ten years old, and must be shown to you before the offer and handed over within 14 days of signing the contract.

In practice, Austrian banks require at least 20% of the purchase price plus the roughly 10% purchase costs. The Financial Market Authority's benchmark is at least 10% equity, an instalment of up to 40% of net income, and a term of at most 35 years. Property financing

No. The KIM regulation expired on 30 June 2025. Since 1 July 2025, its benchmarks – 90% loan-to-value, 40% debt service ratio, 35-year term – are only a recommendation from the FMA. Banks may deviate case by case.

Most buyers choose a fixed rate: at the end of 2025, according to the OeNB, 86% of new housing loans were fixed. Important for 2026: for fixed-rate contracts up to 31 December 2026, early repayment costs at most 1%; for contracts from 2027, up to 3%.

Yes, but on stricter terms. In our experience, banks require 40–50% equity from buyers without Austrian income. Income from the EU is recognised more easily than income from third countries.

EU, EEA and Swiss citizens buy like Austrians. Anyone from a third country needs approval from the land transfer authority in every federal state – in Vienna the MA 35, in Lower Austria the state government. Without approval, the contract does not take effect. Buying property as a foreigner

The purchase itself is not prohibited. But under EU sanctions law, banks may not accept deposits over €100,000 from Russian citizens or persons resident in Russia; exceptions exist, among others, for holders of a residence permit in an EU state. Payment and escrow must therefore be clarified in advance with the bank and notary.

No. Austria does not grant a residence permit for buying property. Ownership can serve as proof of accommodation in an application, but it does not replace any of the statutory requirements.

As a rule, 30% real estate gains tax on the profit. For properties bought before 1 April 2002, a flat 4.2% of the sale price – 6% for purchase contracts from 1 January 2027. The notary or lawyer calculates the tax and deducts it from the purchase price. How selling a property works

If the flat was your main residence: continuously for at least two years since the purchase, or continuously for at least five of the last ten years, and you give it up with the sale. Also tax-free is a self-built building not let for ten years – but not the land.

Once the buyer is entered in the land register. Until then, the purchase price sits in the escrow account; an outstanding loan is redeemed from it first. Without an approval requirement for third-country buyers, it usually takes four to eight weeks from the offer to payout.

Your broker commission of at most 3% plus VAT, the energy certificate, certification of your signature, possibly compensation for early loan repayment, and the real estate gains tax. The buyer pays the transfer tax and land register entry.

A flat bought for long-term letting, usually new from a developer. Landlords who let with VAT can reclaim the input VAT from the purchase price. This input VAT is tied to VAT-liable letting for 20 years. Rental income and appreciation are not guaranteed – we calculate both with you before the purchase.

Since 1 July 2023, the orderer principle (Bestellerprinzip) applies to rental flats: whoever commissions the agent pays – usually the landlord. Tenants pay only if they commissioned the agent themselves to search.

Rental income counts as income and is taxed at your personal income tax rate. Building depreciation, loan interest, operating costs you bear yourself, and maintenance reduce the profit. A tax advisor can best calculate this for your situation.

We are a licensed real estate broker under trade law and a member of the Chamber of Commerce. We advise in German, Russian, English and Ukrainian, focused on Vienna and Lower Austria. For the contract and escrow, we work with vetted notaries and lawyers who work quickly and charge fair fees.

On our purchase properties, a buyer's commission of 3% of the purchase price plus 20% VAT, unless the property is offered commission-free. The commission is only due once the purchase contract becomes effective.