The cost of buying a house is more than just your monthly mortgage payments. Before that, experts recommend that you save at least 13% of the value of the property to help with the following costs:
Expenses with or without a mortage, in new and used properties
Registering the property: to legally register the buying of the property. For this you can use the state centralised service, Casa Pronta, which costs €375. Alternatively, you could go through a private manager, though their prices may be different.
Stamp Duty (Imposto de Selo): set at 0.8% of the sale price.
Property Transfer Tax (Imposto Municipal sobre Transacções Onerosas de Imóveis or IMT): the exact amount will vary depending on the type of property, where it is and what you use it for. It is only paid on properties worth more than €92,407.
Municipal Property Tax (Imposto municipal sobre imóveis or IMI): calculated using a government form available in the Portal das Finanças, between 0.3% and 0.8% of the taxable property value.
Insurance premiums
Expenses with a mortgage
As well as the aforementioned costs, there are these:
Bank commissions: surveyance commissions and other such costs will vary by bank but will normally be around the €1000 mark.
Mortgage registry: registering the house doesn’t mean you don’t also have to register it with the mortgage loan, too. This is twice the registry fee, €700.
Life insurance: banks require anyone who contracts a mortgage to have life insurance so they are covered in case of premature death. Naturally, the cost of this will depend on the insurance company and your own health circumstances.
Multi-risk insurance: The amount will depend on the property value.