How much does it cost to buy a house and what do you spend it on?
How much does it cost to buy a house and what do you spend it on?

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.