What Exactly Makes Up Real-Estate Notary Fees?

Why bother dissecting notary fees when you buy a home?

When you try to decide whether to buy or rent, notary fees are one of the most misunderstood real-estate costs. People often hear “7–8% in existing properties, 2–3% in new builds”, but very few know the real notary fee breakdown. Yet these fees strongly affect the true cost of buying, the break-even horizon compared with renting, and the results of any calculator like buy-or-rent.net.

In our simulator, this line is captured by the parameter montant_fn (total notary fees). Understanding what sits inside that number helps you enter realistic data and compare buy or rent scenarios with much more accuracy.

The 4 main components of notary fees

“Notary fees” is actually misleading: the notary only keeps a small part of the amount. The total can be split into four main blocks:

• Transfer taxes and duties collected for the State and local authorities (the biggest share)
• The notary’s regulated fee (called emoluments)
• Disbursements (third-party costs advanced on your behalf)
• VAT on the notary’s remuneration

Most buy or rent simulations simplify this into a single percentage (for example 7.5% on an existing property). But to use the montant_fn parameter properly, you need to know what it actually covers.

1. Real-estate transfer taxes: the fiscal chunk

Transfer duties (DMTO) on property sales

This is the main real-estate tax included in notary fees. It comprises:

• A departmental tax
• A municipal tax
• A State levy

On an existing (second-hand) property, you usually end up around 5.80% of the purchase price (exact rate depends on the department). On new builds, these transfer duties are much lower, which explains much of the 7–8% vs 2–3% gap.

Numeric example: existing property

Assume you buy an existing flat for €250,000:

• Purchase price: €250,000
• Global transfer tax rate: 5.80% (example)
• Transfer duties ≈ 250,000 × 5.8% = €14,500

These €14,500 do not go to the notary; they are collected and paid to the authorities. In your buy or rent simulation, they are part of montant_fn, which will typically be around 250,000 × 7.5% ≈ €18,750 (we’ll break down the difference below).

Numeric example: new build

For a new property at the same price (€250,000), transfer duties are much lower, typically 0.7–1% in practice.

• Purchase price: €250,000
• Global transfer tax rate: 1% (example)
• Transfer duties ≈ €2,500

With total notary fees of around 2.5%, montant_fn would be close to €6,250. This initial cost difference has a major impact on how long it takes before buying becomes more attractive than renting in a buy or rent comparison.

2. The notary’s fee (emoluments)

The notary’s remuneration for drafting and handling the sale deed is regulated by law and based on a tiered scale depending on the property price. For a typical transaction, this works out to roughly 0.8–1.2% of the price.

Simplified example

Back to our €250,000 existing flat:

• A realistic range for the notary’s fee is around €2,000–€3,000
• Combined with €14,500 in transfer duties, we already reach about €17,000

All of this goes into your montant_fn input. It is a sunk cost that increases the up-front cost of homeownership and weighs on the buy or rent break-even calculation.

3. Disbursements: third-party costs

Disbursements are all the sums the notary advances on your behalf to third parties, such as:

• Cadastral fees
• Land registry and publication fees
• Surveyor, building manager, urban planning documents, and similar costs

This line varies, but for a standard sale it often ranges around €800–€1,500. In our €250,000 example:

• Estimated disbursements: €1,000
• Approximate total notary fees: 14,500 (taxes) + 2,500 (notary fee) + 1,000 (disbursements) = €18,000

That’s roughly 7.2% of the purchase price. In a calculator like buy-or-rent.net, you could therefore enter a montant_fn of €18,000 to stay close to reality.

4. VAT on the notary’s remuneration

The notary’s fee is subject to 20% VAT. In practice, this VAT is already embedded in the global 7–8% or 2–3% ranges used in most notary fee estimates.

In our simplified example:

• Notary fee ex-VAT: €2,100
• 20% VAT: €420
• Notary fee incl. VAT: €2,520

This tax component is often ignored in casual buy or rent discussions, but it is part of the total acquisition cost you need to spread over your years of ownership.

Existing vs new property: direct impact on montant_fn

Side-by-side recap

Let’s recap both cases for a €250,000 purchase.

• Existing property (≈7.2%):
  • Transfer duties: €14,500
  • Notary fee (incl. VAT): €2,520
  • Disbursements: €1,000
  • Total ≈ €18,020 → montant_fn ≈ €18,000
• New build (≈2.5%):
  • Reduced transfer duties: €2,500
  • Notary fee (incl. VAT): ~€2,000
  • Disbursements: €800
  • Total ≈ €5,300 → montant_fn ≈ €6,000 (with a safety margin)

This €12,000 gap between old and new has a huge impact in a buy or rent comparison, especially if you expect to sell again after only a few years.

Why montant_fn matters so much in a buy or rent decision

An up-front cost that must be amortised over time

Notary fees are a non-recoverable entry cost. The shorter your holding period, the more they work against buying compared with renting.

Simplified illustration (ignoring interest, repairs, property tax, etc.):

• You buy an existing flat for €250,000 + montant_fn of €18,000
• You sell 5 years later at the exact same price (€250,000)
• Result: you are down €18,000 purely due to notary fees

If you had rented instead, that €18,000 could have been invested at a positive investment rate (e.g. 3–5% in diversified ETFs). The buy-or-rent.net simulator includes this parameter to compare ownership and renting from a long-term wealth perspective.

How notary fees interact with other simulator parameters

The montant_fn value interacts with several other key inputs:

• Mortgage rate (around 3.6% currently): if you finance notary fees with your loan, you also pay interest on these €18,000.
• Borrower insurance rate (roughly 0.25–0.45%): insurance is calculated on the total loan amount, which may include notary fees.
• Agency fees (typically 3–5%): when included in the deed, they increase the taxable base and therefore the notary fee breakdown.
• Renovation costs: while they are not part of notary fees, they increase your capital tied up in the property and matter for a full buy or rent analysis.

If you underestimate montant_fn, your buy or rent comparison will overstate the benefits of buying. Using realistic percentages (7–8% on existing, 2–3% on new) or a precise quote from your notary helps keep your simulation honest.

How to estimate your own notary fees in practice

Step 1: clarify whether the property is new or existing

Before you even start a buy or rent simulation, answer this crucial question:

• New or “as new” (off-plan sale, brand new build never occupied) → notary fees around 2–3%
• Existing (second-hand) → notary fees around 7–8%

Step 2: apply a realistic percentage to get montant_fn

For a quick estimate of montant_fn:

• Existing property: multiply price by 7.5% (mid-range)
• New build: multiply price by 2.5%

Examples:

• Existing home €180,000 → montant_fn ≈ €13,500
• New build €320,000 → montant_fn ≈ €8,000

Step 3: refine using a notary fee calculator or your notary

For a detailed buy or rent study, especially with a short holding horizon or a large purchase price, it’s worth:

• Using a dedicated notary fee calculator
• Asking your notary for a written estimate
• Then entering that exact amount into the montant_fn field on buy-or-rent.net

This gives you a much more accurate ownership vs renting comparison, based on your real notary fee breakdown.

Notary fees and strategy: rent now, buy later?

Understanding the composition of notary fees can also help you design hybrid strategies rather than a binary buy or rent choice.

• Rent first for a few years, and invest the amount you would have spent on notary fees at an attractive investment rate (e.g. diversified ETFs). Then buy later with a larger down payment.
• Buy for the very long term (15–20 years or more) if you have stable plans and location, so that the one-off notary fees are diluted over many years.

In any case, notary fees are neither good nor bad in themselves; they are simply the price of entering homeownership. Their weight depends on how long you hold the property, how real-estate prices move, inflation, and the returns you could earn on alternative financial investments.

A well-configured buy or rent simulation aims to capture this, by combining montant_fn with other parameters such as mortgage rate, annual rent increase (linked to the IRL index), property tax and its annual revaluation, annual inflation, and your assumed investment rate if you keep renting.

Conclusion: notary fees are a key lever in your buy or rent analysis

Notary fees are not just a rough percentage you tack onto the purchase price. They are mostly real-estate taxes (transfer duties), plus a regulated notary fee, disbursements, and VAT. Depending on whether you buy new or existing property, your montant_fn can swing from 2–3% to 7–8% of the price, which can dramatically change the outcome of a buy or rent comparison, especially over short or medium time frames.

This article is for educational purposes only and does not constitute personalised financial advice. Whether it is better for you to buy or rent depends on your own situation (time horizon, job and location stability, savings capacity, risk appetite, and more).

To see the concrete impact of your notary fee breakdown on your real-estate project, enter a realistic montant_fn and adjust the other parameters (loan rate, property tax, investment return, inflation) in our simulator.

Simulate your situation on buy-or-rent.net