Acquisition costs: everything you pay on top of the price

Acquisition costs: more than just the listing price

When people wonder whether to buy or rent, they usually focus on the listing price of the property. But the total purchase costs can easily increase by 10–15 % once you add all the acquisition costs. Ignoring them completely distorts any buy or rent comparison.

In the buy-or-rent.net simulator, these costs are modelled in particular through two key parameters:

• montant_fn: the amount of notary / closing costs and purchase-related taxes;
• montant_fa: the amount of agency / broker fees paid to the intermediary.

Understanding and quantifying these two items is essential if you want a realistic estimate of your total purchase costs and a fact-based decision on whether it is better to buy or rent in your case.

1. What is included in acquisition costs?

Acquisition costs are everything you pay on top of the net price of the property:

• Notary / closing costs (montant_fn): transfer taxes, notary fees, disbursements;
• Agency / broker fees (montant_fa) for the real estate agent;
• Potential loan guarantee / mortgage fees charged by the bank;
• Initial renovation and compliance works;
• Possible bank application and broker fees.

In this article we focus on the two largest and most systematic items you must absolutely include in any buy or rent simulation: montant_fn (notary / closing costs) and montant_fa (agency fees).

2. Notary / closing costs (montant_fn): typically 7–8 % for existing, 2–3 % for new builds

2.1. What are notary / closing costs made of?

What people call “notary fees” are in fact mostly taxes for the State and local authorities. They include:

• Transfer taxes (the largest part, often 5–6 % of the price for existing properties);
• Notary fees (regulated scale, around 1 % of the price with a minimum);
• Disbursements: sums advanced by the notary for various documents and registrations.

In the simulator, all of this is grouped in the variable montant_fn, usually calculated as a percentage of the purchase price.

2.2. Typical ranges

• Existing property: 7–8 % of the purchase price;
• New build: 2–3 % of the purchase price.

For a 300,000 € existing apartment, you should expect around 21,000–24,000 € for montant_fn. For a new build, more likely 6,000–9,000 €.

2.3. Example: impact of montant_fn on total purchase costs

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

• Property price: 250,000 €
• Notary / closing costs (8 % estimate): 20,000 €

Your minimum total purchase cost already jumps to 270,000 €, before including anything else. If you have 40,000 € in savings, you may have to finance part of these notary costs with the loan, which increases:

• the loan principal you borrow;
• the interest paid over 20–25 years;
• and the borrower insurance paid on this extra amount.

In a buy or rent simulation, failing to include montant_fn properly means underestimating the real cost of buying by tens of thousands of euros.

3. Agency / broker fees (montant_fa): usually 3–5 %

3.1. How are agency fees calculated?

Agency fees pay the real estate agent for marketing the property, organising viewings, negotiating and handling paperwork. They usually range between 3 and 5 % of the sale price, sometimes more for small properties.

Two common situations:

• Fees legally borne by the seller, but included in the advertised price (“FAI” in French listings);
• Fees legally borne by the buyer, added on top of the net seller price.

For your analysis of the total purchase costs, what matters is the total you actually pay. In the simulator, this component is captured through the variable montant_fa.

3.2. Example: calculating montant_fa

You find a flat advertised at 260,000 € “agency fees included”. The agency states:

• Net seller price: 245,000 €
• Agency fees: 15,000 € (about 6.1 %)

In your simulation, you should enter:

• Property price: 260,000 € (what you actually pay);
• montant_fa: 15,000 € (agency fees).

If you finance these 15,000 € over 25 years at 3.6 % (excluding insurance), the interest cost on this item alone can exceed 7,000 € over the life of the loan. So montant_fa is not just a one-off upfront payment: if financed with debt, it also generates additional interest and insurance costs.

4. Combining montant_fn and montant_fa: the real entry ticket

4.1. Full case study

Let’s take an existing property:

• Advertised price (fees included): 300,000 €
• Agency fees (montant_fa): 12,000 €
• Net seller price: 288,000 €
• Notary / closing costs (montant_fn, 7.5 %) on 288,000 €: 21,600 €

Your immediate acquisition cost is therefore:

• Price including fees: 300,000 €
• + Notary / closing costs: 21,600 €
• = 321,600 €

If you only looked at the 300,000 € listing price, you were already underestimating the real cost of the operation by more than 21,000 €. In a buy or rent comparison, this difference can tip the scales, especially if it means a larger loan and less capacity to invest elsewhere.

4.2. Impact on down payment and financing plan

Assume:

• Available down payment: 40,000 €
• Total acquisition cost: 321,600 €

You will need to borrow around 281,600 €. If you had ignored acquisition costs, you might have believed a 260,000 € loan would be enough (300,000 € – 40,000 €) – a gap of over 20,000 € on the principal to finance.

In the simulator, entering realistic values for montant_fn and montant_fa allows you to compute:

• the actual loan amount required;
• the resulting monthly payments at the current loan rate (around 3.6 % in many markets at the time of writing);
• and the impact on your ability to invest at an alternative investment rate if you choose to rent instead.

5. Buy or rent: why acquisition costs change the picture

5.1. Locked-in money vs capital invested elsewhere

Acquisition costs (notary + agency fees) are largely sunk costs that you do not recover when you sell. Even if the property market goes up, these amounts are an “entry ticket” you must amortise over your holding period.

For example, if your total acquisition costs (montant_fn + montant_fa) reach 35,000 € and you sell after 5 years without capital gain, these 35,000 € have effectively been consumed by the buy/sell operation. In a rent scenario, if you had invested this money at an investment rate of 3–4 % net, the outcome would be very different.

This is exactly what the buy-or-rent.net simulator is designed to show: over 10, 15 or 20 years, it compares your net wealth if you buy (and pay montant_fn and montant_fa) versus if you rent and invest the difference.

5.2. Holding period: a crucial variable

The shorter you keep the property, the heavier the weight of acquisition costs relative to your holding period. Conversely, if you keep the home for 20 years, these costs are spread over a long time.

Example:

• Total acquisition costs: 30,000 €
• Holding period: 5 years → average “cost” ≈ 6,000 €/year (ignoring any capital gain)
• Holding period: 20 years → ≈ 1,500 €/year

In a buy or rent decision, a high likelihood of moving again within a few years makes acquisition costs particularly sensitive.

6. Entering montant_fn and montant_fa correctly in a simulation

6.1. How to estimate montant_fn realistically

To estimate montant_fn (notary / closing costs):

• use an online closing cost simulator (distinguishing new vs existing property);
• as a rule of thumb, use 7.5–8 % for existing, 2.5–3 % for new builds;
• once your project is advanced, ask your notary or bank for a detailed estimate.

In buy-or-rent.net, this amount can be entered directly in euros or calculated from a percentage. The key is to be realistic – or slightly conservative – to avoid underestimating your total purchase costs.

6.2. How to determine montant_fa

For montant_fa (agency fees):

• if the listing details “net price” and “fees”, use the “fees” line;
• otherwise, ask the agency directly for the exact fee amount;
• if no data is available, you can roughly assume 3–5 % of the advertised price, but treat that as an approximation.

Whether the contract states that fees are legally paid by the buyer or by the seller, they are embedded in the transaction price. For your analysis, they should always be included in the total purchase costs, and therefore in montant_fa.

7. Don’t confuse acquisition costs with other ownership costs

To get a full picture of your total purchase costs and long-term cost of ownership, you also need to consider other items that the simulator can handle:

• Property tax (its initial level and annual revaluation);
• Borrower insurance (insurance rate, often 0.25–0.45 % of the principal);
• Initial renovation costs, especially if the energy rating is poor and you need energy upgrades;
• Bank fees and potential early repayment penalties if you sell before the end of the loan;
• Annual inflation, which affects both your expenses and the real value of your mortgage over time.

Acquisition costs are just the entry point to this broader set of owner-specific expenses. To seriously compare buy or rent, you need all of these parameters in a coherent model.

8. Buy or rent: it depends on your situation

There is no universal answer to the buy or rent question. The best choice depends on many factors:

• your acquisition costs (montant_fn, montant_fa);
• your expected holding period;
• current levels of mortgage rates and alternative investment rates;
• likely trends in rents (indexation) and property prices;
• your risk profile and your ability to actually invest the savings if you remain a tenant.

This article gives numerical benchmarks but does not constitute personalised financial advice. For a decision tailored to your profile, you should consult a professional and test several scenarios with realistic data.

9. Turn theory into numbers: use the simulator

To measure the real impact of montant_fn (notary / closing costs) and montant_fa (agency fees) on your project, the most efficient approach is to run several scenarios on buy-or-rent.net:

• vary the purchase price, acquisition costs and down payment;
• compare your net wealth over time if you buy versus if you rent and invest the difference;
• include other key parameters (loan rate, property tax, renovation budget, investment rate, inflation).

This way you can see how acquisition costs really affect your buy or rent decision, not in theory but in your specific situation.

Want to put concrete numbers on your project? Simulate your situation on buy-or-rent.net.