When you buy a home in Germany, the notary's fees and the land registry's fees are set by law, the Gerichts- und Notarkostengesetz (GNotKG, Court and Notary Fees Act). They grow with the price, they are the same at every notary, and nobody can negotiate them. As a rule of thumb they come to around 1.5 % of the price, the mortgage's land charge included, and the buyer pays them: for a €400,000 flat with a loan, roughly €5,500.
1. What you pay for, and why it's fixed
A property sale in Germany is only valid in a deed drawn up by a notary (Notar). The notary reads the contract out to buyer and seller, explains it, and then does the paperwork that makes the sale happen: asks the town whether it wants to use its right to buy first, gets the seller's bank to release its charge, tells you when the price is due, and applies to the land register (Grundbuch) to make you the owner. The land register is kept by the local court, so its entries come with a court fee of their own.
Both fees come from the same law. Agreements on a different fee are void (§ 125 GNotKG), and a notary has to charge the fee the law sets: no discount and no extra (§ 17(1) BNotO). So you don't shop around on price. You choose a notary for other reasons, such as one who works in English, and the notary appointment guide goes through what happens there.
2. How the fee is worked out
Each fee has two parts: a value and a rate.
- The value (Geschäftswert) is, for a purchase, the price, plus anything else the buyer takes on in return; if that comes out below the market value, the market value counts (§ 47 GNotKG). For a land charge it is its nominal amount, not the loan you actually draw (§ 53(1) GNotKG).
- The full fee for that value comes from a table in the law, Table B (§ 34 GNotKG, the table in full). It rises in steps: €435 for a value of €200,000, €685 for €350,000, €785 for €400,000, €935 for €500,000.
- The rate says how many full fees each task costs: 2.0 for the deed, 0.5 for the follow-up work, and so on. The tasks and their rates are listed in the law's fee schedule (Kostenverzeichnis, annex 1 to the GNotKG), each with its number.
The notary's fees and the land registry's fees both use Table B. Because the table rises more slowly than the price, the fees are a smaller share of a dear home than of a cheap one.
3. The notary's fees for a purchase
For an ordinary purchase the notary charges three fees on the price, plus a few small items:
- The deed: 2.0 (no. 21100 of the schedule). This covers drafting the contract, sending you the draft, the appointment and the reading.
- The follow-up work (Vollzug): 0.5 (no. 22110), for obtaining the papers the sale needs, such as the town's waiver of its right to buy first and the seller's bank's release of its charge. The value is the same as the deed's (§ 112 GNotKG). If all the notary has to obtain is official papers, such as the town's waiver, the fee is at most €50 for each (no. 22112); the full 0.5 applies once there is more, such as the bank's release.
- Supervision (Betreuung): 0.5 (no. 22200), for checking that everything is in place and telling you the price is due, and for holding back the application for the transfer until the seller confirms payment (§ 113(1) GNotKG).
- Small items: a flat rate for post and phone of 20 % of the fees, at most €20 (no. 32005), copies, and often a small fee for preparing the data file the land registry processes (no. 22114, at most €125).
- VAT: 19 % on all of it (no. 32014).
A deed in English. If the notary notarises in English, or translates the contract for you without an interpreter, the deed fee goes up by 30 %, at most €5,000 (no. 26001). With a sworn interpreter instead, you pay the interpreter, not this extra.
Escrow. Paying the price through the notary's escrow account (Anderkonto) costs an extra fee (no. 25300), and the notary may take money in only where the parties have a legitimate need for that security (§ 57(2) BeurkG). Without escrow, you pay the seller directly once the notary says the price is due.
4. The land registry's fees
The land registry charges court fees, so there is no VAT on them. For a purchase there are usually three:
- The priority notice (Auflassungsvormerkung): 0.5 (no. 14150), entered soon after signing, on the price (§ 45(3) GNotKG). It protects your claim until you are owner.
- You as the new owner: 1.0 (no. 14110), on the price.
- Deleting the priority notice: €25 (no. 14152), once it has done its job.
The land registry sends its own bill. It may ask for payment in advance only where that seems needed to make sure it gets paid (§ 13 GNotKG).
5. The mortgage's land charge
If you borrow, the lender wants a land charge (Grundschuld) on the property, and that is a second deed and a second entry:
- The deed for the land charge: 1.0 (no. 21200), plus VAT, usually signed at the same notary on the same day as the purchase or soon after.
- Its entry in the land register: 1.0 (no. 14121).
Both are on the land charge's nominal amount, which can be set higher than the loan; the fees follow the land charge, not the loan. Buy without a loan and both fall away.
6. A worked example
A flat for €400,000, with an old charge the seller's bank has to release, financed with a €300,000 land charge. From Table B, the full fee is €785 on €400,000 and €635 on €300,000. Treat this only as the method: your notary's bill will differ in the small items.
| Fee | Rate | € |
|---|---|---|
| Deed for the purchase | 2.0 × 785 | 1,570.00 |
| Follow-up work | 0.5 × 785 | 392.50 |
| Supervision | 0.5 × 785 | 392.50 |
| Data file, post | 0.1 × 785, flat rate | 98.50 |
| VAT on the notary's purchase fees | 19 % | 466.17 |
| Deed for the land charge, post, VAT | 1.0 × 635, €20, 19 % | 779.45 |
| Land registry: priority notice | 0.5 × 785 | 392.50 |
| Land registry: new owner | 1.0 × 785 | 785.00 |
| Land registry: land charge | 1.0 × 635 | 635.00 |
| Land registry: deleting the notice | flat | 25.00 |
| Together | 5,536.62 |
That is about 1.4 % of the price. A deed read in English by the notary would add 30 % of the €1,570 deed fee, €471, plus VAT. The real-estate transfer tax and any agent's commission come on top; the guide to the additional costs of buying puts all of them together, state by state.
7. Who pays, and when
The buyer, by default. The law puts the costs of the deed, the transfer and the entries on the buyer of land (§ 448(2) BGB), and purchase contracts almost always repeat that. Towards the notary, though, everyone whose declarations were notarised owes the fees (§ 30(1) GNotKG), together (§ 32(1) GNotKG): if the buyer doesn't pay, the notary can turn to the seller, who then claims it back from the buyer. Extra costs one side causes with its own requests are that side's alone (§ 32(2) GNotKG).
When. The notary's fees fall due when the work is done (§ 10 GNotKG), and the notary may ask for an advance before acting (§ 15 GNotKG). The land registry bills as it makes the entries. The fees are part of the purchase costs that lenders generally expect you to pay from your own money, not the loan.
A flat you let. The purchase fees are part of what the property cost you (§ 255(1) HGB), so the building's share of them is written off with the building; the buy-to-let guide explains depreciation.
8. If the purchase falls through
The deed fee doesn't wait for a signature. What you owe depends on how far the notary got:
- Before a draft has gone out: €20 (no. 21300), or a fee for advice if the notary advised you.
- After the draft has gone out: 0.5 to 2.0 (no. 21302). If the notary had finished the draft, it is the full 2.0 (§ 92(2) GNotKG): for €400,000, €1,570 plus VAT, with no deed to show for it.
The bill goes to whoever asked the notary to draft (§ 29 GNotKG). So ask for the draft once the financing and the main terms stand, and if a seller or agent wants to order it early, agree in writing who pays if the sale doesn't happen. If a new deed follows soon on the same draft, the fee already paid counts towards it (Vorbemerkung 2.1.3(2) of the schedule).
9. Checking the bill
A notary's bill must be in text form and show, for each fee, the schedule number, the value and the amount, plus the expenses and any advance paid; without that it can't be enforced (§ 19 GNotKG). With the schedule and Table B you can follow every line. Ask the notary first if something looks wrong, such as a value above the price or a fee for work that wasn't done. If you still disagree, the regional court (Landgericht) where the notary sits decides on your application (§ 127 GNotKG).
10. When a financing expert can help
The notary and land registry fees sit with the transfer tax in the purchase costs, and those costs decide how much of your own money a purchase needs. A financing expert works them into your budget, compares lenders' offers for you, and checks which land charge each lender wants, so the second deed can be signed with the first. Have the listing, an idea of the price, and your own income and savings documents ready. You can ask for a financing expert who works in English.
The notary is impartial and reads the contract out, but doesn't negotiate it for you; a lawyer can check the draft: ask for a contract check.
Primary sources checked on 5 November 2026: the statutes and the fee schedule linked above.