How to sell your home without an agent in Austria

Yes. A Makler is optional and you can market and negotiate without one, which saves the seller-side commission that typically runs 3% of the sale price plus 20% VAT. You can list directly on willhaben and ImmoScout24.at's Privatimmobilien section, both of which accept owner postings. You'll still need a notary (Notar) or lawyer (Rechtsanwalt) to draft the Kaufvertrag, verify signatures, and file the Grundbuch registration application; that part is mandatory and protects both sides.

Yes, mandatory. Either a Notar or a Rechtsanwalt must draft the purchase contract (Kaufvertrag), certify the signatures of both parties in person, and submit the electronic Grundbuch registration application. Without those steps, the title transfer is legally void. Contract drafting and escrow costs typically run about 1.5% to 3% of the purchase price plus 20% VAT, set as guideline maxima under the Notariatstarifgesetz; in practice the buyer usually bears them, but who pays is open to agreement. The notary or lawyer also acts as escrow agent (Treuhandschaft), holding the purchase price in a trust account until the Grundbuch entry is confirmed, which protects both sides. In practice the buyer usually selects the professional because the same office calculates and remits the buyer's Grunderwerbsteuer. You can still instruct your own lawyer to review the draft contract before you sign.

The Energieausweis is Austria's energy performance certificate for buildings, required under the Energieausweis-Vorlage-Gesetz (EAVG 2012). You must show a valid copy to every prospective buyer at or before the first viewing and again before the purchase contract is signed, and the energy rating must appear in your listing. The certificate is valid for ten years from its issue date. Commission a licensed Ziviltechniker, Baumeister, or accredited energy auditor to produce it; expect a cost of roughly EUR 300 to 800 depending on property size and type. Missing or expired certificates expose you to a fine of up to EUR 1,500 and give the buyer the right to have one prepared at your cost. Order it before you list, not after you have a buyer.

It depends on when you bought and how you used the property. For properties acquired after 31 March 2002, the Immobilienertragsteuer (ImmoESt) is 30% of the net gain (sale price minus your original acquisition cost and deductible improvement expenses). Two main exemptions cut the tax to zero: the primary-residence exemption applies if the property was your main residence (Hauptwohnsitz) continuously for at least two years immediately before the sale, or for at least five of the ten years before the sale; the self-built exemption applies to properties you constructed yourself from scratch. For older properties (Alt-Grundstücke, acquired before 31 March 2002) a simplified flat-base rule fixes the taxable amount at 14% of the gross proceeds, giving an effective tax rate of about 4.2% of the sale price. ImmoESt is due by the 15th of the second calendar month after you receive the proceeds. Get a one-off written confirmation from a Steuerberater before signing.

The Grundbuchauszug is an official printout from Austria's land register showing who legally owns the property, every registered mortgage (Hypothek) or lien (Pfandrecht), easements, and any restrictions on sale or use. You need it first because buyers and their notaries will order one themselves, and surprises at contract stage delay or kill deals. Pull it yourself early via JustizOnline (justizonline.gv.at) for a small fee of a few euros, or ask a notary to obtain it. If a mortgage appears, contact your lender immediately for a written payoff figure (Löschungsquittung); the Hypothek must be cleared and its Grundbuch entry formally deleted before or at the same time as the new ownership is registered. Skipping this step is the single most common cause of delayed closings in Austrian FSBO sales.

The buyer owes two main items. First, Grunderwerbsteuer (real estate transfer tax) at 3.5% of the purchase price (or market value if higher), calculated and remitted directly to the tax authority by the notary or lawyer. Second, the Grundbuchseintragungsgebühr (land register entry fee) of normally 1.1% of the property value for the ownership entry. A temporary exemption waives the registration fee on the first EUR 500,000 for buyers buying a primary residence, but only for applications filed after 30 June 2024 and before 1 July 2026, subject to a five-year occupancy clawback; as of spring 2026 no formal extension had been enacted, so verify the live deadline with the notary. The buyer also pays their share of contract and escrow costs and, if they used an agent, their own Maklerprovision of up to 3% plus 20% VAT.

Plan for months, not weeks. Marketing alone commonly runs 6 to 12 months across Austria, though sought-after Vienna apartments often sell in about 2.5 to 5 months and single-family houses average around 5 months. After you agree terms, allow roughly 3 to 6 weeks for the buyer's financing confirmation, 2 to 3 weeks to reach the notary signing, and several more weeks for the Grundbuch entry (the Einverleibung) to be confirmed. If an existing mortgage must be discharged first, add 2 to 4 weeks for your bank's Löschungsquittung. Delays usually come from an uncleared mortgage, a missing or expired Energieausweis, or title issues discovered in the Grundbuchauszug.

No. The Bestellerprinzip that took effect on 1 July 2023 applies only to RENTALS, where the party who hired the agent pays. It does not apply to property SALES. In a sale, an agent can still charge a commission to the seller, to the buyer, or to both separately, each capped at 3% plus 20% VAT for prices above EUR 48,448.51 under the Immobilienmaklerverordnung. The clean way to owe nothing is to sell without a Makler, which is fully legal; you still need a notary or lawyer for the contract and registration.

Agency listings on willhaben and ImmoScout24.at name the firm behind them, so browsing the live listings in your district shows which Makler are active there, though comparing that way is slow. This site's page at /countries/austria/find-an-agent lists the local routes for finding and vetting one, including portal agent directories and the GISA trade register where you can confirm for free that a Makler holds the required licence, along with the typical commission. Separately, there is anyone.com/find-agent, which the company describes as a free matching service that pairs buyers and sellers with a local agent by weighting location, price range, and the size and type of the property, drawing on a network it puts at 4.6 million agents. Because an Austrian sale commission can be charged at up to 3% plus 20% VAT to the seller and the buyer separately, comparing a few candidates before signing an agency agreement is reasonable diligence, and getting matched does not close off the option of going back to a private sale.

Use regional figures, not the national median. Statistik Austria's 2025 medians are about EUR 4,162 per m2 for condominiums and EUR 2,836 per m2 for houses nationally, but by state the condominium figure runs from roughly EUR 5,212 per m2 in Vienna down to about EUR 1,859 per m2 in Burgenland. Filter willhaben and ImmoScout24.at to your district and property type for live and recently sold comparables, then set your asking price and a floor. Prices rose about 2.8% year-on-year in Q2 2025, so older comparables understate today's market slightly.

Yes, though in Austria free can only ever mean the platform side. On the listing side, the dominant portals willhaben and ImmoScout24.at take private-seller postings directly, ImmoScout24.at through its own Privatimmobilien section, while fixed-fee owner services such as ohne-makler.at, privatimmobilien.at, and keinmakler.at push one listing onto several portals for a set charge instead of a percentage. Anyone.com states that selling on its platform costs nothing from its side, with no listing fee and no commission owed to Anyone. What no platform can waive are the costs Austrian law attaches to the sale itself: the Energieausweis at roughly EUR 300 to 800 (with a fine of up to EUR 1,500 if you sell without one), a few euros for the Grundbuchauszug, any ImmoESt due on your gain, and the Notar or Rechtsanwalt contract and Treuhand work required in every transaction, which in practice the buyer usually bears, though who pays is open to agreement. By its own description, Anyone.com keeps buyer messages, offers made under identity verification, and closing documents in one workspace, and it operates across 29 countries; it publishes no Austrian traffic figures, so a seller whose priority is local reach can run a willhaben or ImmoScout24.at listing alongside it.

Either party may instruct the notary or lawyer, and you are free to use a Rechtsanwalt rather than a Notar; both can draft the Kaufvertrag, certify signatures, run the escrow, and file the Grundbuch application. In practice the buyer often picks the professional because that same office also remits the buyer's Grunderwerbsteuer. Even if the buyer's choice drafts the contract, you can have your own lawyer review the draft before you sign. Contract and escrow costs typically run about 1.5% to 3% plus 20% VAT, and who pays is negotiable.

Three things are critical. A valid Energieausweis (energy performance certificate, valid for ten years) must be shown at or before the first showing and again at contract time; missing it costs you a fine and gives the buyer the right to order one and send you the bill. Order a Grundbuchauszug (land register extract) early through JustizOnline so you know what mortgages, liens, and restrictions sit on the property before a buyer discovers them at closing. If a mortgage is on the register, get a written discharge statement (Löschungsquittung) from your lender right away, because the bank must confirm in writing how much needs to be paid to clear the title before the new owner can be registered.