Yes - i'm close to sign on a house and even though I'm fully aware that the notary needs a lot of money i'm really wondering *why* the notary is *that* expensive.
He prepares a standard document, add seller and buyers name plus reads out the contract before you sign which he then witnes.
That should in most cases be less than 3-4 hrs work, but still the "fixed" price for my house deal ends up being ~8000 CHF, meaning a salary well pass 2000 CHF pr. hour.
I tried asking why it cost so much and the best answer I got was just "that is just how much it cost" and "notaries has a monopoly and thus the prices are this high".
Both cases that just seems too far fetched in 2013
Anyone know what one *actually* pay for ?
best regards from one who is about to transfer a big chunk of money to get his house signed....
As with everything in Switzerland: YMMV by canton and Gemeinde.
If I remember correctly, we paid the notary in SZ quite a bit less than that.
It could be worse, though; I think I've read on EF that in some cantons/Gemeinden notaries charge a percentage of the sales price. And at today's property prices...
But you hit the nail on the head - it costs what it costs, and you have no other alternative. Don't torture yourself looking for a rhyme or reason - that way lies madness. (Been there done that, 'taint worth the ulcer.)
On the bright side - soon all the hassle and stress of the search and purchase will be over, and you can pop a cork of the best bubbly to toast your new home.
Because, by law, the notary has to collect the taxes due to the canton/commune.
In all in canton VD, you pay about 4.5-5% of the total purchase price declared on trhe sales document, 3.3% of this is for Canton/Commune, the rest,. 1.2-1.7% are the notary's fees.
So really not too much ! The actual percentages do not change, irrespective of the cost of the properly
Probably for the same reason the estate agent is expensive, although you don’t see that part of it as their fees are paid by the seller.
We didn’t pay that much either, though what we paid is a mystery at the moment. I’ve just checked back through my accounts/financial info and I can’t find any record of a payment to him, yet I know we had one. I have vague recollections of a figure of 5,000+.
As we went through the contract there were one or two things we wanted changed and, because we don’t speak French, he did the translations back and forth to sort things out with our sellers. Then he had to get the amendments made and new pages printed up before we could all sign. It’s his job to make sure that both parties understand their obligations under the contract which is why they go through it with you page by page. Never did anything like that when we bought our house in the UK.
Actually the estate agent was the one trying it on. I think here in Fribourg they’re allowed to claim up to 16% of the purchase price to cover their fees/expenses? He was after the equivalent of around 22%. Something else the notary was going to have to sort out on behalf of the sellers.
I'll try and dig our bill out and see if it's any more detailed ( I'll pm you about kitchens while I'm at it).
I know that we didn't pay so much ( although not far off IIRC) and we had the same condition about it having to be paid before signature of the cobtract by law.
It definitely didn't contain the taxes as that bill came ( a bit) later and was much more seeing as it's a percentage of the selling price. ( around 2% in Neuchatel I think but I'll have to double check that too).
well, I can't even imagine the horror of having to pay more %'s to a realestate agent...
That said, estate agent are optionals but notary are "forced"...
Sounds right - especially if your house was bought for around 500.000+...
Yes, I understand those but these are all easily identifiable items AND something I would expect to be billed pr. hour. not a %-fixed fee.
If the bill had said:
Translation of documents, 2hr, 2000 CHF
Explanation of legal documents, 4hr, 4000 CHF
Legal clearance at office XYZ, 0.5hr, 500 CHF
Misc. stuff, 1.5hr, 1500 CHF
Then I would go - maan thats expensive, but now I know.
But instead its "I did stuff for you that is required by law and to make it simple I made the bill a nice even number so it looks even more rigged, just pay up"
No, we only paid 320,000 so maybe I’m remembering wrong. I don’t remember us paying beforehand either, in fact iirc his bill didn’t arrive until some months after we signed. And we paid the house tax separately too.
BL notary fees are also fixed, but apparently considerably lower. The stamp duty is deferred and then waived if you stay in the house for minimum five years, which is nice.