Best Real Estate Agencies in Austria (2026)

How Do You Find an Apartment in Austria?

What Fees Do Real Estate Agents Charge in Austria?

Checked against the Immobilienmaklerverordnung (ImmMV) and the Maklergesetz on RIS, October 2026. Ceilings, not fixed fees.

Austrian agent fees are capped by law and depend on whether you buy or rent. On a purchase, the Immobilienmaklerverordnung allows up to 3 percent of the price plus 20 percent VAT from the buyer and the same from the seller. On a €400,000 flat that is at most €14,400 per side. On a rental, the Bestellerprinzip means a tenant answering an advert pays nothing. These are maximums, so the commission is negotiable.

Rental caps use the gross monthly rent (Bruttomietzins) defined in § 24 ImmMV: the base rent plus operating costs, public charges and any rent for furniture, but without VAT. For flats whose rent is regulated, heating costs are left out too. The 1-month cap for a tenant applies to leases of up to 3 years, and the 2-month cap to anything longer or open-ended. A tenant pays only if they were the first to hire the agent, and only if the agent has no link to the landlord.

Buying adds more than the commission: Grunderwerbsteuer at 3.5 percent, the land register fee at 1.1 percent, notary or lawyer fees of about 2 percent, and 1.2 percent on any mortgage lien. See the full buying-cost breakdown below.

What must an estate agent tell you before you sign?

The agent works for a success fee. You owe commission only once the purchase or lease is legally concluded, and an agent who asks for money up front has no legal claim to it. Before you sign anything, ask for the written cost overview under § 30b KSchG and check the licence in GISA. An exclusive mandate (Alleinvermittlungsauftrag) can carry a fee even without a sale, but only in the cases the Maklergesetz lists and only if you agreed it in writing.

How Does the Austrian Rental Process Work?

How Much Is the Deposit and What Are the Alternatives?

Reference case: 3 gross monthly rents of €800, so a €2,400 deposit held for 3 years. Guarantee and insurance rates are the published market range and are not verified against a specific Austrian provider's price list.

3 gross monthly rents is the Austrian norm, and it is worth being precise about why: it is case law and market practice, not a statutory maximum. No section of the MRG names a ceiling, so a landlord asking for more is not breaking a specific number, although a clearly disproportionate deposit can be challenged. What the law does say is how the money must be held: § 16b MRG requires it to sit separately from the landlord's own assets and to earn interest, which is also what protects you if your landlord goes insolvent.

The arithmetic decides the rest. Over 2 years or more, the cash deposit wins: deposit insurance costs about €110 a year and returns nothing, while tying up €2,400 costs you around €48 a year in forgone interest. Insurance only makes sense if you genuinely do not have the cash on arrival, which is a real newcomer situation rather than a hypothetical one. Note that a landlord can refuse both the bank guarantee and the insurance: neither carries an obligation to accept.

Getting the deposit back is where disputes cluster. The law says it comes back without delay, plus interest, but 3 to 6 months is common in practice while the operating-cost statement is settled. Deductions are limited to unpaid rent, documented damage beyond normal wear, and open operating costs. Your evidence is the Übergabeprotokoll and photos taken on the day you move in and the day you move out. If the money is held back without proof, the Schlichtungsstelle in Vienna handles the dispute for €0 and the AK advises for free before you go near a court.

What Are the Total Costs of Buying Property in Austria?

Rates as of September 2026 (GrEStG, GGG). Notary and agent fees vary by transaction.

Beyond the purchase price, budget 10 to 12 percent in transaction costs when you buy in Austria. The two fixed taxes are Grunderwerbsteuer (land transfer tax) at 3.5 percent and the land register entry fee at 1.1 percent. If you borrow, registering the bank's lien costs another 1.2 percent of the secured amount. On top come notary or lawyer fees of about 2 percent plus 20 percent VAT and, where an agent is used, Maklerprovision of 3 percent + 20 percent VAT per side. Plan for all of it as equity: banks do not finance the incidental costs.

Worked at the statutory rates as of September 2026. Buying without an agent removes the largest single line: the €250,000 case then costs about €19,550, or 7.8 percent. Method: each rate times its base. The lien fee is 1.2% of the registered maximum mortgage (Höchstbetragshypothek), which banks set at 120% of the loan: €200,000 × 120% × 1.2% = €2,880. Notary at an assumed 2% of the price; two filing fees (ownership and lien). Filed electronically, each filing fee is €61 instead (TP 9 lit. a GGG, from 1 August 2026), which lowers each total by €48.

Which agencies handle property purchases in Austria?

For buying, national networks and regional specialists dominate different markets. In the Immobilien Magazin ranking of May 2026, RE/MAX Austria earned €91.16 million in commissions in 2025, ahead of Raiffeisen Immobilien (€36.66 million) and s REAL (€25.43 million). Among single companies, EHL Immobilien led with €18.12 million, followed by IMMOcontract and Otto Immobilien.

Source: Immobilien Magazin broker ranking, May 2026 (commission income for 2025); Raiffeisen Immobilien and RE/MAX Austria company figures, 2026; Jarnias Cyril investor guide, 2026, for the regional specialists.

How much Grunderwerbsteuer do you pay when a property passes within the family?

Method: our own arithmetic at the statutory bands. The first €250,000 of the Grundstückswert is taxed at 0.5%, the next €150,000 at 2%, the rest at 3.5%. The "sale" column applies 3.5% to the same value for comparison.

A gift, an inheritance or a transfer to close family is taxed on a stepped tariff, not the flat 3.5%. Under § 7 Abs 1 GrEStG the bands are 0.5% on the first €250,000, 2% on the next €150,000 and 3.5% above that. The base is the Grundstückswert, a tax value that usually sits below the market price, not what the property would fetch.

Two rules decide whether you get the stepped rate. A transfer between the relatives listed in § 26a Abs 1 Z 1 GGG (spouse or partner, children, parents, siblings and their children) counts as free of charge even if money changes hands. And transfers to the same person within 5 years are added together for the bands, so splitting a house into yearly gifts does not reset the 0.5% band.

Should you choose a fixed or variable mortgage, and a provincial loan or a bank loan?

The fixed-versus-variable choice is mostly a question of exit cost. Under § 20 HIKrG you may repay a mortgage early at any time. On a fixed-rate period the bank may charge compensation, capped at 1% of the amount repaid, or 0.5% if at most one year of the term is left. On a variable period it may charge nothing, and early repayments up to €10,000 within 12 months are always free.

Provincial loans and bank mortgages are not either-or. The Wohnbauförderung loan usually ranks behind the bank loan, so the two are combined in one package. Each of the nine provinces sets its own income limits and rates. In Vienna, the Eigenmittelersatzdarlehen also covers the own-funds share of a subsidised flat; it must be requested within 3 months of signing.

Can Foreigners Buy Property in Austria?

Source: oesterreich.gv.at / JanusHermes, 2026.

Yes. EU, EEA and Swiss buyers have the same rights as Austrians and are exempt from the Ausländergrundverkehr (foreign land transfer) check. Non-EU/EEA buyers usually need a permit from the regional Grundverkehrsbehörde (land transfer authority) under each state's Grundverkehrsgesetz, or the sale is void. Processing runs 2 to 6 months, and up to a year in Tyrol or Salzburg (oesterreich.gv.at / JanusHermes, 2026).

There is no single nationwide rule: each Bundesland runs its own land transfer regime. Tyrol, Salzburg, Carinthia and Vorarlberg are strict, especially on Zweitwohnsitze (second homes and holiday flats), while Vienna is lenient because the capital has no significant second-home restriction. A valid residence permit and a genuine economic or social interest in the property strengthen a non-EU application.

What Law Protects Tenants and What Are You Entitled To?

Entity References

Full factual profiles for each brand covered on this page:

• Immo-Pilot.at

  Austrian Real Estate

• ÖRAG Österreichische Realitäten-AG

  Austrian Real Estate

• willhaben Immobilien

  Austrian Real Estate

• ImmoScout24 Austria

  Austrian Real Estate

• EHL Immobilien

  Austrian Real Estate

• RE/MAX Austria

  Austrian Real Estate

• S REAL

  Austrian Real Estate