The Real Estate Agent of Curacao tells: Buyers cost

The real estate agent of Curaçao tells: Buyer costs

BUYER COSTS IF YOU BUY A HOUSE ON CURACAO.
Behind every asking price of a property on Curacao you will see k.k. which stands for ‘kosten koper’ or ‘buyers cost’. Almost all homes and lots on Curacao are sold k.k.. Buyer’s costs means that the extra costs that a purchase entails are for the account of the buyer.

Below you can read which parts the buyer costs consist of:

• Transfer tax, this is currently 4% in Curaçao (this cannot be reclaimed if you resell the purchase in the short term, such as in the Netherlands)
• Land registry costs and stamps, this is currently a standard rate of ANG 910,-;
• Notarial fees, rates set by the Joint Court of Justice; as a result, you have little or no opportunity to negotiate with the notary about the rates. Every civil-law notary on Curacao uses this rate system.
• Sales tax (OB), currently 6%, of the notarial fee.

Does the part consist of a percentage? In that case, you pay a percentage of the sales price or the ‘legger’ value (the value of the property at the tax office). The highest value is binding. The total buyers costs for most houses are somewhere between 5 and 7% of the selling price or tax value.

One of the notaries has a handy calculation tool on the website to calculate the buyer’s costs. Here you can calculate both the costs of the deed of transfer and the costs of a mortgage deed, if you need them. A mortgage deed is not a fixed part of the buyer’s costs.

In the purchase proces of buying a house your realtor will ask you which notary you prefer. As a buyer you are free to choose a notary, but he/she must be established in Curaçao. Be well informed in advance about the lead times and having third-party accounts in other currencies such as Euro and US dollars. We can advise you well about the notary to choose. They are not all equally good. By carefully discussing with us how you are going to buy a house or plot, in which currency and at which notary we can save you a lot of money. After 16 years in the business, we have experienced all situations at least once. Take advantage of that.

FINANCING COSTS BUYER ON CURACAO

In some cases, banks also finance (part of) the costs of the buyers cost, but certainly not in all cases. Banks do not like to finance more than the value of the home. That is why it is wise to save money yourself before you buy a home. 100% financing of the purchase amount is rare on Curacao.

FREE OF BUYERS COSTS CURACAO

The opposite of “buyer’s costs” (k.k.) is “vrij op naam” (von). Sale of properties like this is not very common on Curacao. It means that all necessary additional costs are included in the purchase. Other costs are not included. The transfer tax, turnover tax, land registry and stamp costs and notary costs are included. For example, do you use a power of attorney or a bank guarantee? These are not necessary additional costs, so they are always for the buyer. A mortgage deed is also for the buyer’s own account. Sometimes this construction occurs in new construction projects, but you are then obliged to use the notary of the project developer.

Do you want to buy a house on Curacao, contact us for a free and informative consult with one of our top realtors on Curacao or in The Netherlands. 

This article was published in the series : The Real Estate Agency of Curacao tells.

International Fine Living does its best to inform people who buy a house on Curaçao or sell a house as well as possible. Unfortunately, our time is also limited and we will not always be able to publish the latest updates. We therefore always recommend that you verify the information provided. A special warning for all English text; the official language spoken on Curaçao is Dutch and Papiamento, please take into account that translation errors to English might occur.

Categorieën: Curaçao Real Estate

Tags: buy a house on curacao, buyers cost curacao, curacao real estate agent, purchase proces real estate curacao