Real Estate in Austria
Austria is an elite country. Austrian real estate cannot be called cheap, as a matter of fact. However, the country is worth that. Especially, if you have an object in Vienna or the suburbs on your mind. The level of prices here is sometimes as high as $10,000 per a square meter (apartments in the very center of the city). However, living in such housing is as comfortable as possible: the city is extremely beautiful, with lots of parks, vegetation, abundance of pedestrian streets and districts, the cleanest air (as by city standards), and a very high quality of life.
Purchase of real estate in Austria is not so easy for foreigners as in other European countries, widely presented on the market. If you want to purchase apartments, a house, villa or any other real estate, you need to first get an authorization for the transaction. At that, the objects of the agricultural or strategic importance cannot be sold to a foreigner.
According to Austrian laws, any real estate transaction should be performed with the help of a notary public and a lawyer. There participation is obligatory in the process, however it is paid at fixed rates. At that, even if the local authorities do not approve the transactions, you need to pay for their services in any case. It is practically from the very start of the purchase process that the purchaser needs to place all the agreed amount on a trust account. The notary public bears personal responsibility for the amount. This guarantees the financial correctness of the transaction to both the parties.
You should also remember that any transactions with amounts of over 15,000 Euros are performed under control of the Bank of Austria, which checks the payer's identity and the cleanness of the monies, i.e. "black" money, received from unlawful weapon, drug, etc sales is not going to be permitted via the Bank of Austria.
When you purchase real estate in Austria, please, turn to experts for help. For example, to us. We cooperate with many companies on the market of this country, and we also value our reputation high.