Work out the cash you actually need to complete in any European country: deposit, transfer tax, notary and agent fees. Compare countries and see how long it takes to save.
Deposit plus every cost a mortgage will not cover. Not the €400,000 price — the loan covers that.
Deposit
0% — typical for a resident buyer
Transfer tax / stamp duty
2.0% of the price
Notary, legal & registry
1.5% of the price
Agent commission
1.20% buyer's share
A mortgage covers the rest
100% of the €400,000 price
Costs on top of deposit
€18,800
4.7% of the price
Your savings
Enough
€6,200 more than you need
Cash needed as a share of the price
Shown as a share of the purchase price, because these countries price in 7 different currencies.
Netherlands: Mortgages can reach 100% of value for residents, so the deposit is often zero — but costs are never financed, so you still need cash on completion. Buyers under 35 may be exempt from the 2% transfer tax below a price cap.
Deposit requirements across Europe vary more than most buyers expect, and residency status moves them further. Dutch residents can borrow up to 100% of a property's value, so the deposit can be nothing at all. German banks typically want 20% from residents and 30-40% from non-nationals. France sits at 10-20% for residents, Spain at 20% rising to 30% for non-residents, and Italy asks non-residents for 40-50% where a resident would put down 20%. Ireland's Central Bank caps most first-time buyers at 90% loan-to-value, making 10% the practical floor. The Nordics sit at the friendlier end: Denmark's legal minimum is 5%, Sweden's is 10%, and Finland and Norway cap lending at 85% of value. The pattern is consistent: wherever you are buying, expect to be asked for more than a local would be, and confirm the figure with a broker in that country before you fix a savings target.
Sources: Belastingdienst — Dutch transfer tax, Central Bank of Ireland — mortgage measures
Across the EU, lenders finance the property and not the act of buying it, so transfer tax, notary and land-registry fees and any buyer-side agent commission come out of your own cash on completion. The totals are substantial. The Netherlands runs about 4-5% of the price. Germany reaches 10-12% once Grunderwerbsteuer, notary and the buyer's agent share are added. France's frais de notaire on an existing home come to roughly 7-8%, though only 2-3% on a new build. Belgium is the extreme case: registration duty alone is 12.5% in Brussels and Wallonia. Budget the deposit and these costs as one target rather than two, because arriving at completion with the deposit and nothing else is how purchases fail in the final week.
Sources: Service-Public.fr — frais de notaire, Bundesfinanzministerium — Grunderwerbsteuer by state
Several of the biggest costs are set below national level, so a country-level estimate can be wrong by tens of thousands. German Grunderwerbsteuer ranges from 3.5% in Bavaria to 6.5% in North Rhine-Westphalia, Brandenburg and Schleswig-Holstein. Spanish ITP is set by each autonomous community and runs from about 6% to 11% on resale property. Belgian registration duty is the widest spread in Europe, from a low rate in Flanders for a sole primary residence up to 12.5% in Brussels. On a €400,000 purchase, the gap between the cheapest and most expensive German state is €12,000 in tax alone. Decide the region before you fix the target, and check whether a first-time or primary-residence relief applies to you.
Sources: Agencia Tributaria — ITP and AJD
If you earn in sterling and plan to buy in euros, the exchange rate sits between your savings and your target for the whole of the savings period. A 10% weakening against the euro on a €80,000 target is €8,000 you did not plan to find, which at €1,500 a month is more than five extra months. The cleanest fix is to hold the deposit in the currency you will buy in, so the target stops moving. If that is impractical while you are still earning elsewhere, set up regular automated transfers rather than one large conversion, and once you are within six to twelve months of completion consider a forward contract to lock the rate. Track progress in the purchase currency, never the earning one.
Cash needed = Deposit + Transfer tax + Notary & legal + Agent
Each cost is a fixed share of the price, except any mortgage deed fee, which is charged on the loan. A lender finances the property but not the act of buying it, so everything in the formula is money you provide on completion. In the Netherlands a resident buyer is typically asked for 0% down, and buying costs come to 4.7% of the price.
On a €400,000 purchase in the Netherlands as a resident buyer: €0 deposit, €8,000 transfer tax at 2%, €6,000 notary and legal, €4,800 agent commission. That is €18,800 in cash, with the mortgage covering the remaining €400,000.
Budget the closing costs as part of the target, not as an afterthought. In most of Europe they add 5-15% on top of the price and no lender will finance them.
Residency status changes the deposit more than anything else you control. Non-residents are routinely asked for 25-45% where residents put down 0-20%.
Check the region, not just the country. Spanish ITP is set per autonomous community, German Grunderwerbsteuer per Bundesland, and Belgian registration duty varies from about 2% in Flanders to 12.5% in Brussels.
Save in the currency you will buy in. A 10% move against your savings currency can add months to the timeline for a purchase you had already budgeted.
Ask a local broker what a non-national actually gets offered before you fix the target. Advertised loan-to-value ratios and the ones foreigners are quoted are frequently different numbers.
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