After you buy: the costs that come next

With the keys in your hand, the most expensive part is done – but not the last. A home of your own costs more every month than the loan payment, and some bills come rarely but in large amounts. If you know about them, you can prepare. If you don't, you may have to borrow expensively at the worst moment.

Every year: the running costs

Property tax

The municipality charges property tax (Grundsteuer) every year, usually in four instalments. Since 2025 it has been calculated under new rules; for many homes it went up, for others down. The amount depends heavily on your municipality's multiplier (Hebesatz). Ask for the current tax notice before you buy – it belongs to the papers the seller should have.

Buildings insurance

A must for a house if you have a mortgage: the bank requires it. Premiums rise almost every year automatically with construction prices; in 2026 by just over 4%. Check whether natural hazards (Elementarschäden) – heavy rain, flooding, sewage backflow – are included. Without that add-on, standard buildings insurance doesn't pay for flooding. For a flat, the owners' association takes out the insurance and you pay through the house money.

Energy and the CO₂ price

If you heat with gas or oil, you've paid a CO₂ price since 2021 – €55 to €65 per tonne in 2026. That's up to about 1.6 cents per kWh of gas and just over 20 cents per litre of heating oil. For a house using 15,000 kWh of gas, it comes to roughly €230 a year – and it's set to rise: from 2028 the European emissions trading system is due to set the price, and nobody knows today how high it will be.

Small items that add up

Chimney sweep, waste collection, sewage, street cleaning, boiler servicing, electricity for pumps and outdoor lights: for a single-family house that's quickly several hundred euros a year. In a rented flat these were hidden in the service charges – now you pay them directly.

For the future: maintenance

This is the item most people underestimate, because it comes irregularly: five years of almost nothing, then a new roof. One guide is the old rule from social housing (the II. Berechnungsverordnung), which sets an annual amount by the building's age:

For a 40-year-old house with 130 m², that's about €1,500 a year, or €125 a month. The Association of Private Builders (VPB) recommends at least €1 per m² per month across the board. In practice you should put aside rather more, especially for older houses. What typically comes up:

• Heating: after about 20 to 25 years. A heat pump costs several times as much as a gas boiler; the state subsidy covers 30 to 80% of eligible costs, depending on income.
• Roof: after about 40 to 60 years, easily five figures.
• Windows, façade, bathroom, pipes: depending on age and condition.

For a flat, you pay the reserve for the common property through the house money. For your flat itself – bathroom, floors, kitchen – put something aside on top.

In the first years

• Duties after buying: if you buy a one- or two-family house, you must insulate the top floor ceiling and exposed heating pipes within two years if that's missing. Usually manageable, but it belongs in the budget.
• Moving-in costs: removal, kitchen, lamps, garden tools, tools, small repairs you "do while you're at it". If you're coming from a rented flat, you don't own many of these yet.
• Municipal charges: if the street in front of the house is developed for the first time or upgraded, residents can be charged a share. Many states have abolished charges for upgrading existing streets, but not all. Ask the municipality before buying whether works are planned.

After ten years: refinancing

The biggest single future cost is often not on the list at all: at the end of the fixed-rate period, a large part of the loan is usually still outstanding. For this remaining debt (Restschuld) you need a new rate – and nobody knows how high it will be.

If the rate for the remaining debt is one percentage point higher, the payment for the same repayment rises by about a twelfth of one percent of the remaining debt per month – with about €227,000 left, that's just under €190. Repaying a little extra every year shrinks this risk. In the mortgage calculator you can try different follow-up rates and extra repayments.

How big a buffer?

A simple split that works well:

1. Emergency fund: three to six months of spending in an instant-access account, separate from the house – for job loss or illness.
2. Maintenance reserve: a fixed amount every month, based on the table above, into a separate account.
3. Starting buffer: a few thousand euros left after the purchase for the first surprises – they almost always come.

Build these amounts into your monthly budget before you buy. The Can I buy this home? calculator subtracts running costs from your income and shows what's left.

In short

• Every year: property tax, insurance, energy with the CO₂ price and many small items.
• A maintenance reserve of about €7 to €12 per m² per year, more for older houses.
• With flats: be ready for special levies.
• Refinancing after the fixed-rate period may cost more – extra repayments help.
• An emergency fund doesn't belong in the house.