- 7/5/2025

Buying a house in a public or private sale?

Warning, borrowing money also costs money.

The most common option - Private sale

Buying a home directly from a private owner or through an estate agent for a predetermined asking price is called a private sale .

How does such a sale proceed?

If you have finally found your dream home, but you first want to quickly check a few things (e.g. you have a few urban planning questions for your municipality), you can ask the seller for an option or a ‘sales promise’. This buys you time: you have ‘first dibs’ on the house for a specific period of time. If you have agreed on the sales price with the seller and you don't need to check anything else, you can skip that step and draw up a 'compromis' or preliminary sales agreement right away. If the seller works with a real estate agent, they will do this. Or you can draw up a sales agreement yourself, in your own words. Make sure that you include all the required information in this document, because a preliminary sales agreement (compromis) is binding. Once you have signed it, the sale is official. Always have your notary check it just to be sure.

When signing the preliminary sales agreement, you will in principle pay the seller an advance of 5 to 10% of the sales price (preferably to be paid into a notary's third party account), as a mutual guarantee.

After the signing of the preliminary sales agreement, you will probably need a mortgage credit or home loan to finance your purchase. Legally, you have just four months to do this, because you must sign the deed of sale (in legal jargon: ‘execute the deed’) at the notary office within four months of signing the preliminary sales agreement. You pay the remaining amount to the seller. In practice, the bank with which you have taken out a mortgage deposits the purchase price or the borrowed amount into the account of the notary, who transfers it to the seller after the deed has been signed.

The fastest – Auction

An auction is conducted by a notary. In this type of sale, you bid against other interested buyers. Auctions are announced in newspapers and on large yellow posters and traditionally take place in a public venue under the supervision of a notary. These days, auctions are also organised online.

How does an auction proceed?

If you have your eye on a house that is being sold at public auction, make an appointment with the notary to view the house and, if you are interested, ask for the specifications. This includes the conditions of sale and an overview of all the costs and taxes that you as the buyer will have to pay. Take these costs into account when deciding how much you want to bid. On the day of the auction, the price is determined by bidding, and the highest bidder ‘wins’. The notary determines whether or not there is a starting price (based on the estimated value). If no one wants to bid at this price, the notary will suggest a lower price. If there is no starting price, bidding starts at zero euros.

No preliminary sales agreement is required. The deed of sale is drawn up on site in the auction venue. You must pay the costs within 5 days. The purchase price of the house must be paid within 4 to 6 weeks after allocation.  So make sure you know in advance how much you can borrow and bid. If you cannot pay on time, the house will be put up for sale again. If the new price is lower than the price you had previously bid, you must pay the difference. This is something you want to avoid at all costs.

The right to a higher bid

After the auction day, there may be a ‘right to a higher bid’ for a period of 15 days. During this period, interested parties can submit a bid that is at least 10% higher than the last bid. If there is a higher bid, a second auction day will be organised.

You can now also bid online: the Royal Federation of Belgian Notaries has created the online platform Biddit.be for this purpose. The traditional auction in a venue is replaced online with a period of time, e.g. a week, during which bidders can submit a bid.

Please note: for an online public auction, there is no right to a higher bid. The seller can decide not to sell the house if they consider the offered price too low.

A comparison: The pros and cons

The advantages and disadvantages of a private sale

• Advantages: A wider range of homes, you can be certain of your purchase after signing the preliminary sales agreement, and there is the option of including a clause that cancels the sale (e.g. if you are unable to obtain a mortgage credit).
• Disadvantages: The price is often 5% to 10% higher than the real value, and you will have to be patient before you can get your hands on the keys to your new home (up to four months from the signing of the preliminary sales agreement).

The advantages and disadvantages of auctions

• Advantages: A quick procedure, the price is determined by auction and is relatively low at the start of the auction (auction system). It is legally watertight and safe (because the entire process is overseen by a notary).
• Disadvantages: Higher costs (e.g. the seller's publicity costs for advertisements and posters must be paid by the buyer), a very short payment term, uncertainty (the seller can still decide to cancel the sale if someone submits a higher bid), and no possibility of including a clause to cancel the sale (e.g. if you cannot obtain a mortgage credit).