- For foreign buyers
- Built with local realtors
- Updated this quarter
Here's 99% of what you need to know before buying in Vienna.
The 12 documents we wish we had before buying in Vienna. What each district costs, what the law will actually let you charge in rent, how long a flat sits before it sells. Plus the things nobody writes down: the ten percent that lands on top of the price, and whether you are allowed to buy at all.
The 12 documents to make a good real estate investment in Vienna in 2026
Rent in an old building here is capped by law, nightly letting is barred in most residential streets, and a buyer from outside the union may need permission before signing anything. These documents show you what is actually earned and paid. They are put together with agents, lawyers and owners we work with in the city.
Questions
Do you list your sources?
Yes, on every table. Each one says where the figures came from and the month they were collected: land register sale prices, published tax and notary rates, listing histories we track ourselves, building accounts and reserve fund statements shared with us by owners, and what the agents we work with in each district are seeing week to week. Anything that is an estimate rather than a recorded number is labelled as one.
Am I even allowed to buy here?
If you hold a passport from outside the European Economic Area, not automatically. A purchase generally needs clearance from the city's land transfer authority, and there are structures people use to get around it that work better on paper than in practice. What applies to you, and what to establish before you commit, is document 10.
Why can I not just charge market rent?
Because in buildings from before the war the rent is set by a statutory formula rather than by demand, and a fixed term contract cuts it further. Two similar flats can be worth very different amounts as investments for that reason alone, which is what document 02 measures.
Can I let it out by the night?
In most residential streets, no. The city restricted touristic letting in residential zones and tightened it again recently, and a permit is required rather than simply a licence. Where it is still possible, and what it earns, is document 01.
How much do the costs really add?
Close to a tenth of the purchase price once the transfer tax, the registration, the lawyer and the agent are counted, and none of that appears in a listing. Document 08 works it through on three real prices and says which parts are negotiable.
What if someone is already living in the flat?
Then you may be buying the tenancy as much as the property. An old contract can sit at a fraction of the market rent and cannot easily be ended, which changes what the flat is worth to you. Document 11 covers what to check and what to have settled before signing.
How long are the documents?
One to four pages each. They are tables and checklists rather than reports, so any one of them takes about ten minutes to read.
Which areas do you cover?
Eighteen districts and quarters: Innere Stadt, Leopoldstadt, Landstraße, Wieden, Margareten, Mariahilf, Neubau, Josefstadt, Alsergrund, Favoriten, Meidling, Hietzing, Penzing, Ottakring, Währing, Döbling, Brigittenau and Donaustadt. If you need somewhere or a specific building that is not in there, write to us and we will put it together for you at no extra cost.
I have a question about my own situation.
Ask us. If the answer is in the research we already have, we will send it. If it needs a call to someone in that district or a look at a specific building, we will do that too and come back to you, at no extra cost.
Is $99 a lot for a set of documents?
You are about to spend several hundred thousand euros in a market with rules that do not exist where you come from. A rent you are not allowed to charge, a tenant you cannot move, a permit you did not know you needed: there are plenty of ways this gets expensive.
What format are they in, and when do I get them?
PDF, so you can read them on your phone, tablet or computer. The download link appears on screen straight after payment and a copy arrives by email.
How often are they updated?
Every quarter. Our contacts in Vienna re-check the numbers before each release, so the version you download today is the one updated this quarter.
I have another question.
Ask us on the contact page and we will get back to you.
Three packs
The first pack has 4 documents, the second has 6, and the third has all 12 of our Vienna research.
All the data and information in these documents was checked this year with agents, lawyers and owners working in Vienna.