Can you sell a house in Belgium without an agent?

Yes. Belgian law lets you sell your home directly to a buyer, and a notary signs the deed whether or not an agent was involved. The Belgian notaries use 3% of the price plus VAT as their example agency fee. On the median Belgian apartment, at €295,000, that's €10,709 you keep.

Last reviewed: 2026-09-30. Seeki.eu is not a legal or tax adviser; this is orientation, not advice. Certificate rules are set by each region and change often. Confirm your own case with a Belgian notary before you advertise or sign anything.

What does an estate agent cost in Belgium?

An agent's fee is a percentage, so it grows with your price while the work stays the same. The Royal Federation of Belgian Notaries (Fednot), the notaries' professional body, gives 3% of the sale price plus VAT as its example agency cost in its March 2025 seller brochure. The consumer organisation Test-Aankoop puts the usual range at 2% to 4%, averaging 3%, or 3.63% with VAT, and notes there's no legal maximum. The table applies 3% to median apartment prices in Seeki.eu listings data as of 30 September 2026.

City	Median apartment price	Agent at 3% plus 21% VAT	Seeki.eu publish fee
Ghent	€375,000	€13,613	€9
City of Brussels	€339,000	€12,306	€9
Belgium, national median	€295,000	€10,709	€9
Antwerp	€275,000	€9,983	€9
Liège	€199,000	€7,224	€9

On a Ghent apartment, the agent's example fee is almost double the buyer's registration duty. Bought as an only home in Flanders, that flat carries €7,500 of duty at 2%, per our guide to Belgian registration duties for buyers. The agent's cut is €13,613. That's the gap you close.

Is it legal to sell without an agent, and what does the notary do?

In Belgium the agent is optional and the notary isn't. Fednot's seller brochure says a sale by private agreement (vente de gré à gré) can run directly between seller and buyer. It can also run through an intermediary, either a notary or an estate agent. Either way, ownership passes in an authentic deed signed before a notary.

"The parties freely choose their own notary," the notaries' site notaris.be states (our translation). You pick yours, and the buyer picks theirs. Two notaries cost no more than one, because they split the fee, which is fixed by law. The first meeting with a notary is free, per Fednot's brochure. Use it early.

The notary does the checks an agent never did. Before the deed, the office searches the mortgage register and asks the commune for urban-planning information, which the commune must supply within 30 days. It also checks the tax authorities for debts you owe. Any mortgage and tax debt is paid out of the price before the balance reaches your account.

What the notary won't do is sell the house for you, unless you hire the office to market it. That part is yours. The price, the photos, the advert and the viewings stay with you. Our guide to running property viewings without an agent covers the last of those.

How do you price a Belgian home without an agent?

Pricing is the job agents sell hardest. You can do it from public data. A Belgian apartment asks a median €3,328/m² on Seeki.eu as of 30 September 2026. The spread runs from €2,618/m² in Liège to €4,211/m² in Ghent, according to our Belgium property prices 2026 report.

Start from your city. Not the country. A 90 m² Antwerp flat at the local median of €3,355/m² points to about €302,000 before you adjust for condition, floor, outdoor space and the energy label. Seeki.eu's value estimator does that arithmetic from the local median €/m², adjusted for size and condition. It's a starting estimate, not an appraisal. It's also free.

Then check it against what's on sale this week. The Belgian price-per-m² page breaks the median down by region, city and Brussels municipality. The method for adjusting from a median to your own asking price is in how to price your home to sell, using real data.

Mind the energy label. Buyers are increasingly sensitive to it, the Fednot brochure notes, and a poor energy performance can cut your price. Price with the certificate in hand.

Which certificates do you need in Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels?

Belgium hands you a different checklist depending on which side of a regional border your front door sits. Six documents apply everywhere, according to Fednot's seller brochure. Four more depend on the region. Start early, because the commune takes up to 30 days to answer and the notary can't request some papers until others arrive.

Document	Where it applies	When you need it
Energy performance certificate (EPC in Flanders, certificat PEB in Wallonia and Brussels)	All three regions	Before you advertise, with its rating in the advert
Electrical inspection report	All three regions	By the deed. A failed installation gives the buyer 18 months, in principle, to fix it
Soil certificate	All three regions	Before the sale agreement
Urban-planning information from the commune	All three regions	In the advert, at least the zoning and permit details
Post-intervention file (dossier d'intervention ultérieure)	All three regions	Covers works done since 1 May 2001, handed over at the deed
Co-ownership papers from the building manager	Apartments, all three regions	Before the sale agreement
Asbestos certificate (asbestattest)	Flanders, buildings from before 2001	At the latest when the sale agreement is signed
Flood scores and flood report	Flanders	Scores in the advert, report attached to the sale agreement
Heating-oil tank check	Wallonia for tanks of 3,000 litres or more, with separate rules in Flanders and Brussels	By the deed
Water-installation certificate (CertIBEau)	Wallonia, homes connected to mains water since 1 June 2021	Its content goes in the sale agreement and deed

Order the energy certificate first. It gates the advert. Flanders fines a missing EPC between €500 and €5,000, per the Flemish government. Wallonia fines €1,000 for listing without a valid PEB certificate. Brussels sets administrative fines of €50 to €62,500.

Soil comes next. In Flanders the soil certificate (bodemattest) comes from OVAM, the Flemish waste and soil agency. In Brussels it's the soil certificate (attestation du sol) from Bruxelles Environnement. In Wallonia it's an extract from the soil database (BDES), which costs €30 and stays valid for a year for a sale. Our guide to the energy certificate you need to sell or rent a home compares the certificates country by country. The wider paper trail is in the documents you need to sell an apartment.

What does Flanders ask for that Wallonia and Brussels don't?

A Flemish sale carries two extra certificates and one warning for your buyer. The asbestos certificate (asbestattest) has been compulsory since 23 November 2022 for any building built before 2001, according to OVAM. You must hand it over at the latest when the sale agreement is signed. If you don't, the buyer can have the sale declared void.

Flood risk is public, too. Since 1 January 2023, Flemish sale adverts must show the plot's flood score (P-score) and the building's flood score (G-score), according to the Flemish water policy site. A flood report (overstromingsrapport) must be attached to the sale agreement and the deed.

Then the label bites. Anyone who buys a Flemish home rated E or F must renovate it to at least label D within six years of the deed, the Flemish government states. From 2028 the target rises to label C.

That's the fact that moves your price. A buyer of an F-rated house is also buying a renovation deadline. Expect it priced into every offer. Your EPC is a sales document as much as a legal one.

What happens once you and the buyer sign?

A Belgian sale is final at the handshake on paper, not at the notary's desk. "The compromis is binding from the moment the parties have agreed a price and an object," notaris.be states (our translation). That document is the sale agreement (compromis de vente in French, verkoopovereenkomst in Dutch). Even a signed purchase offer already commits you, Fednot warns, so call your notary before you countersign one.

Money moves next. The buyer usually pays a deposit of about 10% of the price at signing, according to Fednot's seller brochure. The notary holds it and pays it out to you at the deed.

The clock then runs. At most four months pass between the sale agreement and the notarial deed, and the buyer's registration duty must be paid within that window, according to notaris.be. Fednot's brochure calls it a legal maximum.

Most buyers add a condition that they get a mortgage. Banks usually hold an interest-rate offer for three months at most, the brochure notes. So agree the loan deadline and your moving-out date when you sign. Not afterwards.

At the deed you receive the price and hand over the keys. Straight after, the notary has the deed transcribed in the buyer's name at the property registration office (bureau Sécurité juridique).

Where can a private seller advertise in Belgium?

Immoweb is Belgium's established national property portal, where the local audience already searches. It takes private sellers but has no free tier, as our survey of where private sellers can list property in Europe found. That audience is real. It's also local.

Belgium borders the Netherlands, France and Germany, and your buyer may not live in Belgium at all. A Dutch buyer eyeing Antwerp may search from home, in Dutch. A French buyer weighing Liège against Lille may search in French. The rules those buyers already know are in the Buying Property in the Netherlands as a Foreigner (2026 Guide) and the Buying Property in France as a Foreigner (2026 Guide).

Until recently a private seller had no cheap way to reach them. A listing on Seeki.eu now does, for €9 at the launch price (regularly €29), with no commission on the sale. Buyers see your price in the currency they choose, and a buyer browsing in any of 12 languages reads your title and description translated on demand. Dutch sellers face the same choice in reverse, set out in our guide to selling a house in the Netherlands without an agent.

What does the Seeki.eu app do for a Belgian seller?

An agent's real product was a finished listing. The Seeki.eu app builds one on your phone, in this order, and every creation tool is free.

Tool	What it does	Cost
Guided photo capture	Walks you room by room and flags the rooms still missing	Free
Photo enhancement	Brightens dark shots, attempts a fix on blurry ones, keeps the original	Free
Virtual staging	Furnishes an empty or dated room	Free
Floor plan	You tap each corner, and the app measures the walls and marks doors and windows	Free
3D floor plan	Renders your captured plan in 3D	Free
360° room tour	One sweep per room, no tripod	Free
Walkthrough video	A recorded walk through the home	Free
Description and title	AI reads your photos and drafts both	Free
Feature identification	Reads balcony, lift, garage, heating, condition and the energy rating from the photos	Free
Guide price	Local median €/m², adjusted for size and condition	Free
Publish on Seeki.eu	Buyers across Europe, no commission	€9 launch price, regularly €29
Portal export	A paste-ready bundle in each portal's own field labels	Free. You post and pay there yourself

Read the export line carefully. It doesn't publish for you. You build the listing once, paste it into Immoweb or any other portal, and pay that portal yourself. The shots that matter most are in how to photograph your home to sell.

Frequently asked questions

Can I sell my house in Belgium without an estate agent?

Yes. It's legal. The Royal Federation of Belgian Notaries confirms that a private sale can be agreed directly between seller and buyer. A notary is still required, because ownership passes in an authentic notarial deed, and each party may choose its own notary. Without an agent you handle the price, the advert, the viewings and the pre-sale certificates, while the notary runs the legal checks and the deed.

How much does an estate agent charge in Belgium?

Usually 2% to 4% of the sale price, 3% on average, or 3.63% with VAT, according to the consumer organisation Test-Aankoop. There's no legal maximum. On the median Belgian apartment at €295,000, 3% plus VAT comes to €10,709. Listing the same home on Seeki.eu costs €9 at the launch price, regularly €29, with no commission, and the app's listing tools are free.

What documents do I need to sell a house in Flanders?

You need an energy performance certificate, known as an EPC, before you advertise, and its score goes in the advert. You also need an electrical inspection report, a soil certificate from OVAM called a bodemattest, and urban-planning information from the commune. A building from before 2001 needs an asbestos certificate, the asbestattest. Flemish adverts must show the flood scores, and a flood report goes with the sale agreement.

How long after the sale agreement is the notarial deed signed in Belgium?

At most four months after the sale agreement, known as the compromis de vente or verkoopovereenkomst. The Belgian notaries' site notaris.be says that period is the maximum, and the buyer's registration duty must be paid within it. The agreement binds both sides from signing, and the buyer usually pays a deposit of about 10% of the price, held by the notary until the deed.

How do I price my Belgian home without an agent?

Start from the local median asking price per square metre, then adjust for size, condition, outdoor space and the energy rating. A Belgian apartment asks a median €3,328/m² on Seeki.eu as of 30 September 2026, from €2,618/m² in Liège to €4,211/m² in Ghent. The Seeki.eu value estimator turns the local median into a guide price, a starting estimate rather than an appraisal.

Where can a private seller advertise property in Belgium?

Seeki.eu publishes a private Belgian listing to buyers across Europe for €9 at the launch price, regularly €29, with no commission, and its free app builds the listing from your photos. Immoweb, the national Belgian portal, accepts private sellers but has no free tier. The app's export bundle prepares the same listing with each portal's own field labels, and you post it and pay there yourself.

Sources

• Private sale, notary role, agency-fee example, deposit, documents: the Royal Federation of Belgian Notaries (Fednot), Je vends mon bien seller brochure, March 2025.
• Binding sale agreement and free choice of notary: Fednot on notaris.be, how to buy or sell a home.
• Agent commission: the consumer organisation Test-Aankoop, what an estate agent costs, 5 June 2025.
• Four-month window: Fednot on notaris.be, the sale agreement. Two notaries, one fee: notaris.be, two notaries on a sale.
• Flanders: the Flemish government on the EPC for a sale or rental and the renovation obligation. OVAM on the asbestos certificate at sale and the soil certificate. The Flemish water policy site on the flood information duty.
• Wallonia: the Walloon energy portal on the PEB certificate and its fines, and the Walloon environment portal on the soil database extract. The oil-tank and CertIBEau rules are from the Fednot brochure.
• Brussels: Bruxelles Environnement on the PEB certificate and the soil certificate.
• Prices: Seeki.eu median asking prices for apartments listed for sale, taken on 30 September 2026, as described in the methodology of our Belgium property prices 2026 report. They're asking prices, not registered sale prices. Agent fees in the table are the Fednot 3% example plus 21% VAT, rounded to the euro.