A bigger home, closer to school or work: whoever moves almost always buys and sells at the same time. The order determines which risk you carry. This is how you weigh it up, and how you plan backwards from the sale agreement.
Selling first gives certainty about your budget, buying first certainty about your next home. If you buy first, a bridging loan bridges the time until the sale: you pay interest on the full amount and repay in one go (Wikifin, February 2026). For 2 % registration duty on your new sole owner-occupied home in Flanders, you sell your previous home within 2 years after the purchase deed (Flemish Tax Administration, checked on 28 October 2026).
What is your home worth?
First see what your home is worth. Then start preparing early and without obligation: free, for as long as you like.
There is no right order, only a risk you choose. It depends on the market in your area, on your own means and on how much uncertainty you can handle.
Sell first: you know your budget and do not carry two loans at the same time. The risk is that you temporarily have to rent or have to buy sooner than you want.
Buy first: you are certain of your new home. The risk is that the sale takes longer than planned and you finance two homes for a while.
At the same time: you align the sale agreements and deeds of both homes. That requires tight planning and good arrangements with your bank and your notary.
Part 2
How does a bridging loan work?
A bridging loan runs until you receive the money from the sale of your old home. In the meantime you only pay interest, on the full amount, and you repay the capital in one go (Wikifin, February 2026).
How much a bank lends, for how long and at which interest rate differs per bank. Also ask what happens if the term expires and your old home has not yet been sold.
A worked example with an assumed interest rate of 4 % per year, not a market average: on € 200,000 of bridging you then pay about € 667 interest per month. Recalculate it with the interest rate your bank proposes, and with the number of months you realistically need to sell.
Part 3
What is the 2-year rule for 2 % registration duty?
If you buy a sole owner-occupied home in Flanders, since 1 January 2025 you pay 2 % registration duty instead of the ordinary rate of 12 % (Flemish Tax Administration). You may then not be the full owner of another home or building plot, unless you commit to selling it within 2 years after the deed of your new home. With a commitment to an energy renovation or demolition and reconstruction, that is 3 years.
If you do not sell in time, you pay the difference with the ordinary rate, plus a tax increase of 20 % on that difference. You also register at the new address within 3 years after the deed and, for sale agreements from 2026, remain registered there for at least 1 uninterrupted year (Flemish Tax Administration).
An example from 2026: you buy a home of € 450,000. At 2 % you pay € 9,000 registration duty, at 12 % that would be € 54,000. If you do not sell your old home within 2 years, you pay € 45,000 extra, plus € 9,000 tax increase.
The former portability of registration duties no longer exists for purchases from 1 January 2024 (notaris.be).
Registration duty is regional, so these rules apply to Flanders. Brussels works with its own scheme, an abatement for those who have no other home (notaris.be, 2023), and Wallonia too has its own rates and conditions; ask your notary what applies today where you buy.
Part 4
How long does it take from sale agreement to deed?
With the sale agreement (compromis) the sale is concluded: buyer and seller can no longer go back on it (notaris.be). On signing, the buyer usually pays a guarantee, which remains blocked until the deed and then becomes an advance on the price (model sale agreement of the notarial profession).
Between sale agreement and deed there are usually a few months. In that time the notary carries out the compulsory searches, the mortgage certificate can take a while, and whoever has a right of pre-emption gets two months to respond (notaris.be, March 2026).
The sale agreement has to be registered within four months, and within that period the registration duty is due. That is why buyer and seller in practice usually sign the deed within those four months, on a date stated in the sale agreement (notaris.be).
If you buy while you still have to sell, a condition precedent in the sale agreement can protect you, such as that of obtaining a loan. Another condition, for example that you first sell your own home, has to be accepted by the seller; discuss it with your notary.
Part 5
How do you plan backwards from the sale agreement?
If you want to use the proceeds of your old home for your new one, plan the deed of your sale before or on the same day as that of your purchase. If that does not work out, you need a bridging loan.
So work backwards from the date on which you want to sign the sale agreement of your old home. The slowest steps come before that sale agreement:
EPC (energy performance certificate): needed before you put the home up for sale, and the label belongs in your advertisement (Flemish government).
Soil certificate (bodemattest): apply before the sale agreement; you receive it within 14 calendar days, or within 60 if OVAM already has data on your land (OVAM).
Asbestos certificate (asbestattest): compulsory at the sale agreement for a home from before 2001 (OVAM).
Planning information (vastgoedinlichtingen): no older than 1 year at the sale (Flemish government).
Inspection of the electrical installation: at the latest before the deed, with the report for the buyer (model sale agreement of the notarial profession).
Part 6
What can you prepare already?
The earlier your dossier is ready, the less your sale holds up your purchase. In a free sales dossier at Hoobler, data such as the cadastre, the planning information and the regional zoning plan are retrieved, and you see which certificates your home still needs.
EPC, asbestos certificate and electrical inspection you order there via our partner De Immowinkel, at their rate. A free valuation based on the address gives you a first idea of your budget, as a starting point and not as an official valuation.
Part 7
What changes in 2027?
The Flemish Government wants to raise the rate for the sole owner-occupied home from 2 % to 3 % from 1 January 2027. That has been announced, but there is no decree yet (Flemish Tax Administration, checked on 28 October 2026).
According to a position of the Flemish Tax Administration of 1 October 2026, the date of the sale agreement would be decisive: a sale agreement from before 1 January 2027 can then still get 2 %, even if the deed follows in 2027. With a mutual promise to buy and sell, the date of the deed counts, and everything is subject to the decree.
On a home of € 350,000 it comes to € 7,000 at 2 % versus € 10,500 at 3 % (notaire.be, October 2026). Discuss with your notary what your planning means for the rate.
Part 8
Can you stay on in your home for a while after the sale?
Yes, if you agree that in the sale agreement. Normally the buyer gets the use of the home at the deed, but you can agree a later date on which you hand over the keys (model sale agreement of the notarial profession).
That can be free or for a monthly compensation. If staying on for free lasts longer than 1 month, it counts as part of the sale price, and then the buyer's registration duty rises (model sale agreement of the notarial profession).
Such an arrangement gives breathing room if the deed of your new home comes later. Whoever uses the home makes sure it is insured against fire, so agree on that too.
Frequently asked questions
Answered briefly.
How much time do you have to sell your house for 2 % registration duty?
In Flanders 2 years after the deed of your new home, or 3 years if you commit to an energy renovation or demolition and reconstruction (Flemish Tax Administration). If two of you buy, the reduced rate is assessed per buyer.
What happens if your house has not been sold after 2 years?
Then you pay the additional registration duty: the difference between the ordinary rate of 12 % and the reduced rate, with a tax increase of 20 % (Flemish Tax Administration). Also ask your bank what happens to your bridging loan on the end date.
How much does a bridging loan cost?
You pay interest on the full amount until you repay it in one go with the proceeds of your sale (Wikifin). Interest rate and costs differ per bank: ask for a quote and work out what each extra month costs.
How long is there between the sale agreement and the deed?
Usually a few months (notaris.be, March 2026). The sale agreement has to be registered within four months, and buyer and seller agree the date of the deed in the sale agreement.
Does the portability of registration duties still exist?
Not for new purchases: it was abolished from 1 January 2024 (notaris.be). In its place applies the reduced rate of 2 % for the sole owner-occupied home, with the 2-year rule if you still have another home.
Do you pay 3 % registration duty from 2027?
That has been announced, but there is no decree yet (Flemish Tax Administration, checked on 28 October 2026). According to the Flemish Tax Administration, a sale agreement from before 1 January 2027 would still get 2 %, subject to the decree.
Your free sales dossier sets out which documents and certificates your home needs. That way the slowest steps are ready by the day you want to sign a sale agreement.