When you buy an apartment or a house on credit, the bank wants a guarantee. If you can no longer repay, it must be able to recover its investment. The mortgage is one of the most common solutions: it gives the bank a right over your property. But this security comes at a price, often exceeding what borrowers imagine at the time of signing.
Property advertising tax and notary fees: the two biggest costs
Most guides detail mortgage fees as a list of accounting lines. In practice, two items account for the majority of the bill.
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The first is the property advertising tax. It represents a percentage of the guaranteed amount (the borrowed capital increased by about 20%). This tax is set by the state and is non-negotiable. It constitutes the bulk of the cost.
The second item is the notary’s fees. The notary does not freely choose their rates for taking a mortgage: they follow a regulated scale, decreasing according to the amount. The higher the loan, the lower the rate applied per tranche. Understanding the cost of a mortgage for a real estate loan requires distinguishing these two lines, as they react differently to the borrowed amount.
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In addition to these two items, there are the real estate security contribution and various fees (disbursements, stamps), but their weight remains secondary.
Mortgage or bank guarantee: compare before accepting the bank’s choice
You may have heard of the guarantee as an alternative to the mortgage. The cost difference between the two is worth considering.
The guarantee (offered by organizations like Crédit Logement) operates on a different principle. You pay an amount to the guarantee organization. A portion of this amount is refunded to you at the end of the loan, which reduces the net cost. With a mortgage, nothing is recoverable.
So why choose a mortgage? Several situations necessitate it:
- The guarantee organization refuses the application (atypical profile, irregular income, rental investment with a complex setup)
- The loan finances a property in VEFA or a construction, cases where some banks require a mortgage
- The borrower takes out a subsidized loan (like the zero-interest loan), which may require a specific mortgage registration
The guarantee generally costs less than the mortgage over the total duration, especially if you repay your loan before its term. Because in this case, the mortgage incurs an additional cost: the release fees.
Mortgage release fees: the hidden cost of early repayment
The mortgage remains registered with the property advertising service for the entire duration of the loan, plus one year after the last payment. If you sell the property or repay the credit before this term, the mortgage must be lifted. This is the release.
This procedure goes back through the notary. It incurs fees, a tax, and administrative costs. On a medium-sized loan, the release can represent several thousand euros.
If you keep the property until the end of the loan and wait an additional year, the mortgage automatically extinguishes. No release fees are then due. This detail changes the game for those considering reselling in the medium term.
Anticipate resale from the outset
Before validating the type of guarantee, ask yourself: do you plan to keep this property for the entire duration of the loan? If the answer is no, or if it is uncertain, the potential additional cost of the release should be factored into the calculation from the start. Adding registration fees and release fees gives the true cost of the mortgage.
Declining mortgage rates: what impact on the relative weight of the mortgage
Since 2024, mortgage rates have significantly decreased. The Crédit Logement/CSA Observatory shows that the best rates over 15 years have dropped from about 4.00% to 2.90% in one year. Average market rates are around 3.26% for 15 years and 3.37% for 20 years in 2026.
This decline reduces the total amount of interest paid over the duration of the loan. Mortgage fees, however, have not followed the same trajectory. The share of guarantee fees in the overall cost of credit increases when rates decrease.
In practical terms, on a low-rate loan, the cost difference between a mortgage and a guarantee weighs proportionally heavier than during periods of high rates. This is a parameter that many borrowers overlook in 2024-2025, focusing on the nominal rate.
Negotiate the guarantee, not just the rate
Most borrowers spend weeks negotiating a tenth of a point on their interest rate. The choice of guarantee is often made in five minutes, based on the bank’s proposal. Systematically comparing the net cost of a guarantee and that of a mortgage (registration plus potential release) can save more than negotiating the rate itself.
- Request a guarantee quote from your bank’s partner organization, even if it defaults to offering a mortgage
- Have the release fees estimated by the notary before signing the loan offer
- Incorporate the expected holding period of the property into your comparison
The cost of a mortgage is not limited to a line on the loan offer table. It is calculated by adding the registration, any release, and relating it to the total cost of credit. In a context of declining rates, this item becomes a significant savings lever for the attentive borrower.