The price you see isn't what you pay

Thursday morning, Condamine market. Coffee at the counter, and next to me an Italian gentleman with a property listing open on his phone. He asks me if the price is right. I answer with the question I ask everyone: which price — the one written down, or the one you'll actually pay?

Because in Monaco, the most expensive mistake isn't paying a lot. It's not knowing, before you sign, how much you're really paying.

The number you see is not the number you pay.

Start with renting — the way most people arrive. A studio starts around €2,000 a month — and climbs to €16,000 for the most prestigious ones, sea view in the Carré d'Or. Yes, a studio: welcome to Monaco. But the figure almost nobody budgets for is the charges: concierge, maintenance, water, sometimes heating. Another €500 to €1,500 a month, on top. Over a year, that's the price of a car. Add the deposit — typically three months — the agency fee, and the guarantees a foreigner is asked for rather more readily than a resident. Whoever puts all of this in writing before, not after, is actually looking after you.

Buying widens the gap. On an existing property, a private buyer should add roughly 10% on top of the price: around 3.6% in agency commission, plus about 6.25% in notary and registration duties. On a five-million apartment, that's half a million euros the listing never mentioned. New builds are cheaper to transact — around 2.5%, VAT already in the price — while buying through a foreign company can push duties alone to 9–10%: almost always a bad idea without proper advice.

Then there's the cost you won't find in any table. I call it the foreigner price. Not because anyone here cheats you — on that, they're impeccable — but because the true value of a property is known only to those inside the market. Outsiders are shown the good one at full price. Insiders are offered the best one at the right price. The difference between those two sentences is worth more than every table in this email.

From my notebook. Something that surprises every newcomer: in Monaco, a parking space is an asset in its own right. It's bought and rented separately from the apartment, with its own market and its own prices. Nobody tells you until you need one. Which is immediately.

If you're running the numbers on Monaco — out of curiosity or for real — reply to this email and tell me which figure you're unsure about. I read and answer personally.

Davide

Indicative figures, 2025–2026; every case needs proper professional review. This email explains how things work — it is not tax or legal advice.