Our strengths
Buying or building a house is not a frequent endeavor and has a significant impact on your budget. We understand that decisions of this magnitude require time and special attention. At Immodroom, our goal is to accompany you on this important journey by providing transparent information and clear communication.
This page offers a concise overview of key aspects related to real estate, including buying considerations, financing options, advice, and post-acquisition assistance. While your notary and financial institution may consult you about specific details, Immodroom strives to become your collaborative partner, offering tailored solutions that meet your needs.
Additionally, it’s a priority for us to share our values with you. With our many years of experience, these values are not mere slogans but integral principles embedded in our DNA. We practice these values every day, ensuring that they become a true reflection of who we are and what we stand for.
We recognize that each journey is unique. At Immodroom, we approach construction with the belief that it should be a pleasant and meaningful step for your future: a step you can savor with a result that resonates with your dreams. Seeing smiles on the faces of every client at the moment of handing over the keys to the house of their dreams is our ultimate goal, one that we pursue for every customer.
Immodroom’s Sustainability Vision
In an era where every business emphasizes the importance of sustainability, Immodroom positions itself at the forefront. Armed with in-depth technical knowledge of sustainable practices, our company offers optimal sustainability solutions, even for modest budgets. Sustainable construction, aiming for an economical use of energy and water, requires considerable expertise to prove cost-effective once applied.
Compliance with increasingly stringent regulations, such as the Nearly zero-energy (NZE) directives, is not simply a choice but responds to an important necessity in contemporary construction and renovation. While the legislative framework imposes certain requirements, you have the flexibility to determine the extent of your commitment and how to achieve the mandatory E-level, with the support of government incentives [see below]. Immodroom is fully committed to maximizing the sustainability of all projects, ensuring minimal financial impact for the clients. Sustainable living doesn't have to be expensive; it begins with thoughtful location choices and intelligent design.
The fundamental concept of a low-energy home aims to provide increased comfort and improved indoor climate while reducing the use of resources such as materials, energy, or water. Sustainable construction is not limited to the initial building phase; it encompasses considerations such as home accessibility, adaptability over time, and a commitment to sustainable and healthy building material choices.
Our extensive experience in the construction industry allows us to seamlessly integrate sustainability into all aspects of our projects.
Home Automation
Home automation, or domotics, allows you to control various aspects of your living space, such as lighting, heating, blinds, audio, ventilation, and access. These can be controlled manually via a switch, a smartphone app, or a remote control, or automatically based on parameters such as time, presence detectors, and temperature fluctuations.
The possibilities are vast, and it is essential to carefully examine, in collaboration with us, which aspects of your home you want to automate and how. Beyond the range of options, the user-friendliness of the system also plays a crucial role.
In addition to improving the comfort of your home, home automation also offers benefits in terms of security and energy consumption. Thanks to our technical expertise, we offer solutions at Immodroom that not only enhance your daily comfort but also have a positive impact on your long-term financial well-being.
If you desire a more advanced approach, Immodroom can go beyond basic home automation, developing a "smart home" concept tailored to your preferences. Imagine a house that activates your air conditioning in anticipation of your arrival, power outlets that optimize their energy consumption, or smoke and CO detectors that inform and alert you remotely of any abnormalities they detect. The possibilities are limitless, and we are here to turn your vision into a seamlessly integrated reality.
Comprehensive Support
The acquisition of a new home is a major step, and at Immodroom, we are committed to transforming this crucial process into manageable and well-defined stages. Our mission is to guide you professionally, ensuring that each decision precisely meets your needs.
The introduction of the Breyne Law has breathed new life into off-plan sales, giving buyers significant influence over the finishes of their future homes. To make the most of this opportunity, Immodroom provides you with a dedicated customer advisor who will personally accompany you throughout the process. This guidance is both professional and transparent, delivered in a warm and friendly manner. We understand that the design and finishing touches of your dream home are deeply personal experiences, and our goal is to make them as enjoyable as possible.
Moreover, navigating the intricacies of potential subsidies for construction, demolition, or renovation at the local or regional level can seem like a complex challenge. Immodroom simplifies this process by helping you identify applicable subsidies as a future homeowner. Our aim is to maximize the financial investment in your home, offering you the best possible return.
Customer Guidance
At Immodroom, we consider exceptional customer support a cornerstone of our service, giving the highest priority to providing you with accurate and timely information to assist and consult you throughout your decision-making process. This commitment is an integral part of our goal to reach 100% customer satisfaction upon the delivery of your new home. Our dedicated customer advisor, Isabelle, is here to guide you.
She will advise you in finalizing your choices for the kitchen, bathroom, electricity, heating, tiling, and interior doors. You will also receive complimentary styling advice, for example about stunning color pairings. Based on these choices, she compiles a detailed plan for the contractor, ensuring precise execution of all your requirements and preferences. Throughout the construction process, she continues to collaborate with this person, overseeing and coordinating your selections from A to Z.
For us, successful customer guidance also means providing a clear financial overview. The budgets we initially allocate for various finishes are more than sufficient to give your dream home a beautiful and modern look. Our customer success team has personally visited all suppliers in advance, selecting the best showrooms that offer the broadest and most beautiful choices within the predetermined budget.
If you are considering exceeding your budget for specific elements, Immodroom is committed to providing comprehensive, clear, and precise settlements that you can safely approve. Trust is paramount for us, and we ensure to maintain a transparent overview of your total budget that you can consult at any time throughout the process.
In a nutshell, your Customer Success Guide Isabelle will:
- provide information about showrooms, prices, and material choices
- keep you updated on the project schedule
- inform you in a timely manner to make your choices at the selected showrooms
- promptly and accurately seek your approval for any plans, choices, and/or adjustments
- address your inquiries, gather relevant information, and provide you with feedback
- relay notifications or questions from contractor(s) regarding your choices
Financial tips
When it comes to buying your dream home, every bit of money you can save additionally is a win. Beyond the price of your home, there are several taxes such as registration fees and VAT to consider optimizing. Let's delve into some savvy financial tips to make the most of your investment.
1. Unlock the 6% VAT Bonus
Starting a new construction project typically involves a 21% VAT on both materials and labor. However, if you're demolishing an existing building to make way for a new home, you may qualify for a reduced 6% VAT under certain conditions. This can bring substantial financial benefits. Until the close of 2023, different schemes apply based on the plot's location (within or outside city centers). After a review in October 2023, a permanent nationwide scheme with stricter conditions comes into play from 2024.
In the current temporary scheme outside city centers, until 2023's end, even an off-plan sale by a property developer like Immodroom can take place at the reduced 6% VAT rate. However, conditions are stricter than those in the 32 cities. The new home should have a maximum habitable area of 200 m2 and serve as the buyer's sole residence for five years. And you get time to sell your current home until December 31st in the year after you move into your new house.
For private construction contracts, no changes are expected from 2024, but developers like Immodroom won't qualify for the VAT reduction. Luckily, a transitional arrangement exists for projects with an environmental permit applied for before July 1, 2023. As long as it's the buyer's only residence, with an area of up to 200 square meters, all work can be invoiced at the reduced VAT rate of 6% until the close of 2024. This applies to our project "De Drij Coningen," expected to complete in the first half of 2024.
Feel free to contact us for more information about this measure or visit the relevant webpage of the federal government for detailed FAQs. Given the temporary nature of this measure, prompt decision-making is key!
2. Reduced Registration Fees from 01/01/2022
Since January 1, 2022, the registration tax for a family home or apartment dropped from 6% to 3%. The catch? It must be your only family home; no other property ownership is allowed. However, if you already own a home you don't plan to sell, starting January 1, 2022, you'll pay 12% registration tax instead of 10% for a second residence or investment property.
If your current home isn't sold when purchasing your new one, no worries. You can still enjoy the reduced rate by committing to selling the property within one year after the notarial deed. The Flemish government will even extend this period to two years in the future.
On the flip side, the new regulation scraps transferability of registration tax from January 1, 2024. Until then, you can still benefit from transferability for a new purchase.
If, as the buyer of a family home, you qualify for both the reduced rate of 3% or 1% and for transferability, you'll need to choose between the old rate of 6% or 5% combined with transferability or the new rate of 3% or 1% without transferability.
3. Transferability of Registration Duties (until 31/12/2023)
As described above, a transitional arrangement is in place, allowing individuals to opt for the transferability of registration duties for purchase deeds executed until 31/12/2023. Those who previously purchased a property and are now acquiring a new one can still qualify for a reconciliation or refund of registration tax.
The ceiling for the amount that can be "carried over" remains at €13,000. However, you can never carry over more registration duties than you originally paid. For example, if you paid €10,000 in registration tax for the purchase of your previous property, that becomes your limit.
If the old property is sold before acquiring the new one, you can immediately benefit from the transferability, and the previously paid registration duties will be deducted. If the sale occurs afterward, your notary will file a petition to reclaim the excess tax paid.
Several conditions must be met. You are eligible for transferability only if you paid registration duties on the first property. If you acquired the property through a donation or inheritance, you do not qualify. Additionally, it must involve property where you actually reside, excluding garages, second homes, or income properties. Another requirement is the residency obligation – you must have lived in the house or apartment for 18 months before selling the old property. Furthermore, both properties must be located in the Flemish Region; transferability does not apply if you purchase a house in Brussels or Wallonia and move from Flanders.
The transferability system is not limited to existing homes. If the land of a new-build house or apartment falls under the registration duty system, you can also use transferability, but only for the land, not for the VAT on the new-build property. However, in the case of a new build or off-plan purchase, you have more time to sell the old property. The usual term is extended from two to five years.
4. Split Purchase of Land and Construction
For the construction value of a new build, you would normally pay 21% VAT. By purchasing "off-plan" with Immodroom, you can save 9% tax on the acquisition of the land. Immodroom operates with a split-sale system where the seller of the land share and the seller of the construction are two separate entities. In this case, you pay only 12% registration duties on this building land instead of 21% VAT; a substantial saving.
5. Benefits of Investing in Real Estate
Real estate investments can be fiscally advantageous. If you have occupied a property yourself for at least 12 months and were registered there, you do not have to pay any tax on the capital gain realized upon sale of that property.
Furthermore, investing in a property is a secure and profitable choice. If you purchase an apartment as income property, you would typically not reside there, yet you can still enjoy a tax-free capital gain from your real estate. All you need to do is wait until five years have elapsed between purchase and sale, thereby avoiding the capital gain tax upon sale (16.5% on the difference between purchase and sale price), and regardless of the size of your capital gain. In the meantime, you can benefit from rental income. This makes real estate investment a highly appealing option.
If you don't have the budget to invest in an income property, you can still join Immodroom in a project. You invest in the land value (starting from €50,000) and, upon sale of the land (several years later), you can enjoy a certain and solid return, surpassing the returns of major banks. Contact us for specific conditions.
6. Tax Optimization for Renting
In addition to property tax, there is also tax payable on rental income from real estate, which you must declare in personal income tax. A tip in this regard is to rent out your second residence to individuals. Currently, the tax authorities do not (yet) tax the actual rental income in this case, but only the indexed cadastral income (C.I.), increased by 40%.
If you rent to a company or someone who uses the property (partially) for professional purposes (or if the legislation effectively changes), then the actual amounts collected will be taxed. However, even in this scenario, the return remains attractive, as you can maximize your tax deduction through professional expenses. This deduction is at least 40%, thanks to the 'forfait' for professional expenses (without the need to provide proof of actual costs).
Vision and Values
A New Way of Working, Living, and Dreaming
Our society is changing rapidly, moving towards more sustainability, tolerance, and openness. Contractors and developers don't always have the best reputation. Immodroom aims to clearly differentiate itself: clear agreements, good quality, respecting the timeline, and absolute transparency regarding budgets and additional costs.
Passion for our Craft
Immodroom boasts over 100 years of experience in construction and development. This is what we live for, and we take great pride in it. We are eager to share our knowledge with our customers, ensuring you get the best value for the most comfortable home.
A New Way of Working, Living, and Dreaming
Our society is changing rapidly, moving towards more sustainability, tolerance, and openness. Contractors and developers don't always have the best reputation. Immodroom aims to clearly differentiate itself: clear agreements, good quality, respecting the timeline, and absolute transparency regarding budgets and additional costs.
Passion for our Craft
Immodroom boasts over 100 years of experience in construction and development. This is what we live for, and we take great pride in it. We are eager to share our knowledge with our customers, ensuring you get the best value for the most comfortable home.
Reliable Partners
By being honest, transparent, and open, we can collaborate trust-based with our customers. This approach allows us to work effortlessly with all buyers of our homes from start to finish. By always delivering on our promises, we turn you into the best ambassadors for our company.
Sustainable Solutions
We have long been convinced of the possibilities of alternative techniques in construction. In recent years, our colleagues have also realized this, but we want to do everything in our power to maintain our technical and practical advantage in this regard. Respect for the environment, our planet, and each other is the foundation of our real estate projects and a constructive collaboration with our customers.
Reliable Partners
By being honest, transparent, and open, we can collaborate trust-based with our customers. This approach allows us to work effortlessly with all buyers of our homes from start to finish. By always delivering on our promises, we turn you into the best ambassadors for our company.
Sustainable Solutions
We have long been convinced of the possibilities of alternative techniques in construction. In recent years, our colleagues have also realized this, but we want to do everything in our power to maintain our technical and practical advantage in this regard. Respect for the environment, our planet, and each other is the foundation of our real estate projects and a constructive collaboration with our customers.
