Living
Finding an apartment in Germany is a challenging matter. The housing market is large, but there are also a lot of prospective tenants and the documents that landlords expect from applicants are getting longer and longer. In popular large cities such as Munich, Stuttgart, Berlin or Hamburg, the housing market is particularly fiercely competitive. And if you are looking for a rental apartment for the first time, it would make sense to first get well informed or familiarize yourself with legal regulations and terms in German.
The best way to find an apartment is to look at the apartment advertisements on the Internet or in local newspapers.
Tip: Start looking for an apartment at least three months before the move-in date.
There are many factors that are out of your control. Time is your greatest ally.
Before renting an apartment, whether from a private person or a housing association, you must first find an apartment. The search for accommodation is particularly complicated in the generally tense German rental market.
Then income also plays an important role. In addition to the equipment of the apartment and the amount of additional costs, the location and the existing infrastructure must also be taken into account. Are there day-care centres, schools, family doctors, shopping facilities, parks nearby, what about the connection to public transport or parking spaces? All of these questions seem important when looking for an apartment, depending on what you personally value most. If you want to live in the city center, you will probably have to pay almost twice as much as on the outskirts. However, as long as you have good transport links, the monthly savings often outweigh the time it will take you to get to and from the city.
When looking for an apartment, you can use the following criteria as a guide:
- Where is the apartment located?
- How big is the apartment?
- On which floor is the apartment located?
- How much is the basic rent?
- What additional costs are charged? For what? Are they all?
- How much is the deposit? When and how do I pay the deposit?
- Is there an internet subsidy? What is the internet speed?
- What equipment is offered?
Portals for finding accommodation on the Internet
- Immobilienscout24 https://www.immobilienscout24.de/
- Immonet https://www.immonet.de/
- Immowelt https://www.immowelt.de/
- eBay Kleinanzeigen https://www.kleinanzeigen.de/
Popular listings usually go offline the same day they were posted, so it’s very important that you respond as soon as possible.
Tip: Use Chrome, as the browser automatically translates websites into English – this is quite handy if you are not yet familiar with some German terms.
Create a profile and provide the general information you need, such as your professional situation, marital status, monthly net income, etc.
Tip: Do not share personal data electronically. Caution is advised here!
Personal data is any information relating to you as an identified or identifiable living individual.
If you send your passport or SCHUFA information to your potential new landlord by e-mail in advance of an apartment viewing, you should be aware that you are disclosing personal information to a complete stranger. How they handle this data and what they do with it is no longer within your sphere of influence.
Please note: Because the plight of those looking for accommodation and their resulting willingness to transmit data unchecked are well known, real estate advertisements are increasingly being placed by criminals who want to make money with the captured data. The apartment that is supposedly for rent often does not even exist, the perpetrators are only interested in spying on data and thus data theft. The stolen data and identities are then used in other crimes.
Please note: There are many dubious offers that sound too good to be true. They can be identified by glossy photos and descriptions, probably copied from a template or machine-created. The headings often contain sentences such as “Rent an apartment without self-disclosure” or similar. If you send an inquiry about such a dubious offer, you will usually receive a request to view the apartment immediately, to pay money in advance, to get keys by mail – because the landlord is supposedly “not in the city/country” or will soon be “flying abroad”. Protect yourself from fraudsters in the rental housing market.
What is a rental deposit?
The rental deposit is deposited by the tenant with the landlord at the beginning of the tenancy and is intended to protect him against rental damages. It may not exceed three net rents exclusive of heating costs.
Rental damages are:
- unpaid rent
- unpaid operating costs
- Expected additional payments from the operating cost statement
- damage to the apartment caused by the tenant
There are usually three different ways to pay the deposit. Tenants transfer the deposit to landlords, who then pay the amount into a deposit account. The second option: the renting party deposits the money into a savings account and pledges it to the renting party.
Why should you visit the apartment?
A visit offers you the opportunity to take a closer look at the surroundings and apartment. On the other hand, you will usually also learn more about the landlord. Viewings are the perfect opportunity to ask all open questions and have them clarified.
Check all the details before signing the rental agreement.
- Is the information on the size of the apartment correct or is the information from the advertisement in the contract?
- Is the maximum amount of the deposit three months’ rent?
- Is the minimum rental period within the range of what is reasonable (usually up to 2 years)?
- How long is the notice period? (For tenants, this must be no more than three months.)
- How and when do I have to pay the rent?
- Is there liability insurance?
- What are the regulations regarding the use of common areas and areas? (laundry, yard, gardens, basement, etc.)
- What is stipulated in terms of pet ownership?
- Are the deadlines for cosmetic repairs flexible?
What should you consider when handing over?
Make sure a handover log is kept. This should list all existing defects and damage in the rental property.
It is important that you go through all the rooms at the handover and inspect this. If the apartment is unrenovated, this should be recorded in the protocol. However, if the apartment you are renting is newly renovated or if it is a first-time occupancy, this must also be noted. In both cases, existing deficiencies and damage are a case for the record. Also, don’t forget to check the fittings, plumbing and radiators and note their condition.
https://www.deutschlandatlas.bund.de/DE/Karten/Wie-wir-wohnen/040-Mieten.html
https://life-in-germany.de/wohnung-finden-in-deutschland-als-auslander