How does one rent an Apartment in Germany? What makes it different than renting in the US?
- You probably won’t find carpet in homes / apartments
- Your wallpaper is going to look like all your expat friends’ rentals (a standard crisp white with bumpy texture)
- There might (probably will) be a requirement to Luftzug (open the windows for 15 minutes twice a day)
- There are so many more chicken and egg scenarios here
- Words are not in English (foreign languages have different words for everything, so inconvenient)
- You may never meet your neighbors (in apartment buildings) (not so different from large coastal US cities)
- If no one in the building is home, and the mailboxes are inside the entryway, there will be no mail delivery that day
- Deposits on rent are higher here
- Expect most layouts to be one long hallway with rooms off to the sides, each with a door
- The floorplans are going to be interesting in general
- There are more “upfront” costs and time delays in general
This guide is aimed towards common rental agreements in apartment buildings in city centers (mostly Wiesbaden) from private landlords. However, there is some general information which should apply for every type of rental whether in an apartment building or a standalone house (also note Germans tend to use the word “House” to mean every kind of building, including shared multi-properties).
How Do I Say...?
- Immobilien – Real estate / property
- Kaltmiete – Cold rent (the base price of an apartment per month)
- Warmmiete – Warm rent (the base price plus some utility and upkeep, such as facility maintenance or property taxes)
- Nebenkosten – Additional costs, such as taxes or some utilities, bundled into the Warm rent price. This might be closely translated as “condo fees” in American English, but contain more than just property upkeep or association fees.
- Einbauküche – Built-in kitchen (most Germany purchase new kitchens, meaning cabinet and appliance setups, when they move into a new apartment, then either take it with them when they leave or toss it out).
- WG – Apartment share or roommate situation (I’ve heard and seen many landlords who are not keen on having multiple tenants, so make sure if you’re going this route that a WG situation with the potential landlord is acceptable).
- Nach Vereinbarung – After arrangement (usually seen with the “pets allowed?” category)
- Mietvertrag – Lease or rental contract
- Mieter – Renter / Tenant
- Miet – Rent (as in both verb and noun (monthly payment))
- Vermieter – Landlord
- Heizung – Heating, multiple types exist, we have Unterbodenheizung, pipes that run under the floors and heat with hot water. 99% of the time included in Nebenkosten.
- Strom – Electricity
- Kabel – Cable (TV)
- Wasser – Water
- Altbau – Old building, pre 1900’s
- Neubau – New building, could be built anywhere from 1960 – present
- Aufzug – Elevator
- Hinterhof – A building or house which is not directly on the street, but sits on a courtyard behind the buildings on the street
- Zimmer – Room. German homes and apartments are measured in rooms, rather than bedrooms. For example, a 4 Zimmer house is probably a kitchen, living room, bedroom, and maybe a dining room or a smaller room for an office.
- Keller – Cellar, basement, storage place, etc.
- Kaution – Deposit
- Versicherungen – Insurance(s)
- Makler – Real estate agent
Start Looking
There are a few places to look online. I usually turn to ImmoScout when I’m hunting around. I’ve also looked at ImmoWelt.
I say “usually” like I’m always doing this. Reality is: we’ve moved three times, most recently out of Wiesbaden proper.
Other places I’ve taken a look at it, but not used, or found recommended on other forums:
- Quoka
- Wohnungsmarkt24
- Immonet (owned by ImmoWelt)
How To Read A Rental Ad
When in doubt: there are plenty of rental agents who speak English quite well and specialize in helping foreigners settle in. They usually advertise on the same rental sites as above, and even if you’re not interested in one of their current listings, in my experience they’re happy to work with you one on one to find something else.
A Subtle German Difference
When shopping for your apartment, you will notice that not all apartments come with an Einbaküche, or “built-in kitchen”, which sounds weird because why would an entire room of the house not be part of the offer?
The word for “kitchen” and “all the cupboards / appliances / countertops in the kitchen” is the same, Küche.
What's In A Lease?
Most leases require three month’s notice before moving out. This makes life incredibly difficult when trying to find a new place. Often what happens (after polling friends) is one ends up paying a double rent for one month before moving into the new place.
Another common requirement is a complete repaint of all the walls upon moving out. Personally, I think this is mostly because Europeans smoke much more than Americans, and often indoors. This would require then a repaint to clean up the apartment for the next family. But another reason could be that Germans do not often move apartments like Americans do. The few apartments we’ve looked at in the past have all hinted at wanting to rent to someone who will stay for a minimum of 5 years. 5 years seems like a long time to me! Some of the leases themselves were even a minimum of 2 years! This probably ties into the German way of avoiding risks as much as possible. Therefore, after living in one place for 5 years or more, one might be tempted to paint or put up paper on bland white walls for a more personal touch. Then the paint clause makes sense.
The lease should also contain a space to put your bank account information. Payments are withdrawn automatically via SEPA every month. Most of the time, you will need to setup the automatic payments with your bank yourself, if renting from a private landlord.
Take this lease with you when you complete your Anmeldung and (most especially) when you apply for your long term visa.
Making It Legal With The City
Before you can make your Anmeldung happen, you need the Wohnungsbescheinigung from your landlord. Once you have this certificate and you’ve moved in to your new address, head to the appropriate Beamte in your region. There is no need for an Abmeldung from your old address if you change cities, this will be done for you automatically upon registration of your new address.
Don’t forget to Abmeldung upon leaving Germany! This is not done automatically when leaving the country.
I Don't Live In Wiesbaden
Setup Utilities
Some you’ll do on your own, and some your landlord will do for you. If you are here under SOFA, visit UTAP.
Internet is probably the easiest to setup, yet slowest to start. Expect a two month waiting time at the minimum in and around Wiesbaden at the moment. To counteract this, you should call your provider of choice as soon as you have a signed lease and setup a connection appointment. There will probably be a one time setup fee (between 50 – 100 €). On average, bills are 35 € per month around the country for mostly excellent speed (for example, we are getting 120mb down). Like the US, there are one or maybe two main providers responsible for the actual infrastructure, while a contracting company actually bills and maintains your connection for you.
In Wiesbaden, O2 and Unity Media are the most common and personally we’ve been happy with Unity Media. Sometimes, share buildings have only one provider and thus the choice is easy. The landlord will know who to contact to setup your contract.
Telephone and internet can be bundled in Germany like they can in the states. I have not personally had landline ever in my adult life, but some might prefer to keep one.
If you only need internet for a short time, look for Ohne Mindestvertragslaufzeit offers. These are short term contracts which can be more expensive to offset the short usage. Like other contracts though, they often require a 3 month notice of cancellation.
Sometimes, satellite or cable connections are part of Nebenkosten, but require their own contracts for service. If there isn’t a dish on the building, you must ask for permission to install one and I have heard landlords are hesitant to do this in Altbau. I also have never had satellite or cable in my adult life, instead relying on streaming services. If you have a Chromecast or another streaming stick, I’ve found an excellent German news source for you.
Standalone buildings are easier to have cable and satellite connections wired to if they are not already wired. Sometimes contracts are even kept in place tenant to tenant and only require a change of name and bank account.
You should also be aware of the Rundfunkbeitrag, otherwise known as the “TV Tax,” which every household is liable for, not person. If two people are on the lease, it’s possible you will get two letters stating you are each responsible for the cost. If that happens, use this form to deregister from the list and note you are looking for Abmeldung when you fill it out. If you are registering a residence in your name for the first time, use this form. If you move, use this form. More general questions and overview (in English!) are here.
Setting up electricity is probably the only utility you need to worry about in a shared building. Even if you forget to do this, there will still be power at your place when you move in and even if you forget for a few weeks afterwards, you should still have power but you’ll probably get a letter (or your landlord will get a letter) reminding you to set up your account. If you receive this letter and then set up your account, you will receive a bill for what you’ve consumed from the move in date (or the contract date, whichever comes first). The bill is then adjusted to be the same amount each month for 12 months (or the duration of the contract) and will come out of your bank account automatically.
In Wiesbaden, the most common supplier is ESWE Versorgungs so they will probably be the default supplier, even if the previous tenant had a contract with a different company. There are hundreds of energy suppliers in Germany, usually regional, and the price differences are probably minimal at best. The tricky parts revolve around contract duration. Mostly they run for a year at a time, which means if you renew and then a month later let them know you want to move out, you may have already tied yourself to another 12 months with them you can’t get out of. In the end, ESWE may be your only choice in Wiesbaden and other cities would have similar default, only one choice supplier.
Contact ESWE here.
Water is not a utility you need to worry about when renting. It is almost always 100% included in the Nebenkosten which means like electricity, this is a fixed cost month to month which is adjusted at the end of your lease year. If you owe more than consumed, or vice versa, your landlord will send you an invoice with the amount owed / due shortly after the lease year ends, sometimes up to two months depending on the municipal provider. Wastewater or sewage is bundled up in this cost.
Since Nebenkosten is considered part of the total rent price, you will most likely not see a separate transaction in your bank account every month for this service.
If you pay more than what you actually consumed at the end of your contract year, you will receive an invoice showing what they owe you and the company will transfer this to your bank account. The same process works in reverse, if you consume more than you pay for. You can also ask for an estimate based on what the previous tenant used before you sign the contract, and a lot of companies have calculators on their sites for your use.
Trash should be treated the same as water costs. The landlord is responsible for the upkeep and replacement of the bins, the Hausmeister is in charge of setting the bins out (part of Nebenkosten).
In addition, if you are responsible for putting out your trash, use this schedule for Wiesbaden trash pickups.
Recycling, you may have heard, is kind of a big deal in Germany. Don’t screw it up.
Finally, here is an excellent, all-around comparison site to help make some decisions on speed, price, usage, whichever measurement you need for all utilities, including cell phone plans. It is in German, but hopefully the terminology list above will help with some of the translation.
A Note On Climate Control
Heating is required by law in every residential building and part of Nebenkosten, so your landlord may be able to give you a breakdown in your invoice of what was consumed and adjust for the next year going forward. An exception might be if your home is heated using oil or gas, in which case you can often make a contract with a delivery service who will bring these supplies to your home monthly. If natural gas is used to heat the home, you may even have a natural gas stove, and this combined usage is in the Nebenkosten.
What you will not find, I am 99% sure, is air conditioning. Summertime in Germany ranges from 1 month long in the south west to about 10 minutes in the north east. Therefore, Klima is not a feature you should have on your “can’t live without” list as it is going to become a “must live without” element.
There are portable air conditioning units, and I had one in Washington DC because I lived in a pre WWII shoebox. I brought it over here, but realized I do not feel comfortable plugging it in to a transformer and hoping it doesn’t overdo it on the cool down cycles. Stand alone and window units are available for purchase at places like Obi should you have an apartment or house which would fit one of these. To be honest, in Wiesbaden there are maybe two weeks which get really hot (and we are under a roof, so it feels extreme for us) but two weeks out of 52 is just not worth the extra energy consumption / waste in my opinion. Pools, cooler showers, ice hung in bags in front of fans are our go to methods (and TheCats sleep in the bathtub and bidet).
Furnishing
Ikea is always great. There’s one near Wiesbaden, less than a 15 minutes drive.
But if you prefer to not put your furniture together yourself, there are some bigbox stores down on Biebricher Allee, such as XXXL and mömax who will deliver after ordering.
Furniture orders can take between 6-8 weeks for delivery!
If boutiques and upscale are your thing, check out the shops along Wilhelmstraße. These are high quality and generally unique pieces.
There is also a made-to-order wood furniture store in Stadtmitte.
Last Thoughts.
The idea of owning a home isn’t the great dream to cap off a successful life here; most Germans rent, some 60% or more on average, and usually from private landlords. Being a lifelong renter is a great deal in Germany. The why’s vary from costs (salaries are quite low in Germany, and compared to housing costs home ownership isn’t possible for a lot of people), to the penchant of avoiding debt and risk.
The tenant has more rights than the landlord so being evicted or having to pay for renovations is nearly unheard of. In some jurisdictions, apartments or houses which belong to housing associations must be updated and redone, both interior and exterior, every 5-10 years. These costs are not passed to the tenant and so one can leave on vacation for the mandatory 3 weeks in the summer and come back to a freshly painted and upgraded house, at no cost.
Finally, most landlords see a barely break even or even operate on a loss in the first 5 years of a new tenant, due to mortgage rates and rent prices being unequal, lopsided or even opposite of how most American cities would realize them. This being said, German renters have a great deal going on here and landlords are generally happy with the situation as well.
We are fortunate in that we did not have to paint when we moved out of our old flat, as we explained we had no intention of painting or putting up damaging pictures. I think this struck our landlord as a bit odd, why wouldn’t someone personalize a home immediately upon moving in? But I would find it odd to do any painting in a rental or put up anything semi-permanent.
Renting is also a great way to relieve stress when living in a foreign country. Repairs and necessary upkeep are the landlord’s responsibility, all that is required of you is a phone call or email stating the problem or request. Plus, purchasing a home in place you have just moved to is a whole different kind of adventure, not one I would advise, but not one I would discourage if you’re looking for those adrenaline rushes of “what have I done” to spice things up.
What’s not great about renting depends on how you feel about renting in general. In the states, sometimes if you really wanted to you could make small changes to the apartment or house with the landlord’s approval to keep the changes when you move out. Do not expect the same here. Landlords and new tenants expect white walls and (usually) empty kitchens upon move in. While you may not meet any resistance when it comes to changes to walls (not knocking them down or building them obviously), floors should remain untouched, light fixtures (yes, you may need to bring your own light fixtures) and window treatments taken down when moving out. So if you’re a person who likes DIY home improvement projects, Germany is not the rental market for you.
Bringing pets is a mixed case scenario as well, more often than not the rental ad will show the Nach Vereinbarung next to the “Haustiere” section. Small dogs and cats (or fish) are most likely to be welcome, dogs larger than 10kg might be more of a problem. Plus, certain breeds are generally not welcome at all (Hesse specific list).
Schufa
Luckily we have not run across needing a Schufa report (a credit report), but they are created automatically upon Anmeldung, or setting up a bank account. Unlike the US, one starts with a perfect score which is then diminished when late payments or collections are made. If a rental ad requires a Schufa report, and you are new and fresh in Germany, try to explain the situation to the landlord and hope they waive the requirement. I have found they “often” do. If they don’t, this is probably not a hill to die on and you should move one. When moving to your next flat, you will have a nice record to show your next potential landlord and all is set.
You're Ready to House Hunt!
Best wishes on your move! If you have any questions, including looking for a realtor or specific POC, I’d be happy to help, in comments or in email.
