To rent a house in Germany, start with with Immo Scout24, or Ebay Kleinanzeigen.
Determine what type of accommodation you can afford.
Search for accommodation on your own or use an agent.
Reach an agreement with the owner or the agent.
Submit all your documents and get access to your new house.
To rent a house in Germany, you want to work out an agreement with your agent or the tenant. Apartments or houses can be found online, through an agency, or by checking for “for rent” posters on the street.
You can choose among different types of places to rent:
a bed in a shared room or a dorm;
a room with a shared bathroom or an en-suite bathroom;
a house that is low rise building that can be detached or semidetached, furnished or unfurnished;
a flat in a medium or high apartment building;
a villa is a large detached house with an extensive garden.
What documents do I need to rent in Germany
The documents you need depend on how you are renting and from whom. If you are subletting a room for a few weeks from the original renter, you may need to give only your first payment in advance. While if you are renting from an agency, you will need more paperwork.
When choosing a place, you want to consider how expensive it is for you, both in terms of money and time, to get all the documents that the agency or the owner asks you.
You want to get the keys, or any other type of access, to the accommodation before you pay anything. You may need one or more among these documents:
- Proof of first payment, if it’s not in cash;
- Proof of payment of a deposit, which can be one month of rent or more;
- Valid identification that can be a driver’s license, a national identification card, or a passport;
- A lease agreement is a formal document that explains your agreement with the landlord;
- A credit check is any documentation showing you have enough income to pay rent.
You may need additional documents when you rent a house in Germany.
Schufa score
Schufa score, or “Schutzgemeinschaft für allgemeine Kreditsicherung”, is a popular German credit score system. If you just arrived in Germany, you may have difficulties to get one, so you will have to negotiate alternative ways to check your credit.
Register your new address
You need to register your new address within two weeks after moving to a new apartment. You need to visit a Rathaus (that is a town hall), online or in person. Submit a form there with the following documents:
- Filled registration form
- Identity cards or passports, children’s cards, or birth certificates of all the people who are in the house
- Rental agreement
- Registration form signed by the person who is renting the apartment.
Endorsement
You may be asked to provide references or recommendations from a previous landlady.
Also, in some cases, you may need a guarantor to sign the contract with you.
Can I rent a house in Germany without a job?
Yes, you may rent a house without a job. Bank statements may be required to prove income. If you don’t have a job, you may need to provide further documentation to rent.
Average rent price in Germany
The average rent price in Germany is 400 euro, or EUR per month, for a small apartment of 50 square meters. That is about 8 euro per square meter per month.
To rent a room can be around 250 euro per month.
In the city center, the rent for a one-bedroom apartment is around 550 euro or more. And a three-bedroom apartment rent is around 1000 EUR or more.
Outside of the center, the rent for a one-bedroom apartment is around 400 euro or more. And the rent for a three-bedroom apartment is around 800 euro or more.
Ten euro, or EUR, are about 11 US dollars. That is about 79 Chinese Yuan or 900 Indian Rupees.
Rent prices increase every year in Germany because people prefer renting to buying. It is growing with time causing the shortage. At times landladies receive hundreds of applications for one house. Berlin has a low home-ownership rate of 15 percent.
Munich is the most expensive city for rent in Germany. And the list goes on with Frankfurt, Stuttgart, and Hamburg. Berlin is getting pricey and has the fastest rising rent of other cities in Germany.
The average rent in Germany for a one-bedroom apartment is the following in cities in Germany:
in Leipzig is 500 euro;
in Cologne is 750 euro;
in Stuttgart is 850 euro;
in Berlin is 900 euro;
in Frankfurt is 900 euro;
in Hamburg is 900 euro;
in Munich is 1,150 euro.
Finding a rental from a recommendation
Getting a rental through word of mouth is another way. In fact, it turns out to be a successful method for choosing a great and comfortable apartment. Simply advise as many people as possible that you are looking to rent an apartment in Germany, and if anyone knows of any listings, they will let you know.
People typically recommend their friends or acquaintances to their landlords when they wish to move out of an apartment. In this manner, both you and the landlord won’t have to bother about looking for a new tenant or a place to live.
Ending the tenancy in Germany
Renter’s rights are protected in Germany. And it is difficult for the landlords to finish the tenancy. It can be ended only on certain reasons such as:
- the landlady requires the property for their own use, either they want to sell their house or move in;
- if the tenant regularly fails to pay the rent on time;
- when the tenant uses the property that violates the agreement;
- tenant’s anti-social behavior.
Read more on
Real estate websites in Germany
How to find an apartment in Germany
The cover image is somewhere in Berlin. Photo by Karli Cumber on Unsplash
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