Finding that little piece of heaven is never easy, especially if you are looking for somewhere to live in a foreign country with a different renting culture. Expatica tries to take a little of the pain out of searching for housing in Germany.

Whether it is living in the inner city or the edges of town, a villa or a warehouse, a farm or an apartment, Germany offers a remarkable range of housing possibilities. A legendary public transport system and an extensive highway network means that you can live in a village in the hills outside Frankfurt or the newly opened up outer areas on the fringes of Berlin and still be extraordinarily well connected to the centre of town. Of course, you might also be looking to find a patch to settle down for a while along the rich and elegant foreshores of Hamburg’s lakes or among the urban pioneers of the city’s more gritty multi-culti St Georg or in Berlin’s hip Mitte (centre). Or maybe you are searching for a pad in Munich’s upwardly mobile Schwabing or trendy Isarvorstadt. But wherever that little piece of heaven you might be seeking is, the rules of the German renting game are essentially the same. Rental prices Germany’s recent less-than-inspiring economic performance also means that rents across the nation have tended to stabilise although as a general rule you will find that Frankfurt and Munich, for example, are far more expensive than Berlin. This is probably putting it somewhat mildly. In comparison to almost in other major European metropolises, Berlin’s rental market remains one of its major attractions. Sure, rents have been escalating especially in super fashionable areas like Mitte or Prenzlauer Berg. But it is still possible to find an old-style apartment in Berlin (with all mod cons) for what you could end paying for a much smaller shoe box in a less cheerful new building in, say, Cologne. By the way, rents (early German lesson) are either Kaltmiete (cold rent), meaning the net rent or Warmmiete (warm rent). This includes utilities such as heating and sometimes cable TV. How to get started Unless you are thinking about a Wohngemeinschaft or WG (German for shared accommodation), one of the first things you might have to do is to register with the police. A personal ID might do, but some landlords or agent will ask you to produce your Polizeiliche Anmeldung (police registration). These days there are more furnished apartments and houses on the market, but in general most places have nothing in them. That includes light fittings, curtains, refrigerators and in some extreme cases not even floor coverings or a kitchen! That’s because Germans tend to rent rather than buy and stay for long periods. Where to find rentals Places to rent are advertised in key city publications such as newspapers like Hamburg’s Abendblatt, Berlin’s Morgenpost and Tagesspiegel, Frankfurter Rundschau and Munich’s Sueddeutsche Zeitung. It’s also not bad to have a lawyer or German-speaking friend on call to take you through the lease before you sign it. Leases German leases are by not means universal — they can include all sorts of surprises. In particular, watch out for leases that include the dreaded Staffelmiete clause, which means rents are automatically increased every year by a percentage of the previous year. In some cases, the Staffelmiete can be quite steep. So what seemed like a bargain (Schnappchen) when you rented it can suddenly start turn into something quite expensive after only a few years. There can be all sorts of other things tucked away in the lease such as a requirement to place those small metal objects in the kitchen sink to catch food items before they go down the drain or to disconnect the water supply to balcony taps during winter. If the pipe bursts you could be up for damages. Leases can also set out what you are required to do to the apartment when you decide to move out. This essentially means taking down that seventies-style wallpaper and painting over the murals to return the apartment to what it was like when you moved in. Your duties can depend on the length of time you have rented the apartment. The lease also sets out how much notice you have to give before moving out, which also depends on how long you have lived there. The road to renting

Useful words and phrases 2-Zi-Whg (2 Zimmerwohnung): 2 rooms plus kitchen and bathroom Einbauküche: fitted kitchen Kaution: deposit Nebenkosten: extra costs such as heating, cable TV, cleaning of shared areas, rubbish removal etc. Erstbezug: you would be the first tenant Blk (Balkon): balcony DG (Dachgeschoß): under the roof/ attic rooms OG (Obergeschoß): top floor EG (Erdgeschoß): ground floor EFH (Einfamilienhaus): one family house RH (Reihenhaus): terraced house Keine zusätl. Prov.: no additional commission (if you are really lucky) HH (Hochhaus): high-rise building DU (Dusche): shower

You should also decide early on what renting route you want to take. Do you want go via the Makler (estate agent) route and face having to fork out vast sums of money in advance? A Maklergebühr (agent’s fee) can mean paying out at least two months rent before you even move in. And that is not including a two or some cases three months security deposit. Gulp! It’s OK if the firm is paying. But it can be quite a shock to the system especially as once you have handed over the payment, the Makler tends to melt away very quickly and take no further interest in your problems. The Hausverwaltung, which manages the property and who you end dealing with, is normally a different company to the Makler bureau. If you are planning a more limited time in the city there are also the network of Mitwohnzentrale, which have listings of WGs and apartments for sub-letting. The appeal here is that they are normally fully furnished. The downside is that you have to pay a sometimes hefty fee in advance. One of the best ways to find an apartment is to place an advertisement yourself in one of the main newspapers setting out what you are after. Many Germans do the same. Some landlords prefer to find tenants this way as it means avoiding dealing with a deluge of inquiries. They can through who they want in advance. After all, fronting up for apartments in popular parts of the city that have been advertised means that you can find yourself facing stiff from a cast of thousands who have also turned up to with their own dreams of staking out a new piece of heaven. A word of warning, competition is particularly tough for small-to-medium sized apartments. Non-Germans can (the emphasis is on the can) be attractive propositions to landlords as it is likely to mean that they are not going to hang around forever and the property can go back on the market again after a couple of years at a higher rent. The next step Once you have expressed an interest in whatever the landlord or agent has to offer, the next thing you will normally be asked to do is to fill in a questionnaire or Fragebogen giving information (Selbstauskunft) about your personal details and line of work. The questions are essentially about your current income, your marital status and the number of children but they can be quite intrusive such as whether you are pregnant, have a criminal record or even believe it or not questions such as whether you are a member of a political party. So now, if that has all sunk in, the only thing to do now is to get out there and try to find something! Originally published April 2003, updated August 2006 Copyright Expatica 2006 Subject: renting in Germany, finding a flat in Germany, finding an apartment in Germany