Finding somewhere to live in Berlin

How a Berlin viewing works

Most listings are advertised online and viewed as a Massenbesichtigung — a fixed half-hour slot with thirty to fifty people filing through. The agent or landlord takes applications on the spot and decides within days, so anything you have not brought with you effectively does not exist. Cold rent is what is advertised; the number you actually pay is the Warmmiete, and heating and service charges have moved enough in recent years that the difference is material.

• ImmobilienScout24 and Kleinanzeigen carry the bulk of listings; WG-Gesucht covers shares.
• Inberlinwohnen pools the six state-owned housing companies and is worth registering with.
• Kaltmiete plus Nebenkosten equals Warmmiete. Always ask for the Warmmiete figure.

The dossier

The standard application pack is a SCHUFA credit report, the last three payslips, a copy of your passport or ID, a completed self-disclosure form (Mieterselbstauskunft) and, if you have rented in Germany before, a letter from the previous landlord confirming no rent arrears. Arriving without a SCHUFA record is the classic newcomer disadvantage; you can request one as soon as you have a German address and bank account, and some landlords will accept an employment contract and a deposit guarantee instead. Present it as one tidy PDF and one printed copy.

• SCHUFA-BonitätsAuskunft — the version intended to be shown to landlords.
• Three months of payslips, or an employment contract if you have just started.
• Mietschuldenfreiheitsbescheinigung from a previous German landlord, where you have one.
• Mieterselbstauskunft — the landlord's own questionnaire, filled in and signed.

The contract, the deposit and the rent cap

German leases are usually unbefristet — open-ended, with strong tenant protection and a three-month notice period from your side. The Kaution is capped at three months' cold rent, you are entitled to pay it in three monthly instalments, and it must be held separately from the landlord's own money. Berlin has a rent brake (Mietpreisbremse) that limits what may be charged on a re-let relative to the local reference rent, and the landlord must disclose the previous tenant's rent on request.

• Kaution: maximum three months' Kaltmiete, payable in three instalments.
• Check the asking rent against the Berliner Mietspiegel, the official reference table.
• Staffelmiete (stepped) and Indexmiete (index-linked) contracts raise rent automatically — read which you are signing.
• Ask who is responsible for Schönheitsreparaturen; many old clauses passing them to tenants are void.

The Wohnungsgeberbestätigung

This is the single form that matters most and the one nobody mentions at the viewing. It is a signed confirmation from the landlord that you have moved in, and the Bürgeramt will not register you without it. Ask for it at signing rather than after the move, and check the details match the lease exactly, because a wrong flat number sends you back to the landlord and back into the appointment queue.

In order

1. 1Open a German bank account and request a SCHUFA report as soon as you can.
2. 2Assemble the dossier as one PDF and print several copies.
3. 3Apply the same day as the viewing — the flat is usually gone within 48 hours.
4. 4Check the rent against the Mietspiegel before signing.
5. 5Get the Wohnungsgeberbestätigung signed at handover.
6. 6Book the Anmeldung appointment, and do a joint handover protocol with photographs.