Guides

Guides to buying, renting and owning a home in Germany

Each guide is checked against the official sources it cites, with the date of the check.

The transfer tax rate, first-buyer aid and the property tax model are set by Germany's 16 states; the transfer tax rules, notary and land registry fees, brokerage, tenancy and income tax are federal. Real estate transfer tax runs from 3.5% in Bavaria to 6.5% in Brandenburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saarland and Schleswig-Holstein: on a €400,000 home that is €14,000 or €26,000, plus €3,980 of notary and land registry fees, the same in every state. Each of the 65 guides below answers one question, with its official sources and their date.

Foreign buyers

Buying property in Germany as a foreigner

A foreigner buys a home in Germany through the same procedure as anyone else: a notarial purchase deed, payment, and an entry in the land register (Grundbuch). In the statutes read for this guide, the requirements concern form and registration, not nationality or residence.

Registering your address in Germany (Anmeldung)

Anyone who moves into a dwelling in Germany must register at the local registration office (Meldebehörde) within two weeks of moving in (§ 17(1) of the Federal Registration Act, BMG).

German tax ID (Steuer-ID) for property buyers

The German tax identification number (steuerliche Identifikationsnummer, IdNr) is an eleven-digit number that stays with a person for life.

Buying a German home with a power of attorney

A buyer who cannot travel to the signing can be represented by an agent holding a power of attorney (Vollmacht).

A German property deed in English or another language

German notarial deeds are drawn up in German (§ 5(1) BeurkG).

Getting a German mortgage as a non-resident

A bank lending against a German home must assess the borrower's creditworthiness and may lend only if repayment is probable (§ 505a BGB; § 18a KWG).

Renting out a German home while living abroad

If you own a home in Germany and live elsewhere, rent from it is German-source income and is taxed in Germany.

Selling a German property from abroad

Living abroad does not take a German property out of the German tax net. A sale of a home within ten years of its purchase is a taxable private sale for a non-resident as it is for a resident (§ 23(1) no.

Cash ban on German property purchases

In Germany the price of a home cannot be paid in cash, crypto-assets, gold, platinum or gemstones (§ 16a(1) of the Money Laundering Act, GwG).

UK-Germany tax treaty: owning property in Germany

If you live in the United Kingdom and own a home in Germany, the 2010 UK-Germany convention lets Germany tax the rent and any gain on a sale, because the property is there (Articles 6 and 13), and requires the UK to give a credit for the German tax against UK tax on the same income or gain (Article 23).

US-Germany tax treaty: property, rent and gains

A US citizen or resident who owns a home in Germany is taxed by two countries, and the treaty decides who goes first.

Canada-Germany tax agreement: owning German property

For a resident of Canada who owns a home in Germany, the 2001 Canada-Germany tax agreement says the property state may tax: Germany can tax the rent and the gain on a sale (Articles 6 and 13), and Canada deducts the German tax from its own tax on the same income or gain (Article 23).

Transfer tax by state

Real estate transfer tax in Germany: the rate in each state

Almost every purchase of a home in Germany triggers the Grunderwerbsteuer (real estate transfer tax), and the rate depends on the state (Land) where the property stands, from 3.5% in Bavaria to 6.5% in Brandenburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saarland and Schleswig-Holstein.

Transfer tax exemptions for family, spouses and heirs

German Grunderwerbsteuer (real estate transfer tax) is not charged on every change of ownership.

Tax clearance certificate (Unbedenklichkeitsbescheinigung)

The Unbedenklichkeitsbescheinigung is the tax office's certificate that it has no tax objection to the buyer being registered as owner.

Hessengeld: the first-home subsidy in Hesse

The Hessengeld is a subsidy from the state of Hesse for people who buy their first home there and move in.

Transfer tax in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg

In Bavaria the transfer tax (Grunderwerbsteuer) is 3.5%, the lowest rate in Germany; in Baden-Württemberg it is 5.0%. On a €500,000 home that is €17,500 against €25,000, a gap of €7,500 between two neighbouring southern states.

Transfer tax in North Rhine-Westphalia (6.5%)

North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) charges 6.5% Grunderwerbsteuer (real estate transfer tax), the top rate in Germany. Its tax offices state that it applies to every contract notarised from 1 January 2015 for property in NRW. On a €400,000 home that is €26,000, against €14,000 in Bavaria.

Transfer tax in Berlin and Brandenburg: 6% and 6.5%

A home bought in Berlin carries Grunderwerbsteuer (real estate transfer tax) of 6% of the consideration, and a home bought in Brandenburg carries 6.5%.

Transfer tax in Hamburg, Bremen and Lower Saxony

Buying a home in Hamburg or Bremen attracts Grunderwerbsteuer (real estate transfer tax) of 5.5% of the consideration, while Lower Saxony charges 5%. Bremen's 5.5% applies to transactions realised from 1 July 2025; before that date it was 5%.

Transfer tax in Saxony, Thuringia and other eastern states

In the eastern states the Grunderwerbsteuer (real estate transfer tax) is not uniform: Saxony charges 5.5% on transactions after 31 December 2022, Thuringia charges 5.0% since 1 January 2024, and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania charges 6.0% since 1 July 2019.

Buying

Buying a home in Germany, step by step

A German purchase is a sequence in which the notary carries most of the legal work and ownership passes only when the buyer is entered in the land register.

Total buying costs in Germany: tax, notary, agent

Beyond the price, a German buyer pays three main items: the Grunderwerbsteuer (transfer tax) at 3.5% to 6.5% depending on the state, the notary (VAT included) and the land registry, whose fees are fixed by statute, and an agent's commission only if an agent was used.

The notary's role in a German property purchase

The German Notar is a public officer, not an advisor for one side.

Notary and land registry fees in Germany, calculated

German notary and land registry fees are not negotiated: they follow from the Gerichts- und Notarkostengesetz (GNotKG), using a table (Tabelle B) valid since 1 June 2025.

Reading a German land register extract (Grundbuch)

The Grundbuch (land register) is the public record that says who owns a plot, what rights burden it and which mortgages or land charges are secured on it.

Priority notice (Auflassungsvormerkung) when buying

In Germany you become the owner only when you are registered, and registration takes time after the notarised contract.

Checks before buying a home in Germany: a due diligence list

Before you sign the purchase deed in Germany, collect the papers that decide what you really get: the land register sheet, any lease, for a flat the owners' documents, the energy certificate, proof of any access charges, and a view of defects.

Buying a flat in Germany: how the WEG system works

In Germany a flat is almost never a free-standing title. You buy a co-ownership share in the whole plot and building together with special ownership (Sondereigentum) of one unit, under the Wohnungseigentumsgesetz (WEG, Condominium Act).

Ground lease in Germany: buying a home with an Erbbaurecht

An Erbbaurecht (heritable building right, often called a ground lease) gives you the right to hold a building on someone else's plot. You own the house, not the land, and you normally pay the landowner a yearly ground rent (Erbbauzins).

Energy certificate when buying a home in Germany

When a German home is sold, an energy certificate (Energieausweis) must exist, the seller or agent must show it at the latest at the viewing, and the buyer must receive it promptly after the contract is signed.

Municipal pre-emption right (Vorkaufsrecht) in Germany

A German municipality has a statutory right to step into a property purchase in certain areas, at the price you agreed. It must act by an administrative decision within three months of being told of the contract (§ 28(2) BauGB).

Buying a new-build from a developer in Germany

If you buy a home that the seller is still going to build, you sign a developer contract (Bauträgervertrag) at the notary. It combines a sale of the plot with a promise to build.

Foreclosure auctions in Germany (Zwangsversteigerung)

In a German forced auction (Zwangsversteigerung) the district court sells a property to satisfy creditors. You bid in person at the hearing, you must usually put up 10% of the court's value as security, and the property is sold without any warranty (§ 56 ZVG).

Estate agent commission when buying in Germany

In Germany no law sets the percentage an estate agent may charge when you buy.

Land values in Germany: Bodenrichtwert and BORIS

A Bodenrichtwert (standard land value) is an average value per square metre of land for a zone, worked out from recorded sales by an independent expert committee. It values the soil as if it were unbuilt, so it is not the price of a house.

Financing

How a German home loan works: contract, credit check, lien

A home loan in Germany is, in the law's own terms, an Immobiliar-Verbraucherdarlehen (real-estate consumer loan): a paid loan from a business to a consumer that is secured by a land charge or used to buy or keep a property.

Fixed-rate period (Sollzinsbindung) on a German mortgage

The Sollzinsbindung (fixed-rate period) is the stretch of time during which a German lender may not change the nominal interest rate of your loan.

German mortgage rates: reading the Bundesbank statistics

The Deutsche Bundesbank publishes, month by month, the average effective interest rate that German banks charged on newly agreed housing loans to private households.

Early repayment penalty and the 10-year right in Germany

Paying off a German fixed-rate mortgage ahead of schedule is not always free.

Land charge (Grundschuld) on a German home: creation, cost

A Grundschuld (land charge) is the right, entered in the Grundbuch (land register), that lets a lender have a fixed sum paid out of your property. It is the normal security for a German home loan.

KfW home-ownership loans: programmes 124 and 300 explained

The KfW, the federal development bank, offers two loans for people who buy or build a home they will live in themselves. Programme 124 lends up to €100,000 per project to private individuals.

Building savings contract (Bausparvertrag) in Germany

A Bausparvertrag is a contract with a Bausparkasse (building society): you pay in savings, and once the contract's conditions are met you have a legal claim to a Bauspardarlehen (building-society loan) for housing purposes.

Selling

Selling a home in Germany: the costs a seller meets

German law puts most of the transaction costs of a home sale on the buyer: by default the buyer bears the notary, the deed and the land-register entry (section 448(2) of the Civil Code, BGB).

German capital gains tax on property: the ten-year rule

Germany taxes the profit on a private property sale only if the time between purchase and sale is ten years or less (section 23 of the Income Tax Act, EStG).

Selling an inherited home in Germany: heirs, register, tax

An heir who wants to sell a German property must first be able to prove the inheritance to the land registry, usually with an Erbschein (certificate of inheritance) or a European Certificate of Succession, or with a notarial will plus the record of its opening.

Renting

Tenant rights in Germany: what the Civil Code gives you

A residential tenant in Germany is protected mainly by the Civil Code (Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch, BGB), which applies in all 16 states.

Rent brake (Mietpreisbremse): the 10% cap on new rents

Germany's rent brake (Mietpreisbremse) limits the rent in a new tenancy to the local comparative rent plus 10%, but only in areas that a state government has designated as tight housing markets. The rule is in § 556d of the Civil Code (BGB).

Rent increase caps in Germany: the 20% and 15% limits

During a German residential tenancy, a landlord may demand consent to a rent rise up to the local comparative rent, but the rent may rise by at most 20% within three years.

Rental deposit in Germany (Kaution): cap, instalments, return

The tenancy deposit (Mietkaution, also Mietsicherheit) in Germany may not exceed three times the monthly rent excluding service charges that are shown as a lump sum or prepayment. The tenant may pay a cash deposit in three equal monthly instalments.

Letting agent fees in Germany: who pays the agent?

In Germany a letting agent (Wohnungsvermittler) generally cannot charge the person looking for a home. The Bestellerprinzip (the person who orders, pays) is written into the Residential Lettings Intermediation Act (Gesetz zur Regelung der Wohnungsvermittlung, WoVermRG).

Local rent index in Germany (Mietspiegel): how to use it

A Mietspiegel (rent index, literally "rent mirror") is an overview of the usual rents in a municipality or part of one, drawn up or recognised by the competent authority or jointly by landlord and tenant representatives.

Index and graduated rents in Germany (Indexmiete, Staffelmiete)

A German lease can fix future rent changes in advance in one of two ways. A graduated rent (Staffelmiete, § 557a of the Civil Code, BGB) sets the rent for given periods in euro amounts, each step lasting at least one year.

Service charges in Germany (Betriebskosten): what you pay

German tenants pay service charges (Betriebskosten, often called Nebenkosten) on top of the net rent only if the lease says so.

Notice periods for a German residential tenancy

For an open-ended residential lease in Germany, notice must be received by the third working day of a month to end at the end of the month after next, which gives the tenant a three-month period.

Owner-occupation notice in Germany (Eigenbedarf)

Eigenbedarf (own-use need) is one of the legitimate reasons a landlord can give for ending a German residential lease. Section 573 (2) No.

Wohngeld: housing benefit for tenants and owners in Germany

Wohngeld (housing benefit) is a means-tested allowance towards housing costs for people on a low income who do not already receive a benefit that covers their rent. It is paid to tenants as a rent subsidy (Mietzuschuss) and to owner-occupiers as a burden subsidy (Lastenzuschuss).

WBS: the certificate for subsidised flats in Germany

A Wohnberechtigungsschein (WBS, housing entitlement certificate) is the document a landlord must see before letting you a publicly subsidised flat. It is issued for one year by the office the state designates, if your household stays under an income limit.