Apartment hunting

Right now: separate the three numbers in the listing

ShortcutThe big number in a listing is usually the Kaltmiete — not what you will pay. The formula: KM + NK = WM (what you pay monthly), plus electricity, plus a Kaution of up to 3 months’ KM when you move in.

When you have a listing in front of you, write down these three numbers: base rent (Kaltmiete), service charges (Nebenkosten), security deposit (Kaution). Without separating them you cannot compare any listing with another — because some landlords quote the “cold” price and some the “warm” one.

Listing abbreviations — not in the dictionary, all over the listing

A German rental listing is not normal German, it is compressed telegram language. The list below covers what turns up most in real listings. Learn it once and reading a listing drops from minutes to seconds.

Kaltmiete, Nebenkosten, Kaution: what covers what

Nebenkosten is a catch-all word and does not include the same things in every listing. Usually inside: water, rubbish, building cleaning, caretaker, lift, building insurance, and often heating. What is usually not inside is always the same — and it is what surprises newcomers most.

• Strom Electricity Almost never included in the rent. You sign the contract yourself with an electricity company.
• Internet Internet A separate contract. In older buildings, getting connected can take weeks.
• Rundfunkbeitrag Broadcasting fee Paid per household, independent of the rent.
• Nebenkostenabrechnung Year-end settlement NK is an estimate. At the end of the year you either get money back (Guthaben) or are asked to pay the difference (Nachzahlung).

For the Kaution the law sets a clear ceiling: at most three months’ base rent (drei Nettokaltmieten) can be demanded, and you have the right to pay it in three equal instalments — the first when you move in, the rest with the next two months’ rent. 3 MM Kaution in a listing is normal; 4 MM is not.

You already read listings in English — but the numbers shift

English listings are written in shorthand too: “2 bed/1 bath, 900 sq ft, 3rd floor, elevator, utilities not included, 2 months’ deposit”. So you know the logic. The problem is not the words, it is a different way of counting.

Square footage reads differently too: Wohnfläche is usually the net area and a balcony only counts partly. A German flat of 72 m² (about 775 sq ft) can feel like a 95 m² flat in another country’s listing.

Besichtigung: the short email that gets you a viewing

Hundreds of applications go to one listing. What sets you apart is not a long letter — it is giving the landlord the information they look for in the very first message. The three things they look for never change: who you are · your regular income · how many people are moving in.

A template — fill it in with your own details, don’t make it longer:

• Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren, Dear Sir or Madam, If you know the name: Sehr geehrte Frau Müller,
• ich interessiere mich für Ihre 3-Zimmer-Wohnung in der Musterstraße. I’m interested in your 3-room apartment on Musterstraße. sich interessieren für + Akkusativ
• Ich bin 32 Jahre alt, arbeite seit drei Jahren unbefristet als Pflegefachkraft und verdiene monatlich netto 2.400 Euro. I’m 32, I’ve worked for three years on a permanent contract as a nurse, and I earn €2,400 net a month. unbefristet = permanent contract — the word they look at most
• Ich bin Nichtraucher, habe keine Haustiere und würde allein einziehen. I don’t smoke, I have no pets, and I would move in alone. If there are two of you: Wir würden zu zweit einziehen.
• Alle Unterlagen (Gehaltsabrechnungen, SCHUFA-Auskunft, Ausweiskopie) kann ich Ihnen gerne zusenden. I’d be happy to send you all the documents (payslips, SCHUFA report, copy of my ID). This sentence visibly raises your chance of a viewing
• Wäre ein Besichtigungstermin in dieser Woche möglich? Would a viewing appointment this week be possible? Indirect and polite — better than a blunt Wann kann ich kommen?
• Mit freundlichen Grüßen Kind regards Underneath: full name + phone number

Four questions worth asking at the viewing: Sind die Nebenkosten realistisch kalkuliert? · Wie hoch war die letzte Nachzahlung? · Wie wird geheizt? · Wann könnte ich einziehen?

Selbstauskunft, SCHUFA and the document folder

At the viewing, or just before, a form is put in front of you: the Mieterselbstauskunft. A self-disclosure form. Its questions are almost always the same, so once you understand it you never need to read it again.

SCHUFA is Germany’s credit bureau: it scores your bills, loans and unpaid debts. The document a landlord usually wants is the SCHUFA-BonitätsAuskunft — the version made for renting, which can be shown to a third party. You are also entitled to one free Datenkopie a year, but because that document also shows internal data, some landlords do not accept it.

The part nobody tells you: the €690 listing is really €900

Courses cover housing with the words Wohnzimmer, Küche, Balkon. But the real test of finding a flat in Germany is not vocabulary, it is that none of the abbreviations in the listing are in a dictionary. Look up KT and you get nothing; look up WM and you get a washing machine. The result: people read the listing with the wrong price and either search far below their budget or get a shock at the viewing.

The second unspoken thing is WBS: Wohnberechtigungsschein. It is required for state-subsidised (geförderte) flats, is issued by the relevant city office, and is granted if your income is under a certain limit. If a listing says nur mit WBS, you can’t even book a viewing without the document — but since these flats are usually cheap, it is worth applying if you qualify. Your first sentence would be: Ich habe einen gültigen WBS.

The third is the limit of the Selbstauskunft form. A landlord may ask about your job, income, how many people you are. But questions about pregnancy, plans to have children, religion, political party or origin may not legally be asked. If you see such a box on the form, you don’t have to argue — you can leave it blank.

After the contract is signed, always ask the landlord for the Wohnungsgeberbestätigung. Without that paper you can’t do the Anmeldung at the city office; and without the Anmeldung, no bank, no insurance and no tax number will move forward.

What you do this week

This topic sticks through real listings, not memorising. Ten minutes a day:

• Open three real listings on a listing site and write the three numbers for each: KM · NK · WM. Don’t move on before you have added all three up.
• In the same three listings, count how many abbreviations you don’t know. Look the unknown ones up in this page’s tables and add them to your list.
• Write your own Besichtigung email once and save it: age, job, unbefristet or not, net income, how many people. You will never write it from scratch again — you just change the address.
• Download a blank Mieterselbstauskunft form and fill it in. Mark every line you get stuck on; those are the lines you must not get stuck on at a viewing.
• Turn your document folder into one PDF: ID, three payslips, employment contract, SCHUFA. Request the one that is missing this week.

For speaking practice three sentences are enough, all three are sentences you will use on the phone: Ich rufe wegen der Wohnungsanzeige an. · Ist die Wohnung noch frei? · Wäre eine Besichtigung diese Woche möglich?

If you didn’t understand a question from an official or landlord at the viewing, don’t stay silent: the phrases on the page about the right ways to say “I didn’t understand” work together with this page.