This is the second part of my original post “How to find an apartment in Germany as a foreigner?”. In this part I will share my story of finding an unfurnished apartment in Germany and share practical tips that hopefully will help you find your apartment in Germany if you move here for work. Let’s dive in.

What is an unfurnished apartment in Germany?

An unfurnished apartment in Germany is literally an absolutely empty apartment. I mean it. In many cases there will be no kitchen furniture and amenities, you’d have to buy it yourself. If you are lucky enough, you would get an apartment with kitchen furniture or buy it from the previous tenant.

Don’t get frustrated with no furniture or no kitchen too quickly. You can also find great furniture deals, kitchens included, on Kleineanzeigen.de, the eBay of Germany.

Unfurnished apartments are usually 1.5 times cheaper than a furnished alternative, which is a great budget savior for you in the long run.

Websites to look for an unfurnished apartment in Germany

As I mentioned earlier in  “How to find an apartment in Germany as a foreigner?”, I personally have looked for unfurnished apartments on the following websites:

• ImmobilienScout24: This is the biggest platform for apartment listings in Germany with hundreds of thousands of listings. You can filter by location, size, and other preferences. It has an app and many useful functions in it. 
• Immowelt: Basically this one is the same as ImmobilienScout24 and the listings can sometimes overlap between them.
• Kleinanzeigen: Similar to Russia’s Avito or American Craigslist, this platform has listings for apartments and shared spaces offered by individual landlords.

Two more sources for finding apartments that I know of, but don’t have any experience using myself are:

• WG-Gesucht: If you're open to shared apartments (WG), this website is an excellent resource for finding roommates and affordable options.
• Facebook Groups: you can look for local expat or housing groups in your city, as they often have apartment listings and helpful advice.

Immowelt is the site where after months of searching I finally found the apartment I’m renting now.

How to make proper use of ImmobilienScout24 and Immowelt?

The first thing I would do is, download both ImmobilienScout24 and Immowelt mobile apps. 

Once you download the apps, you can subscribe to a premium account either on ImmobilienScout24 or on Immowelt, then define your search criteria and turn on new apartment listings notifications. The competition to rent an apartment in Germany is fierce and you have to apply for viewing appointments fast. 🙂

Normally, you would apply for views either directly via a direct message in the app, by sending an e-mail or by making a phone call. 

I personally went for ImmobilienScout24 premium subscription for 3 months worth 30 EUR a month. There are several pros to the premium in my opinion:

1. You’ll have access to listings available to premium subscribers only
2. You will be able to download your first Schufa (credit score report) for free
3. Your application front runs applicants without premium subscription

Once you start applying for apartment views, you would need to submit your short self introductory note along with the set of standard documents.

Which documents do you need to apply for an apartment? 

Normally a german landlord (or Vermieter) would expect to see the following set of documents from you when you apply for apartment view:

1. Valid passport or ID
2. Schufa (credit report)
3. Payslips for the last 3 months and / or your employment contract
4. Reference letter from your current landlord
5. Short self introduction note of who you are, where you work and if you will live alone or with someone

You can get your Schufa, when you have a EURO bank account with a German bank. The Schufa is available free of charge in ImmobilienScout24 app, if you have a premium subscription there. If you are a fresh from the start immigrant in Germany, your Schufa statement would simply state that you are debt free. If you don’t yet have a German bank account, but have a work visa you can try opening an account with Vivid, Sparkasse or any other bank.

Even though 3 months payslips are in a bigger favour among German landlords, the employment contract can be sufficient in case it is your first or second month in Germany.

Reference letter from your current landlord is basically a confirmation that you are not indebted to your current landlord. 

When it comes to self introduction note, I have prepared a simple and easy to personalise template. It covered the following bullets:

1. My name
2. Profession and the name of the employer of everyone, who moves in
3. My monthly income, if not asked for in questionnaire
4. The people I was going to live with
5. My Schufa being available in my ImmobilienScout24 profile
6. Absence of animals and children
7. The fact that all tenants are non-smoking
8. My hobbies, among which non produce loud disturbing sounds 

The first three bullet points are the most important ones. That’s how landlords screen you for apartment visits and later on these three affect the decision to rent out the apartment to you the most.

My note was in German, since it also increases the chances of being invited to visit the apartment. You can find the google doc with the German intro sample via the link.

Which important questions should you ask the landlord?

When considering an apartment for rent, do not forget to ask your potential future landlord several important questions:

1. How big is the security deposit?
2. Is registration (Anmeldung) possible at this address?
3. Are utilities included in the rent? How big are the utility costs (Nebenkosten)?
4. Do the kitchen furniture and amenities stay in the apartment? Do they have to be paid for separately on a monthly basis?
5. How is waste disposal managed?
6. Are pets allowed?
7. Is the apartment subject to rent control regulations?

The security deposit would normally be equal to 3 months rent. 

Having a registration is mandatory, you can’t get anything done without a registered address in Germany, because all of your documents in Germany are sent by slow mail.

Utilities, such as heating, electricity and water can drastically increase your monthly payment. Sometimes electricity and cold water are not included in the utility costs and must be paid for separately.

The apartment might or might not have a kitchen. When it does, do check with the landlord if it has to be paid for separately. My apartment has a fully functional kitchen pre-installed and I don’t pay anything for it. A friend of mine on the other hand pays ~12 EUR per month for the kitchen furniture and amenities. 

When it comes to waste disposal, newer buildings have convenient waste containers for different types of waste. Whereas older buildings can sometimes have specific locations and schedules for plastic waste collection, which to me is a bit irritating.

How to sign the rent agreement?

Sometimes the agreement is sent to you via slow mail to your current PO box. You pick it up, sign and send it back to the address of your landlord, which will be specified in the agreement.

And in some cases you would sign the rent agreement together with the agent and the landlord on the spot.

How to receive apartment keys - Übergabe?

Ok, so you are the lucky guy or the lucky girl, who signed the rent agreement for your dream apartment. Now you need to undergo the Übergabe procedure or receive the apartment keys and sign the document with the list of the current state of the things at the apartment.

The document would include: 

• The list of furniture and its condition
• The list of household electronics and their condition
• The list of other household appliances left to you and their condition
• The description of the condition of the floors, walls, ceiling, doors and windows

Read the document carefully and cross check everything written with the real state of things at the apartment. If everything is in order, you are good to sign and get the keys. Also, do not hesitate to contact your landlord in case shortly after moving in any imperfections would be discovered.

Then, make a small card with your second name on it and stick it to the mailbox at the house entrance. You can also stick one more sign to it saying “Keine Werbung” to try and avoid receiving endless pizza and sushi advertisements. At least that’s what I did. 🙂

Lastly, get yourself an insurance for the apartment, called Haftpflichtversicherung. This might help you cover the costs of apartment damages if any happen. We’ll dive into Germany insurance types in a separate post later on. 

Is there something else to know?

First, beware of scams when searching for an apartment on ImmoScout24. There are fake listings on ImmobilienScout24, Immowelt and other platforms that would promise you a cheap apartment without a personal visit and ask you to wire the deposit. This is not normal, please, report such accounts and never wire them any money.

Second, I wish you good luck on your apartment hunting. Don’t be shy to ask me any questions on email. If you want to share your apartment rent story, send me an e-mail, too, on alex@datajob.io. I’d be happy to read it and can mention it in the blog.

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Thank you for reading. 

Ilya P

P.S. Looking for a data science job in Germany at a tech company with interesting challenges, pay and work culture? Check our curated list of data science jobs in Germany.