Understand property. Optimize your portfolio.
Practical articles on taxes, deal analysis, renovation and cash flow – specifically for private real estate investors in the DACH region. New every week.
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DETax & DepreciationBuying & Valuation
Estate Agent Commission in Germany: Who Pays It in 2026
"The commission is always split" holds only for apartments and single-family houses, and only for consumer buyers. Where the line runs, why a breach costs the buyer nothing rather than half — and why the fee does almost nothing for your tax bill in the year you buy.
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DELettingYield & Cash Flow
Terminating a Tenant for Rent Arrears in Germany 2026
Two months of arrears are enough — until the tenant pays up just before the eviction hearing and the termination falls away retroactively. What level of arrears entitles you to terminate, why one extra sentence saves the case, and what the shortfall really costs.
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DETax & DepreciationBuying & Valuation
Drei-Objekt-Grenze: Germany's Property Trading Rule
From the fourth sale within five years, private asset management becomes a trade — and retroactively so, back to the acquisition. What counts as an object, why a portfolio sale is no way out, what the reclassification really costs and where the Federal Fiscal Court draws the line.
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DELettingYield & Cash Flow
Floor Area Discrepancy in a German Lease: The 10% Rule
The familiar 10% threshold answers only one of three questions. What counts as living area under the German Wohnflächenverordnung, why rent increases and service charges run on the actual area alone, and what an overstated square-metre figure costs in a held property.
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DETax & DepreciationLettingMaintenance
Cosmetic Repairs Germany: Who Pays for Redecoration 2026
Without a valid clause the landlord pays — and after an unrenovated handover the tenant contributes as a rule half. What cosmetic repairs legally cover, the annual figure the II. BV names, and why the decorator's invoice falls into the 15% threshold in the first three years after a purchase.
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DELettingYield & Cash Flow
Rent Reduction in Germany: Rights, Limits, Cash Flow
The reduction operates by law — there is nothing to object to. The three points a landlord can still examine, why no reduction table appears in the statute, when the three-month shield during an energy retrofit applies, and what the shortfall costs in cash flow.
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DETax & DepreciationBuying & Valuation
Property Transfer Tax and Fixtures: What May Leave the Price
Movable fixtures do not belong in the German property transfer tax base – that follows from § 2 GrEStG and the civil-law concept of accessories. Where the line runs between an accessory and part of the building, why the effect goes beyond the tax saving for landlords, and how it shrinks the 15% threshold.
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DETax & DepreciationMaintenance
Construction Withholding Tax in Germany: 15% for Landlords
From the third let flat, § 48 EStG obliges the landlord to withhold 15% of every construction invoice and pay it over to the contractor's tax office. Plus the €5,000 and €15,000 thresholds, the exemption certificate and its online check – and why the liability sits with the customer.
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DETax & DepreciationLetting
Gifting a Rented Property in Germany: Gift Tax 2026
Residential property let to tenants is recognised at only 90% of its value under § 13d ErbStG – but the same relief also cuts the debt deduction, so the benefit is 10% of the equity rather than of market value. Plus the allowances, the ten-year clock and why the recipient inherits the donor's depreciation.
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DEBuying & ValuationYield & Cash Flow
Buying a Leasehold (Erbbaurecht) in Germany: 2026 Guide
The lower price is not a discount but an instalment plan: the ground rent keeps running once the mortgage is repaid. When § 9a ErbbauRG caps an increase, why the familiar “two thirds” compensation does not apply to every residential building, and what the capitalised value under Annex 9a BewG says about a fair price.
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DELettingBuying & Valuation
Own-Use Notice After Buying a Let Flat in Germany 2026
Buy a let flat in Germany and two clocks run one after the other: the § 577a BGB blocking period of three — regionally up to ten — years, and the § 573c BGB notice period that grows after five and eight years of tenancy. Why almost four years can pass between purchase and an empty flat, and which routes § 573 BGB expressly closes.
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DELettingBuying & Valuation
German Rental Deposit: Cap, Escrow and Payout Rules
The deposit sits in your account and is not yours. Why § 551 BGB pegs the cap to the net rent, why the reference interest rate has not been published since 2003, which six-month clock § 548 BGB starts on handover — and why § 566a BGB leaves the seller liable after the sale.
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DETax & DepreciationLetting
Property Tax Relief for Rent Loss in Germany (2026)
German property tax keeps running even when nobody pays the rent. § 34 GrStG provides two tiers — 25% and 50%. How the “normal gross yield” benchmark is measured, why the application is only possible until 31 March of the following year, and when § 34 (4) GrStG rules relief out from the start.
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DELettingYield & Cash Flow
Index Rent vs Stepped Rent: A Landlord Guide for 2026
Both models replace the consent procedure under § 558 BGB — but they behave very differently. What §§ 557a and 557b BGB require, a five-year worked example built on the Federal Statistical Office's actual index figures, and the expensive side effect a stepped rent has on any later renovation.
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DETax & DepreciationLetting
VAT Option for Commercial Letting in Germany: Guide 2026
Commercial rent is VAT-exempt — and that is exactly what blocks input VAT recovery on conversion and refurbishment. When the option under § 9 UStG is available, which tenants rule it out, what the transitional rule allows for older buildings and why the deduction has to be watched for ten years.
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DETax & DepreciationLetting
Passing property tax on to tenants in Germany (2026)
Germany's property tax is apportionable — but only with the right clause in the lease and a timely statement. Plus how the 2025 reform shifts the amount, how it arises from assessed value, assessment figure and municipal multiplier, and why vacancy stays with the landlord.
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DEBuying & ValuationYield & Cash Flow
Early Repayment Penalty: The Three Ways Out of a German Property Loan
Expiry of the fixed rate, the ten-year right, a variable rate — German law knows three routes out of a running property loan on which no penalty arises. Plus the two-week trap, why the 1% cap does not apply to property loans, and when the bank's claim falls away entirely.
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DETax & DepreciationRenovation & Energy
Solar Panels on Rental Property: The German Tax Rules
30 kWp per unit, 100 kWp per taxpayer — and the second limit is a cliff edge: break it and you lose the exemption on every system. Plus the 31 December 2024 cut-off, the deduction ban as the flip side, and why the zero VAT rate does not stop at 30 kWp.
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DERenovation & EnergyMaintenance
Accepting Contractor Work: Deadlines and Defect Rights
Acceptance makes the invoice payable, starts the warranty period and reverses the burden of proof. How deemed acceptance under § 640 (2) BGB arises, why the text-form notice only helps consumers, how much you may retain for a defect, and whether two or five years of cover apply.
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DELettingYield & Cash Flow
Service Charge Statement Germany: The 12-Month Deadline
Twelve months after the accounting period ends, the statement has to be with the tenant – after that the back-claim is gone. The four deadlines in § 556 (3) BGB, the allocation key, the tenant's right to reduce heating costs, and what the non-recoverable remainder costs in cash flow.
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DETax & DepreciationRenovation & Energy
Denkmal-AfA: 100% Heritage Depreciation Under § 7i EStG
Eight years at 9%, four years at 7% – together the full renovation cost. Why the base is not the purchase price, why the heritage authority has to be involved before the work starts, and how § 7i differs from § 7h, § 10f and § 11b.
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DETax & DepreciationLetting
Renting Below Market to Relatives: Germany's 66% Rule
Two percentage thresholds decide the deduction: at 66% the letting counts as fully paid, below 50% the statute splits it. Why €20 a month can make the difference – and what § 21 (2) EStG deliberately leaves open.
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DEBuying & ValuationYield & Cash Flow
Ertragswertverfahren: German Income Approach Guide 2026
Six calculation steps from annual rent to market value, worked through in full on an apartment building. And why remaining useful life and the property yield rate move the result more than any realistic rent increase.
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DETax & DepreciationMaintenance
Spreading Maintenance Costs Over 5 Years: § 82b Guide 2026
Larger maintenance expenditure may be spread evenly over two to five years. Which four conditions § 82b EStDV imposes, when spreading actually pays off – and why the balance lands in a single year the moment you sell.
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DELetting
Rent Increase in Germany: Cap, Limits & Deadlines 2026
Two ceilings apply side by side, three deadlines run one after another. How to weigh the capping limit against the local reference rent, which justification § 558a BGB accepts – and from which month the higher rent actually arrives.
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DELettingYield & Cash Flow
Non-Recoverable Service Charges Germany: 2026 Guide
German law expressly excludes management and maintenance from service charges – and no tenancy clause brings them back. Which items stay with the landlord, where the caretaker invoice breaks a statement, and what the total costs in cash flow.
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DETax & DepreciationMaintenance
Maintenance Reserve Germany: How Much per m² in 2026
German condominium law demands an “appropriate” reserve but names no figure. The one statutory anchor that does, how it turns into an amount per square metre – and when maintenance expenditure actually reduces your tax.
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DETax & DepreciationBuying & Valuation
Purchase Price Allocation Germany: Land vs Building 2026
Only the building is depreciable, the land never is. The standard the split has to meet, how the official BMF worksheet calculates it, what the “Hinterland” discount is worth – and what ten percentage points of building share mean over the holding period.
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DELettingRenovation & Energy
German Heating Law 2026: What Landlords Must Now Do
The GEG has become the Gebäudemodernisierungsgesetz: the 65% rule and the boiler operating ban have been repealed. What §§ 42 ff. GModG require instead, which fuel quota applies from 29 July 2026, and which deadline expires in 2027.
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DETax & Depreciation
German Building Depreciation (AfA): 2%, 2.5% or 3%
Depreciation works every year without any cash leaving your account. Which rate applies to which build year, how the tax base is formed, when a shorter useful life applies and when 5% declining balance is available – with worked examples.
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DELettingRenovation & Energy
Modernisation rent increase in Germany: the 8% rule (2026)
Between the invoice total and the actual rent increase sit three deductions and three caps. The 8% rule, the maintenance share, subsidies and the ceilings – worked through, including the separate track for a heating swap.
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DETax & DepreciationRenovation & Energy
Germany's 15% Rule for Post-Purchase Renovation Costs
Whether your renovation is deductible at once or written off over decades comes down to a single figure. How Germany's 15% threshold is calculated, what counts and what does not – with a worked example and the new 2026 BMF decree.
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DETax & DepreciationBuying & Valuation
German Capital Gains Tax on Property: The 10-Year Rule (2026)
When does capital gains tax apply on a German property sale? The 10-year holding period, the owner-occupier exception, and how the taxable gain is calculated.
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DEYield & Cash Flow
How to calculate rental property cash flow: formula & example (2026)
How to calculate pre-tax and after-tax cash flow correctly – with the formula, a fully worked example and the five most common mistakes in property calculations.
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DETax & DepreciationLetting
Filling out Anlage V: the landlord's guide (2026)
Line by line through Germany's Anlage V rental-income form – which income and deductible expenses go where, how to enter depreciation, loan interest and maintenance correctly, and which mistakes cost real money.
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