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Some truths about German rental laws

This is a post I posted in a forum called ToyTownGermany.
You will find the complete thread here.

As you can easily regonize from my posts in this thread I am a Berlin based broker, and this might make you not listen to me, but for all the other readers and posters I would like to answer your post:

your figures are way to high, and your conclusions are way to aggressive.
How will you proof this?

Why do my friends (they are not broker but Internet & Tech guys) drive Jags and Porsches in the streets of Berlin?
Why does the Fashion Company Barbour (as a british company) opens up the biggest showroom on the planet in Berlin? Why do we have several flats for rent in the region of 20 Euro/sqm plus?
Why is the biggest Mercedes Benz Showroom in the World in Berlin?
Why does more luxury and five star hotels open in Berlin than anywere else in Europe?

Boorlin I don’t know were you live, but I can hardly imagine you have any onground knowledge of Berlin??
Even if you live in Neukölln or any other “problematic area” I can give you a tour to open your eyes.

The underdeveloped situation is THE BIG Chance for Berlin. Germanies Capital is a evolving Media and Technology hub. Besides all the Lobbying and Political Associations and Embassies as well as national and international institutions. To get a clue of what is going on here just sign up for the “Berlin Partner Newsletter” at www.berlinpartner.de (in english as well)

Additional I can send you some infosheets about all the stuff I mentioned above.
But you can just go and read my blog at www.reberlin.com

Lets talk about the more detailed things you mentioned in your post.

Can a renter stay for 3 years without paying rent?

If you have a tenant not paying for 3 years, you either have the wrong lawyer or you are to weak to make decisions.
The laws regarding this subject changed shortly and became much landlord friendly. The truth is in the worst case cenario a renter can extend his freeride up to 12 month. But the statistics show it happens not often, in fact most real estate proffessionals calculate with 3% risk deduction on rent that can not be collected.

People need to life on the street because of hard landlords?
Sorry, nobody in Germany gets kicked out to the street, we have social housing for everybody, it has nothing to do with “beeing kicked by a cruel landlord”. Maybe you have heard that Germany has a very big and expensive wellfaresystem, were do think the money goes?

Renters on social wellfare, a problem?
If somebody lives on social wellfare, and you buy the flat he lives in for lets say 950 Euro/sqm and he pays 6.50 Euro/sqm per month, this makes a yield of more than 7%. (These figures referr to a real deal I did in Oktober 2009 in Neukölln)

Rent payed by the municipality? To nice to be true?
You can even ask him that the municipality pays directly into your account (you need permission of the renter so).
I highly recommend not to go this way because to my opinion a renter should be able to choose what he consums and what he wants to spend for it. But if you have a renter on social wellfare always paying late its better to ask him for permission to get payed directly by the municipality.

Just my 2cents
Alexander
of BerlinInvestment.com (corporate website) and ReBerlin.com (blog)