How to buy real estate in Germany?

Real Estate in Germany is attractive for foreign investors because of its long-term stability and balance of risk and return. ECOVIS Beijing helps you to get your own German home.

ECOVIS Bejing can assist you with the planning and the purchase of real estate in Germany. We know all legal, tax or other aspects creating risks or opportunities for you. Our team is familiar with typical mistakes and misunderstandings and offer an overall support to overcome all these obstacles. Our specialists provide consulting in different languages such as Chinese, English, and German that makes your start and your further career successful and much easier. The following short guide should give you a brief introduction in:

• How to choose a possible invest in German real estates
• How to evaluate and inspect the property
• What has to be heeded within the transaction

1. Selecting the property

Germany is a federal state whose economic situation forms a gap between growing and shrinking regions. While rural regions face serious loss of population and an oversupply on the housing market, cities and suburban areas show a rising trend in demand and real estate prices. This leads to several hotspots for profitable investments.

Cities with an important economic activity are Berlin, Cologne, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich and Stuttgart. As the selected region and its economic power largely determine the investment value and the future possible profits, selecting the property is one of the major steps in choosing the right target.

Especially Frankfurt could become an important magnet for investment leaving the U.K. in the wake of Brexit.

2. Property inspection

After selecting the target real estate, the most important step is to inspect the property.

This includes:

• verifying the building potential
• necessary building permissions
• building conditions
• financing

Furthermore, a very important aspect is the land register which documents the legal relation and is necessary for the transfer of ownership. We recommend making use of licensed experts who evaluate the object and may have an architect background to exclude possible defects. If an unknown defect is discovered after signing the contract, the seller has the right of supplementary performance before a compensation can be claimed.