Not familiar with the standard market rental prices and additional costs? We will be happy to help you.
Are you paying too much or perhaps too little for rent and utilities? Landlords don't want to lose sight of their returns, and tenants want to be treated fairly and not pay too much. Ideally, rental costs are the perfect mix of return and tenant satisfaction!
What is a market-rate rent?
There are several ways to find out if your rent is in line with the market. First, you should take a look at the rent index for your municipality or city to get a very good overview of current rental prices. You can also study real estate ads in newspapers and compare them with each other. Of course, it always helps to ask around among your friends and acquaintances and find out how much they pay in rent. In addition, national market overviews or market analyses serve as a good guide.
We are happy to assist you with this question! Larbig und Mortag has put together a team of experts who specialize in researching real estate prices. We are always up to date with the current prices for rent and ancillary costs and can therefore provide you with the best possible advice! This service is available to all our customers and owners – we are happy to help.
What is the rent cap?
The rent control law has been in place since 2015 and helps to curb rising rental costs. Under this law, the rent for a new or re-let property may only be ten percent above the local market rent. New buildings and extensively renovated apartments are excluded from this. The federal states can determine by law which areas are subject to the rent control law.
What additional costs can you expect?
In addition to the rent, there are additional costs that you should factor into your financial planning. It is not always possible to calculate these costs accurately in advance, but it is still worth listing them beforehand.
When calculating additional costs, you should consider the following items:
- Electricity costs (including communal electricity such as stairwell lighting)
- Internet and telephone costs
- Heating
- Administration & maintenance costs
- possible surveillance costs
- Cleaning costs (caretaker, window cleaner, cleaning of common areas)
- Property tax
As a rule, around 17–20% of the total rental costs are ancillary costs, with electricity costs usually accounting for the largest share of the ancillary costs. To avoid unexpectedly high additional costs, ask the previous tenant to show you the additional cost statement. This will give you a rough idea of what costs to expect.
