Apartment tour

40, 50 applicants in 15 minutes for a single apartment are not uncommon. Having good and practical tips at hand when viewing an apartment is actually worth its weight in gold. Because often details convince the real estate agent. Details you can prepare for as a tenant or buyer! We show you what you need to pay attention to.

7 tips for viewing an apartment

How can you still convince the landlord of you! We met with the real estate agents and experts from IHV and got 7 ultimate tips for your viewing appointment. How to increase your chances of getting your dream apartment!

• Tell me about yourself. Who are you?
• You have to look serious, always and at all times.
• Adhere to common courtesies
• Tip. Bag full of documents (businessman)
• …
• If you want to read through everything in detail, you can find the article here: 11 Tips Apartment Viewing.

Avoiding mistakes – tips from the broker

Everyone has had an appointment to view an apartment. A distinction is made between an open viewing to which anyone can come and a viewing that was arranged via a private invitation. No matter what kind of viewing it is, that you get the apartment in the end is never certain. We have conducted an interview with a real estate expert for you. There is so much to consider.

• Viewing appointment: This is what you should bear in mind
• Tip. Learn online: Apartment viewing
• The right behaviour at the viewing appointment
• To be honest or… the perfect tenant’?
• …
• In this interview, you’ll get tips, straight from the realtor: mistakes at the viewing.

Job & Apartment Interview

How to get your dream job or your dream apartment! In our check, we have the most important questions for you on the subject of job interviews and for your new dream apartment or dream house! With two units, you’ll learn all the important questions that can come up in an assessment situation. Especially for job interviews and for the new landlord. Good luck with the online training. There are two practice units each: Practice & 5 Second Challenge.

• Practice: Here you can prepare for your next interview – for the job and for the new flat. You have as much time as you want to answer the questions during the practice session.
• 5 Seconds Challenge: In the 5 Seconds Challenge you learn to give short and concise answers to the questions of the online course. The question is updated every 5 seconds – so you get the most out of the short challenge unit.
• Start now: Online test for apartment viewing

Move

Checklist for the move

Practical tips for your next move! Whether it’s about moving helpers or cheap moving boxes and of course the right truck with enough storage space. When moving to a new apartment or even a new house, there is a lot to consider. After we wrote the other day already about tips for the flat inspection, we throw today a close look at the topic removal. Every year, over a million Germans move. Whether it is in your own city or the move abroad, everything wants to be well planned. We met with our real estate experts today and gathered these practical tips for you! We have practical tips for your move:

• Enlist friends and family to help you move
• You’re new in town? Ask work colleagues
• Book movers and moving company
• …
• Here you will find the original checklist for the move.

Furnishings and materials

To make a living room, dining room and bedroom fashionable, there are many options. Many directly think of vases, picture frames or the like. However, there are much easier tricks to make the apartment fashionable.

• Furnishings and materials

Furnishing Styles: Clean, Boho, Edgy, What Suits You?

You want to change or find your interior style, but do not know exactly in which direction it should go? We are happy to help you in your search and find exactly the style that suits you and your lifestyle. You like it playful and girly, or clean and stylish – either way, we will give your home the right touch and bring your interior up to date. Especially as a young person it is not always easy to commit to something specific and that is exactly what we try to avoid! With our articles on the subject of furnishing and living, we want to bring you closer to all the necessary basics and give you little tips and tricks here and there, with which you live stylishly and feel comfortable in your home! You do not have to decide between different styles, mix them and create with our help your perfect four walls, in which only you decide what suits you and what does not!

• Pastel shades, the clean trend
• Beach House style, the maritime eye-catcher
• Boho Nature, very close to the origin
• Chic, the glamorous touch in your home
• Cool & edgy, cosy touch and clean design
• …
• The current furnishing styles

Renovate: Color accents and color trends

You want to make a change, but other cushions on the sofa aren’t enough for you? Okay, then colour must be brought into play! Right now, coral, petrol and mustard yellow shades are totally on trend, but natural tones, pastels and metallics are also very popular with interior design lovers. You can change small details and go a long way with new furniture and other decor. However, if you want to change the whole look of the room or apartment, we advise you to make a drastic change in the wall color.

• Petrol, mix of green and blue
• Mustard yellow, the trend colour for rooms
• Emerald green, a room looks so stylish
• Gold and Metallic, Classic
• Blue, the color that suits everyone
• White and beige, the natural tones
• …
• The current colour trends

Furnish living room

You’ve just turned 18 and are moving out for the first time? A 1 – room apartment in Cologne, Berlin or Munich has little storage space. Of course you want to furnish the apartment nicely, but you need the possibility to store all the things so that the apartment still looks large, clean and modern. We at FIV have picked out the most important tips when moving and the best storage options for you. Read more about:

• Furniture made to measure
• Online shopping for furniture
• Sustainability around raw materials, supply routes & treatment
• Second-Hand Apartment Furnishings – Cheap & Sustainable
• Individuality for charm & uniqueness
• Build cabinet with drawers yourself

Now in article: Furnish living room

Bedroom furnishings

Sliding door cabinet

If you have little space in the bedroom, you should choose the furniture very deliberately to make the best use of the area. A larger wardrobe often does not fit in the room, because the doors can no longer be opened. The remedy is the sliding door wardrobe, which is the ideal solution in a cramped bedroom. No extra swing area is needed in front of the wardrobe to open the doors, so there is less space to spare between the bed and wardrobe. In addition to the practical advantage, sliding door wardrobes also look great. Both small and large bedrooms benefit from this, because the wardrobe convinces with its modern design.

• Space miracle in the bedroom: sliding door wardrobe

Furnish children’s room

You’re having a baby, the family is getting bigger and so is the apartment or the house? It’s always the same: Now you’re going to have a lot of tasks coming your way, and you’ll probably be glad of any help you can get. We, at FIV Magazine, want to try to support you in the best possible way by giving you helpful tips for decorating the rooms of your new home. In this article, you’ll learn all of our tips for decorating a nursery.

• Design with colors, furniture and toys
• Which are the right ones?
• Store toys
• Safety in the children’s room
• Educate children about dangers
• Only selected toys
• …
• Now modern and safe furnishthe children’s room

Buy or rent?

Often the question arises, especially if you have a secure job, should I rent or better buy?

Buying: The first condominium

As soon as you move into your first apartment, for most people it’s rent, rent, rent. Every month you go to work many hours to spend the largest part ultimately for the next rent due at the beginning of the month. It’s no wonder that many young people are considering buying a condominium as soon as possible.

We enlighten about:

• Benefits such as money in everyday life & protection in old age to freedom of choice
• Disadvantages such as administrative burden and the neighbors
• Private or broker?
• Costs for the purchase and financing of the condominium
• Type of apartment: the differences
• New building or old building?
• …
• Read now at Buying an apartment: Costs and procedure

This is how you get your dream apartment! In our check we have the most important questions for you on the subject of interview for the new dream apartment or dream house! With two units you will get to know all the important questions that may arise in an assessment situation. Especially for interviews with the new landlord. Good luck with the online training. There are two practice units each: Exercise & 5 seconds Challenge.

Questions from the tenant – FIV App free of charge + online

These are the questions you should ask as a tenant.

▷ Apartment visit: Questions for tenants – Questions

▷ Apartment visit: Questions for tenants – 5 seconds Challenge

Questions from the landlord – FIV App free + online

You should prepare yourself for these questions from the landlord or broker.

▷ Apartment visit: Questions from the landlord – Questions

▷ Apartment visit: Questions from the landlord – 5 seconds Challenge

5 seconds challenge?

Exercise: Here you can prepare for your next job interview – for the job and for your new apartment. You have as much time as you want to answer the questions at the practice session.

5 seconds challenge: At the 5 seconds challenge you learn to give short and concise answers to the questions of the online course. The question is updated every 5 seconds – so you get the most profit from the short challenge unit.

Questions list – 20+1 question from you as tenant

Here is a small selection of questions that await you in the free app!

1. Is the apartment suitable for keeping pets?
2. Pets allowed?
3. Is the apartment cut so that all the furniture fits in?
4. Can an elevator, basement, attic, balcony or storeroom be used?
5. Are they in a similar life situation?
6. What do the other tenants look like?
7. What do the outdoor facilities look like?
8. Is there any odor nuisance?
9. How pronounced is the traffic noise?
10. Can you reach your workplace easily?
11. Does the apartment have a local transport connection?
12. Are there shopping facilities nearby?
13. Are there enough parking spaces?
14. To which direction is the apartment oriented?
15. Are the windows well insulated and tight?
16. Is there a cable or satellite connection for the television?
17. Does the fitted kitchen belong to the apartment or can it be taken over?
18. Is barbecuing allowed on the balcony?
19. can you hear sounds from the neighbouring apartment?
20. What kind of heating is used?
21. Must be renovated?
22. … you can find more questions in the app: Apartment visit: Questions for tenants

Questions list – 20 questions from landlord

Here is a small selection of questions that await you in the free app!

1. Do you have the Schufa information with you? (Protection Association for General Credit Security)
2. Have you brought a copy of your personal or passport?
3. Who is your current landlord?
4. Do you have your proof of income with you? (current salary statements, possibly employment contract, or for self-employed: the most recent tax assessment)
5. Are you ready to present a pre-letting certificate?
6. Are you ready to provide SCHUFA information?
7. Do you have debts from previous tenancies?
8. For what reason did your previous tenancy end?
9. Have you issued an asset report in the last three years or is a procedure for issuing an asset report pending?
10. Are you dependent on social security benefits to pay the rent or deposit?
11. Can you submit a pay slip?
12. What is your monthly net earnings?
13. Who is your employer?
14. Are you employed indefinitely or on a temporary basis? (only relevant in the case of dependent employment)
15. What do you do for a living?
16. Smoke or your roommates?
17. Do you or your roommates intend to make music in the apartment? * If so, which instrument do you or your flatmates play?
18. Do you intend to keep pets in the apartment? If so, which?
19. Do you intend to use the apartment for purposes other than living? If so, for what purposes?
20. Who are the other persons?
21. … you can find more questions in the app: Apartment visit: Questions from the landlord

7 Tips for your apartment viewing

Dates & meeting new people

Anyone who is new to the city must get to know people! From new friends to the first date, we have all the questions for you – so there is no embarrassing silence. Everything for small talk, new people and your next date for two.

First Date

That’s how you get to know him or her!

▷ First Date – Questions

Getting to know people

New in town? With these questions you get to know people.

▷ Getting to know people – Questions

Smalltalk

Get into conversation with people and of course inspire them.

▷ Smalltalk – Questions

Get to know yourself

To inspire others needs self-confidence!

▷ To get to know yourself– Questions

Words of Wisdom

Motivation for your everyday life!

▷ Words of Wisdom – Quotes

Application interview for job & apartment

This is how you get your dream job or your dream apartment! In our check we have the most important questions for you on the subject of job interviews and for the new dream apartment or dream house! With two units you will get to know all the important questions that may arise in an assessment situation. Especially for job interviews on the job and with the new landlord. Good luck with the online training. There are two practice units each: Exercise & 5 seconds Challenge.

• Exercise: Here you can prepare for your next job interview – for the job and for the new apartment. You have as much time as you want to answer the questions at the practice session.
• 5 seconds challenge: In the 5 seconds challenge you learn to give short and concise answers to the questions of the online course. The question is updated every 5 seconds – so you get the most profit from the short challenge unit.

Application interview

▷ Application interview Job – Questions

▷ Application interview Job – 5 seconds Challenge

Flat viewing – questions for tenants

As a tenant, you should ask these questions.

▷ Apartment visit: Questions for tenants – Questions

▷ Apartment visit: Questions for tenants – 5 seconds Challenge

Apartment visit – questions from the landlord

You should prepare yourself for these questions from the landlord or broker.

▷ Apartment visit: Questions from the landlord – Questions

▷ Apartment visit: Questions from the landlord – 5 seconds Challenge

Interview with our real estate expert from IHV – Die Immobilien Makler.

Visit date: You should consider this

FIV: What does the housing market professional say about tips for visiting an apartment that I want or can buy? Gibt´s there are avoidable mistakes, or what do I have to pay attention to so that I am not fooled?

A decent salesman, no matter whether privately or as a broker, does not want to cheat anyone! After all, this flies out at some point. Furthermore, the BGB (Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch; editor’s note) states that the seller must hand over the sold item free of material defects and defects of title.

FIV: That sounds good, but can I always rely on it? And if it does go wrong, I have a long and costly lawsuit to settle, don’t I?

It is actually quite good that we begin our conversation about tips and mistakes during the apartment inspection with the legal basis. This ensures basic security when buying a home, especially for beginners. In the worst case, I can move out of a rented apartment quickly. With a purchased apartment, even if I use it as an investment, it is not so easy. After all, everything, including financing, would then have to be reversed. That usually costs a lot of money!

One of the legal bases you have as a buyer is the so-called liability for defects of the seller. In abbreviated form, this means that the seller can be held liable by the buyer for hidden or concealed defects even after the sale. But attention: In the sales contracts the following formulations are mostly in it: “bought, as seen”, “bought, as it stands and lies” or “the salesman does not take over guarantee for lack”. In fact, these rates very largely relieve the seller.

The correct behaviour during the inspection appointment

FIV: That’s why we would like to know what is important to consider when visiting an apartment so that it doesn’t get that far.

I begin with the fact that the inspection of a real estate – straight with purchase – needs time and peace. So it is best to try to arrange an exclusive viewing appointment with the real estate agent. Then you will not be pushed through the rooms by other interested parties. By the way, an individual visit does not mean that the buyer should come alone. On the contrary: even when buying a flat, the motto is that four eyes see more than two! One should take a partner with one to the inspection, whom one also trusts a critical judgement. Only in this way can the possible initial euphoria be reduced to a realistic level.

FIV: Is there a right time for an inspection?

If you are alluding to the right time and day of the week, then you can be sure of that! It is best to visit the apartment for the first time in daylight on a weekday after work.
What’s the matter with you? Very simple: then I have a realistic impression of the noise level outside and inside the house. The evening rush hour is flowing, maybe some neighbours are already at home. I know whether I like the noise or not. If everything is in order, it is best to arrange one or two further appointments at different times of the day and weekdays. Several inspection dates are recommended also because one is often very excited with the first date and is perhaps even somewhat “operationally blind”. A good salesman and broker has no problems even with several appointments. He even perceives you more as a serious customer!

Be honest or ‘the perfect tenant’?

FIV: Do I have to be honest with the seller in all things?

If I expect honesty from the broker and seller, then of course it should also be the other way round. So it doesn’t hurt at all if I bring my bank’s financing commitment to the first appointment. It’s not so obvious when renting that the landlord needs a Schufa information. To underline the serious intention to buy with a financing promise or self-disclosure, brings me as a buyer, especially in sought-after apartments but immediately in the pole position.

It is also part of honesty when buying an apartment that I ask to what extent pets are allowed. Then you yourself, or the future tenant, will not experience any nasty surprises. You are also welcome to have the entire house rules shown to you, if there is already one – for example in a new building.

Cities with_the_highest_rentals – Toplist

Source: Real Estate Statistics / IHV

Here you can see the 10 cities with the highest rents in the 4th quarter of 2018:

1. Munich: 17.56 Euro/m²
2. Frankfurt am Main: 13,96 Euro/m²
3. Stuttgart: 13.64 Euro/m²
4. Berlin: 12, 29 Euro/m²
5. Darmstadt: 12,23 Euro/m²
6. Mainz: 12,17 Euro/m²
7. Freiburg: 12,13 Euro/m²
8. Wiesbaden: 12,03 Euro/m²
9. Hamburg: 11,94 Euro/m²
10. Ingolstadt: 11,91 Euro/m²

Real estate check: Pay attention to these things

FIV: Let’s get to the hardware when we visit apartments. If I am not a craftsman or building expert myself, what should I pay attention to with regard to the condition of the apartment?

There are some basic points of view that everyone – even if they are not from the building trade – can and should take. It starts with the smell: if it smells musty, even after longer airing, then something is literally lazy here. Mould on walls, ceilings or floors is usually the cause.

Actuate all the windows and doors yourself once and hold your hand to the rebates and joints! If there is no ventilation there, this speaks for good insulation. In addition, windows and doors should be smooth and easy to open and close.

Especially the corners of windows and window sills should be checked with hands, eyes and nose. There is a time when the mildew is painted over….

Not only in the inhabited state, but also before the purchase and move-in, the sanitary facilities are the visiting card of the property. Fittings, ceramics, tiles etc. should be in good to best condition. Quietly press a WC flush, try out the water and shower taps!

FIV: Speaking of trying it out: How do I know that all my furniture will fit into the apartment?

By making it clear beforehand what kind of furniture they have and in what size. Before each visit, you should therefore use a folding rule to touch the most important items of furniture and note the measurements. In the new apartment I can easily check it out. If you want to work more professionally, you can get a floor plan with a scale before or at the latest at the viewing date. Then I reduce my furniture to the appropriate scale and draw it into the floor plan as it fits best for me.

Of course, this is only necessary if I move into the apartment myself. As a pure capital investment for renting, however, I should absolutely pay attention to how many sockets there are and how they are distributed. The connection options for washing machines and dishwashers should also be checked. Is there a basement in the house and how big is it? This is also an important point during the tour.

Step by step through the tour

FIV: Am I allowed to take pictures during the tour?

Yeah, right! I’d even advise it! Because then I can watch the pictures or the video at home, room after room, again and again. New questions and suggestions will certainly arise for the further viewing appointments.

FIV: That’s a whole lot of things that I have to take into account during the tour. If there is more to it, will the seller perhaps break off the visit annoyed?

If that’s the case, then you’re lucky. Because then the apartment certainly has some problems and they should not buy!

However, I myself, my colleagues and all known colleagues would never interrupt a visit because of too many questions. On the contrary: I am happy when someone takes a serious look at the apartment and thus documents the serious intention to buy to me. If you discover any deficiencies, please remain calm and objective. By the way, there is nothing wrong with it if you talk to other residents and owners of the house before buying! A good broker will even offer you that on his own.

But let me also say a word about another important topic at the viewing appointment: Make sure you look at the closer and wider living environment! It doesn’t help if I have the greatest apartment, but it’s in an environment that doesn’t suit me for whatever reason. Sooner or later this will affect your relationship with the property.

In addition to the noise level, the following things must also be checked:

• What is the parking situation?
• How steht´s with smells in and around the house?
• What are the outdoor facilities?
• What shopping facilities are nearby?
• What is the connection to public transport (local public transport; editor’s note)
• How far is it to the nearest authorities, schools etc.?
• If there are children in the game, the question of playgrounds is very important.

It is best if you as a buyer create a checklist with all the things you want to check at the inspection date. By the way, there are already finished checklists on the Internet.

Many thanks for the many tips!

Interview with our real estate expert Jan Rickel from IHV – Die Immobilien Makler.