Apartment: Features and What is actually an apartment?

Looking for your first own apartment? How about an apartment? But what exactly is defined as an apartment? An apartment is a small flat with only one or at most one and a half rooms. The modern small apartment usually has high-quality furnishings. The word apartment is also used as a synonym for a holiday home.

Apartments are also available as fully furnished apartments. This type of apartment is mostly used for properties that are advertised for interim rent. An ideal solution for people who only need an apartment for a fixed period of time. Furniture and equipment can be taken over by the owner or landlord for a fixed price in the rent.

Are you looking for the right apartment? Here you’ll find definitions, meanings and lots of information on penthouses, granny flats, apartments & co.: Apartment types from A-Z

Room layout: bedroom and living room in one

Typically, the apartment apartment consists of 1-1.5 rooms. Most often, the apartment has a maximum living space of 50 square meters. However, more luxurious, expensive properties can also have a living area of up to 100 square meters.

There are different sub-types of apartments. The single apartment, for example, is a traditional one-bedroom apartment where the living room and bedroom are in the same room. Whether in a separate room or as a built-in kitchenette in the bedroom or living area, you can also set up a great kitchen for cooking in a small apartment. The bathroom is located in a separate room.

Similar to the Single Apartment is the Studio Apartment. Sleeping and living area are also located in one room. The kitchen can be installed in the form of a compact kitchenette in the living room. In many studio apartments, however, a kitchen is used by several residents as a common kitchen. You will also find a bathtub or shower in a separate room.

Source: Apartment (Lukinski.de)

Pros and cons: Is an apartment right for you?

Apartments offer both advantages and disadvantages to their users and owners. We show you the positive and negative aspects of this type of apartment. Find out what you need to consider in an apartment and whether an apartment would be the right choice for you.

Advantages: Low costs and furnished apartment for temporary living

The biggest advantage are the low housing costs, the service charges are in a manageable range. You are only looking for a temporary apartment? In big cities furnished apartments are often offered, the ideal solution for students who need to spend a few months in another city. Few square meters don’t have to be a disadvantage! Even smaller rooms can be furnished nicely and stylishly, but you don’t have to buy so much furniture to make your apartment look complete.

• Favourable rental or purchase price
• Manageable costs
• Temporary accommodation (if necessary also furnished)
• Only one room needs to be furnished
• Lends itself well to the intermediate rent

Disadvantages: Only suitable for those living alone & no private garden

The most obvious disadvantage of an apartment is the size. The small apartment offers only enough space for one person and is therefore not suitable for couples or families. Despite the small size, apartments are very popular, which is why there is a high demand. This may mean that you have to look for a long time before you can get an appointment and finally find an apartment for you. For many young people, an apartment is their first home. A particular challenge here is taking responsibility for your own apartment and your new independent life. Since most apartments do not have a garden, balcony or terrace, this is probably a minus point for all those who like to have their own little spot in the fresh air.

• Little space
• Only suitable for one person
• High demand
• No balcony, garden or terrace

Who is an apartment suitable for: Apartment for singles, students & seniors

Due to their small size, apartments are especially suitable for people without a partner. A small apartment is also perfect for low-income earners such as pensioners or students who would like to have accommodation in the big city. A type of apartment that is suitable from young to old.

Singles: (first) own four walls – a small home away from home

In big cities, one-room apartments are significantly larger than 2-room or multi-room apartments. For young singles who are working or studying and therefore hardly spend any time at home, a one-bedroom apartment would therefore be ideal. The money saved can be used for leisure activities, or saved for a more expensive property in the future.

Students: Perfect alternative to WG room & student dormitory

Especially for students, who usually only receive income through a part-time job, through support from parents or through Bafög, it is particularly important to find a cheap place to live. If you don’t want to move into a shared room with others and can’t find a place in a student hall of residence, a small apartment is just the thing for you. An apartment of your own offers young students, but also trainees, a greater degree of privacy. However, you have to bear much more responsibility and act much more independently.

Seniors: Back to the big city – small apartment in the heart of the city

Many seniors who previously lived in the suburbs are moving back to the big city at an advanced age. In most cases, the reason for this is the better infrastructure. Having shops, specialists and pharmacies close to one’s own apartment is a real criterion for many. However, it must be ensured that the apartment is barrier-free. In the best case, an apartment on the ground floor is chosen. For seniors without a partner, a one-room apartment is ideal.

Apartments are particularly often found in apartment buildings. The size can vary greatly, from three or four to 50 residential units. A good example of this is a project in Berlin designed by the renowned Berlin architectural firm Graft, the Charlie Living Quarter.

Buy or rent? Your options with an apartment

You have decided to buy an apartment, but you don’t know yet if you should buy or rent it? Most of the residents of an apartment rent it only because they use it as a temporary solution. Students and trainees, for example, rent the apartment only to move close to the university or training center and return home after these years. Another point for young professionals is that they later want to buy an apartment together with their partner or start a family.

Mostly only modernised apartments with luxurious furnishings are purchased. These are predominantly located in popular city districts and are among the more expensive properties. However, these are a good investment, as the rental yield is often higher than for condominiums, which are larger in area.

On the subject of buying property, we also have an article for you with helpful videos from experts on topics such as the process of buying, taxes and capital investment.

Furnishing: Bright furniture, functional equipment & Co.

Even small apartments can be made beautiful and inviting with the right furniture and decorations. Light-coloured furniture and walls make your living space look bigger. But it’s best to draw a plan of the limited space beforehand and go for functional furniture such as sofa beds or height-adjustable tables. For interiors of all styles, check out our Interior Brands Guide. Luxurious furniture brands such as Bretz or the home collection of popular fashion houses such as Tiffany & Co. Home are presented here.

Tip. All trendy interior styles at a glance can be found here: Furnishing styles XXL

Rent out real estate: Investment, Investment – Tips & Tricks

Before we get to the video recommendations for real estate rentals, here are 3 tips on the topic: Learn for free on Lukinski, we have additional book tips, and for those who want to become real estate investors, another look at the topic of taxes, because the more money you make renting houses and condos, the more taxes you pay. The more knowledge you build up about renting and taxes, the more equity you will have for future investments as a landlord and real estate investor.

Tip! Overview Real Estate XXL

The world of real estate is complex and multifaceted. If you want to keep an overview and avoid making mistakes, you should prepare well and clarify as many open questions as possible in good time. No matter whether you want to build, buy and rent out a property or live in it yourself, or even use a property as an investment to generate passive income: The preparation is the A&O. Here you will find articles, as well as book and video tips with successful and helpful books and videos on the subject of real estate – including tips and tricks from professionals and experts.

• Book & Video Tips Overview: Real Estate

Book Recommendation: Letting Real Estate

In addition to videos, book experiences can help you build your knowledge of real estate and renting. Property rental is the perfect way to finance your property, or even better: your tenant pays the monthly installments. You can learn what you need to know to do that here. Videos are too superficial for you or you like to have something in your hand while learning? Then take a look at our book recommendations on the subject of renting out property.

• Rent out property: Book Tips

Buy and rent (external & free of charge)

Learn from the experts. You can find many, many more guide articles for free at Lukinski. Here you can learn everything you need to know about buying real estate for free. Start in general with buying real estate, go over your specific type of real estate, from apartment, to house, apartment building to buying land. In addition importantly, everything around sales contract (who pays the costs?), purchase additional expenses and taxes save with real estates. by legal forms such as a real estate GmbH or family donation. You lack equity capital? Here you can find a comparison of real estate financing. Finally, it’s all about buying and renting as well as letting.

Tax Coaching! For landlords / investors: Experience report

If you write about real estate, you have to educate yourself. More concretely, when it is no longer just about personal use, but also about renting. Because, the biggest item on the expense side is taxes. The more you earn, the more taxes you have to pay – the problem is clearly defined, what to do? Learn from experience, from those who have made it. Many say that the Next Level Tax Coaching is the best in Germany. Reason enough to take part yourself. You want to become a real estate investor yourself?

Read more about tax coaching here:

• Real estate: Save taxes

Tips and tricks for renting real estate

Renting out a property can be very profitable for you. Find out what to consider in the following videos on topics like: Passive Income, Real Estate as an Investment, ETFs, Renting, Returns and much more.

Real estate as an investment

Rich through real estate? This is how much passive income you can expect from real estate. How does the calculation for passive income with real estate work? In this video, we get to the bottom of this question and explain how you can make money with real estate or apartments.

Earn money, rent properly, costs

Isn’t it worth buying a rented property for investment right now? Whether the calculation “the tenant pays off the installments to the bank”, is shown in this video.

Rent or buy ETFs?

What is more worthwhile: buying a property and then renting it out – or using the money to buy ETFs? In the following video, 6 scenarios are calculated.

Investment, calculation, return

Real estate investment: The calculation in 6 simple steps. The calculation is a very important step in a real estate investment or real estate as an investment. In this video it is explained to you what is important when calculating the return of real estate as an investment. For example, the tax, the real estate financing, equity and the cash flow or cash flow is discussed.

Is a new building worthwhile?

Is it worthwhile to build a new property as an investment? In this video you will be shown which construction costs you should not exceed for a good rental return. If you want to calculate the rental yield, you should use the yield calculator Excel Real Estate. For those who do not want to choose between owning a home or renting, the housing extension can be an option. On the property of the home can be created additional living space, which serves as a capital investment and real estate investment. One should inform oneself however in the apron about the appropriate dwelling permission. Thus, one need not decide whether to rent or own the property to use.

Tax structuring, saving taxes

Understand if and how you can really save taxes with real estate and what to look for to do so. It’s all about getting an advantage on your annual income tax. For this, it is important to know your own personal tax rate.

9 tips to rent out your property the right way

Renting out properly? Not so easy. In the following video you will get 9 steps that will help you to rent out your property properly.

Buying your first apartment – without prior knowledge

Becoming a real estate investor, buying and renting out apartments and living off the returns – that’s it! But how do you actually get started? How do you buy your first apartment? How you can take your first steps into the real estate business, tells you in this video real estate professional investor Gerald Hörhan.

9 common mistakes in buying real estate

You should avoid these nine mistakes at all costs if you want to successfuly buy a property as an investment. With this information and tips you can avoid these mistakes in the future.

Related links about the topic Real estate

The world of real estate is still a mystery to you, but you want to change that? With the video recommendations we’ve compiled with tips and tricks from real estate experts, you too can become a real estate pro! Find more videos here to start learning now!

Real estate agent

The profession of real estate agent is interesting for many, but what is behind it? Is it true that there is so much money to be made as a real estate agent? How does a real estate agent spend his day? And how do you become a real estate agent? Whether it’s information on training or how to avoid the biggest mistakes as a real estate agent, you’ll find out in this article. With the help of this video list you can click through the different areas of real estate agent.

• Video Tips: Real Estate Agent
• Book Recommendations: Real Estate Agent

Buy property

Buying real estate – Buying real estate is not like shopping in a mall. Before you buy a house or an apartment, many aspects must be clarified in advance. Many mistakes can happen. With our guide you avoid problems and get in the best case the perfect property. You want to deal with the topic of buying real estate again in peace? Then get one of these books, with top ratings and recommendations from other readers.

• Video Tips: Buy property
• Book Recommendations: Buying real estate

Overview Real Estate XXL: Investment & Co.

Here you get back to the overview of book and video recommendations on the subject of real estate in Germany. Investment cases, capital investment, passive income, house or apartment buy and rent and much more is explained to you here by experts and understandable. In this XXL guide you will find information and articles on the most diverse questions on the subject of real estate.

• Back to Book & Video Tips Overview: Real Estate