# What docs will new landlord want to see?



## Jersey_Mark

Hello all,

My move to Hamburg is getting closer and closer....exciting....and scary actually!

I'm gonna get an apartment over the Internet and I'm wondering what my new landlord/landlady is going to want to see and have copies of?

My passport naturally, but how about a work contract? I'm going to be arriving and looking for an apartment before I actually sign a work contract, so will that be a problem?

Thanks!


----------



## James3214

I think it is best to ask them because in my experience some don't wish to see anything, some your passport and some everything!


----------



## Jersey_Mark

Thanks James! I had a feeling that was going to be the answer!


----------



## ALKB

Proof of income is one of the more common requirements. Otherwise you´d need a guarantor. Sometimes they also want to see a credit check certificate and a statement from your last landlord that you don´t have any outstanding rent with them.

A solution could be to go for a short term let (students going to study abroad for a semester renting out their flat and such) or a flatshare, which tend to be less... bureaucratic. That would give you time to start a job, search for a flat of your own and find out which area you want live in.

Our friend in Edinburgh is viewing a flat for us this evening and I have high hopes for it. The sticking point is, that it will be available roughly three weeks after our flights. 

Scary. Yes.


----------



## Jersey_Mark

So you're gonna have to stay in a hotel for 3 weeks? Or maybe you have other friends or relatives there you can stay with.

I've got a booking in a hotel for 5 nights, so I need to find a place real quick!

I arrive on a Saturday and I sign my work contract on the following Monday, so maybe if I try and explain that to a potential landlord then it'll be OK. Otherwise I'll have 3 days to find a place....yeah scary!


----------



## ALKB

Jersey_Mark said:


> So you're gonna have to stay in a hotel for 3 weeks? Or maybe you have other friends or relatives there you can stay with.
> 
> I've got a booking in a hotel for 5 nights, so I need to find a place real quick!
> 
> I arrive on a Saturday and I sign my work contract on the following Monday, so maybe if I try and explain that to a potential landlord then it'll be OK. Otherwise I'll have 3 days to find a place....yeah scary!


We are looking into holiday lets and such (during the summer hols! Madness!). Alternatively we might be able to stay with my sister-in-law in the West Midlands and with some friends in Cambridgeshire for a while. I will look into changing our flights, too, but they are of the cheap-ish kind and I will not count on that to work.

IF we get that flat. 

5 nights including a weekend sounds very tight for a let through an agency, as they tend to work only Mondays to Fridays...


----------



## Jersey_Mark

ALKB said:


> 5 nights including a weekend sounds very tight for a let through an agency, as they tend to work only Mondays to Fridays...


Good luck with your flat!

I want to try and avoid agencies if I can as I've read they are pretty criminal in Germany in respect to their fees.

Even if I can get something short-term to start with, that'll be OK.


----------



## James3214

Jersey_Mark said:


> Good luck with your flat!
> 
> I want to try and avoid agencies if I can as I've read they are pretty criminal in Germany in respect to their fees.
> 
> Even if I can get something short-term to start with, that'll be OK.


I think I mentioned this before, but try this site as they have a lot of places just available for a short term as well, and most are not agencies but private individuals looking for a lodger or if you can manage it, someone to look after their property while they go away.

Wohnung Hamburg : 1-Zimmer-Wohnungen Angebote in Hamburg

Good luck.


----------



## Jersey_Mark

Yes, I have that site bookmarked James from when you linked it in my other thread. It's a great site!


----------



## Jersey_Mark

Have you heard anything about this company / site? It's called Home Company and I saw it mentioned on another expat site....seems quite good and looks like it'll be handy for people like me moving to Hamburg who have never been there before and with a limited knowledge of the language.

http://hamburg.homecompany.de/en


----------



## James3214

Jersey_Mark said:


> Have you heard anything about this company / site? It's called Home Company and I saw it mentioned on another expat site....seems quite good and looks like it'll be handy for people like me moving to Hamburg who have never been there before and with a limited knowledge of the language.
> 
> Furnished accommodations, rooms, houses and properties for rent - HomeCompany Hamburg - Agency for temporary furnished accommodation


I haven't but I suspect you will have to pay a 'provision/agency fee' if you find a place through them. At least one months rent possibly more.
Ah yes...found it in the small print..
_Upon conclusion of a lease (verbally/in writing), commission in the sum of 1,785 months’ rent including German value-added tax [MwSt] ( 1,5 month’s rent plus MwSt) at the rental stated in the offer becomes due immediately._


----------



## ALKB

Jersey_Mark said:


> Good luck with your flat!
> 
> I want to try and avoid agencies if I can as I've read they are pretty criminal in Germany in respect to their fees.
> 
> Even if I can get something short-term to start with, that'll be OK.


I think I didn´t say this right - the letting market in Germany is so different from the Uk!

*Makler* = Estate Agent (often a one-person company) they want commission=provision, a bit of a new-ish animal for the letting market, they used to be more about selling property.

*Wohnungsbaugenossenschaft* = a sort of coop building company that´s not supposed to make any profit (any money has to go back into the buildings or construction). Instead of a deposit, you have to buy a certain amount of shares, which means you become a member. The flats are often good value for money but the process might not be the quickest. They have their own offices and staff, no commission required.

*Wohnungsbaugesellschaft* = a company that builds/acquires lots of blocks of flats and manages them. They do aim for a profit. Again, they have their own staff and don´t bother with agents. There should be no commission. These companies can also be owned by the town/province.

Then there are also private landlords managing their own flats or asking an agency/agent. I think they often put ads in the local newspapers, on the message boards in supermarkets or kijiji :

WG Zimmer und Wohnungen auf Zeit in Hamburg | eBay Kleinanzeigen


----------



## Jersey_Mark

Yeah, I think for my first apartment, I'm just gonna have to bite the bullet and go with an agency. I'm stressing myself out enough with leaving China and going home and then moving from home to Hamburg, to a place I've never been and I'm still learning the language.....I'm really getting too old for this nomadic lifestyle! 

I was looking at their charges again and I'll have to check with them, but I got this from their site courtesy of Google Translate:

"With the conclusion of a lease, a fee of 1.785 months rent * VAT (1.5 months rent plus VAT) on sale of that month rent * paid immediately. For shorter periods of time granted by the Home Company, a voluntary commission scale as% of monthly rent * the * reference to the lease and the monthly rent is calculated as follows:

up to 1 month 25% + VAT = 29.75%
up to 2 months 40% plus VAT = 47,60%
up to 3 months 55% plus VAT = 65.45%"

So it looks like if I was to just rent one short term for say 3 months then the commission would be 65% of the monthly rent.....or is that 65% of the monthly rent plus 1.785 months rent?.....hmmmm

I will report back with my findings....

@ALKB, thanks for your definitions of the different options. I like the sound of the co-op one where you buy shares and become a member....I think I'll choose that as my long-term option once I know exactly where I want to live and settled in more.


----------



## Jersey_Mark

Hi again...

Has anyone heard of Patrizia estate agency or had any dealings with them? It sounds like a Wohnungsbaugenossenschaft that ALKB was referring to where you buy shares instead of a deposit. They are Provisionsfrei too, which is quite appealing!

They appear to have some reasonably priced places in Hamburg:

Privatkunden - Immobilienangebote - Wohnung mieten : PATRIZIA Immobilien AG


----------



## ALKB

Jersey_Mark said:


> Hi again...
> 
> Has anyone heard of Patrizia estate agency or had any dealings with them? It sounds like a Wohnungsbaugenossenschaft that ALKB was referring to where you buy shares instead of a deposit. They are Provisionsfrei too, which is quite appealing!
> 
> They appear to have some reasonably priced places in Hamburg:
> 
> Privatkunden - Immobilienangebote - Wohnung mieten*: PATRIZIA Immobilien AG


Hm. Looks different.

Something between a Wohnungsbaugesellschaft and a consultancy??

But if they don´t take commission and have nice properties...

This is a list of the Wohnungsbaugenossenschaften in Hamburg:

Übersicht Stadtteile - Hamburger Wohnungsbaugenossenschaften e. V.

Hope this helps!


----------



## Jersey_Mark

That is very helpful...thank you!


----------

