Berlin is the largest city in Germany and is also the capital. Best known for its historical relationship as the capital of Germany, tolerance, street art, museums, palaces, and internationalism, Berlin has a varied architectural style.
Visitors here can find representations of different historical periods within the city center, from the few remaining medieval buildings to post-modern glass and steel buildings, as well as unique neighborhoods.
For investors, Berlin offers the best quality of the real estate market with reasonable growth and serious investment. The city remains Europe’s preferred economic capital with favorable economic indicators. There is a higher demand for the real estate market now compared to its supply.
Due to the uniqueness of its historical past, one can find new properties at reasonable prices in the city center. So whether you’re looking to invest in a safe place or move with your family, Berlin has all the ingredients to meet your needs.
If you’re planning to buy a house in Berlin, there are a number of important decisions to consider before you make a purchase. An important factor is whether to buy an existing apartment or an off-plan one. However, making the right decision in this regard is not always easy. Most buyers only consider financial factors and miss out on other important aspects such as market and social trends.
Existing Apartments
It is quite difficult to establish the real value of an existing house. One of the reasons is that it is difficult to determine in advance the conditions of the plumbing, electrical and heating systems, and problems arise when it is too late, at a cost of the order of 7,000 to 12,000 euros.
Another possible reason is that despite the repair or remodeling of the building, the materials used were of low quality and cheap, requiring additional work on them. One can hire the service of an expert to assess the condition of the property, but it can be a costly affair.
Although, the agent/real estate agent is there for help when buying a property which would eliminate most of the problems, but they will charge a fee of 5%-10% of the total value. This would increase the final transaction cost of the property and could be close to an off-plan cost of ownership.
In addition to these problems, there are other problems related to the purchase of existing homes. For example, if a building was built in the last twenty or thirty years or earlier, some important factors need to be explored and evaluated, not just to check the condition of the building.
An assessment of market trends and property values in the surrounding area needs to be made, and these could show different figures within a district such as in Friedrichschain, Kreuzberg and Neukolln. Residents of the building must also be taken into account. If the building is old, there is a possibility that the condominium fees will remain unpaid and the building’s HOA will not cover them with adequate funds. Consideration should be given to the existing rental situation within the building and whether it is a tenant-occupied dwelling, as it becomes difficult to increase the rent or undertake a reform after its purchase, at least until the date of the lease.
It is often said that the cost of new buildings is quite high compared to buildings that were built in previous decades. Although this may be correct for buildings on the outskirts of the city, the history of Berlin must be taken into account.
A price review of the cost of properties in different districts says that not much change in values could be seen in Mitte, which is the central district of Berlin, in recent times relative to other districts.
As an example, the cost of real estate that was built after the fall of the Berlin wall is almost close to contemporary properties, while properties built before were comparatively cheaper. The reason is that these older properties built during the GDR era are not equal to those found in the western districts in quality as the quality considered real estate values, resulting in stabilizing purchase prices. Additionally, many of these Cold War-era buildings were never maintained, requiring unexpected sunk costs to make the necessary repairs.