Buy a tenanted or vacant apartment in Germany? What rental investors should check

A tenanted apartment pays rent from the day it becomes yours, under a lease you cannot rewrite. A vacant apartment lets you choose the tenant and agree a new rent within the rules, but you pay every cost until someone moves in. Neither is better in general. The choice turns on three figures: the gap between the current rent and the rent the law would allow, how long a vacant apartment might stand empty, and what letting it will cost.

This guide explains what changes when you buy an apartment with a tenant in it (vermietete Wohnung), what a vacant one costs before the first rent arrives, and the documents to check in each case.

The lease continues. A sale does not end a residential tenancy. The buyer steps into the landlord's rights and obligations for the duration of their ownership (§ 566 BGB). Legally, that starts when you are entered in the land register, which can be weeks or months after the notary appointment. The purchase contract usually moves rent and costs to you earlier, from the agreed handover date (Übergang von Besitz, Nutzen und Lasten). Agree with the seller how the tenant will be told where to pay rent from which month.

So does the deposit. You take over the obligation to return the tenant's deposit at the end of the tenancy (§ 566a BGB). Make sure the contract requires the seller to transfer it, and ask for evidence of the amount and where it is held.

The rent can change only within the rules. You can ask the tenant to agree to an increase up to the local comparative rent (ortsübliche Vergleichsmiete), but only if the rent has been unchanged for 15 months when the increase takes effect, and no earlier than a year after the last increase (§ 558(1) BGB). Within three years, the rent may rise by no more than 15 per cent across Berlin until 10 May 2028 and in Dresden and Leipzig until 30 June 2027 (§ 558(3) BGB; KappGrV Berlin 2023; Saxon State Government). If the tenant agrees, the higher rent is owed from the start of the third calendar month after the request arrives (§ 558b(1) BGB). A stepped or index-linked rent follows its own clause instead; see the checks to make before buying.

The tenant stays unless the law allows otherwise. A landlord can terminate a residential lease only with a legitimate interest, such as genuinely needing the apartment as a home for themselves or their family (§ 573 BGB). Wanting a higher rent or a better sale price is generally not enough. Even with a valid reason, the landlord's notice period grows from three to six and then nine months after five and eight years of tenancy (§ 573c(1) BGB).

Conversion history matters. If the building was divided into condominiums after the tenant moved in, the tenant may have a right of first refusal when the apartment is sold to a third party (§ 577 BGB). Your purchase could then pass to the tenant. The buyer of such an apartment also cannot terminate for personal need for three years (§ 577a BGB). Berlin has extended that period to ten years across the city until 30 September 2033 (Berlin Senate); Saxony has not, so three years applies in Dresden and Leipzig (Saxon State Ministry).

If you might want to live in the apartment within a few years, a tenanted purchase is the wrong starting point.

An empty apartment does not mean a free choice of rent. For a new letting, the rent brake (Mietpreisbremse) generally limits the rent to 10 per cent above the local comparative rent (§ 556d BGB). It applies across Berlin until 31 December 2029 (Berlin Senate) and in Dresden and Leipzig until 30 June 2027 (Saxon State Government).

Three exceptions come up often:

• The previous rent. If the last tenant lawfully paid more, you may agree up to that amount (§ 556e(1) BGB). Ask the seller for the last lease to prove it.
• Recent modernisation. Work in the three years before the letting can justify a higher figure, calculated by statutory rules (§ 556e(2) BGB).
• New or comprehensively modernised apartments. The rent brake does not apply to an apartment first used and let after 1 October 2014, or to the first letting after comprehensive modernisation (§ 556f BGB).

A listing that quotes a "market rent" for a vacant apartment should show which of these routes it relies on. Otherwise, work from the local comparative rent.

While the apartment is empty, you pay the full service charge (Hausgeld), including heating, water and other costs a tenant would normally reimburse, plus the loan. Budget for:

• Letting costs. If you commission an agent to find a tenant, you pay the agent. A tenant can be charged only where the agent was instructed exclusively on the tenant's behalf (§ 2(1a) WoVermRG).
• Making it lettable. Painting, small repairs, and an energy certificate for the advert and viewings.
• Time. Advert, viewings, selection, contract and move-in take weeks at best. Plan in months, not days. Our guide to finding tenants in Germany covers the steps.
• Local vacancy rules. In Berlin, leaving an apartment empty for more than three months can count as misuse of residential space (Zweckentfremdung) and may need a permit (Berlin Senate). Leipzig's ordinance, in force across the city since 1 September 2024, applies to vacancy of more than twelve months (§ 1(2) SächsZwEVG). Dresden was still considering a draft ordinance in 2026.

For a vacant apartment, Alpha Minoris's Vermieter-Autopilot can take on tenant finding and rental contracting on your behalf, and then coordinate repairs and ongoing landlord tasks once the tenancy starts. The rent it agrees still has to follow the rules above, you remain the landlord, and spending and approval limits belong in the written mandate.

Illustrative example. Fictional figures, not a forecast or an offer. Inputs: two identical apartments at the same price and loan; local comparative rent €900 cold; apartment A let at €780 cold, rent last changed more than 15 months ago, no stepped or index clause; apartment B vacant and let at €900 after two or three empty months; €210 a month of recoverable Hausgeld paid by the owner while empty; agent commissioned by the owner at two months' cold rent plus 19 per cent VAT (€2,142), an assumption. Loan payments and owner-paid costs are identical in both cases and left out. Figures cover the first 24 months after handover.

The €897 is the 15 per cent cap, possible only if the local comparative rent supports it and the tenant's consent is obtained or enforced. Month 7 allows for registration as owner and the § 558b lead time.

Once let, the vacant apartment earns €120 a month more. Against that, two empty months and the letting costs add up to €4,362 of forgone rent and extra costs; three add up to €5,472. At €120 a month, the vacant apartment overtakes the unchanged tenanted rent only in month 37 or month 46. If the tenanted rent can lawfully rise to €897, the vacant apartment does not catch up in any realistic holding period.

The lesson is not that tenanted is always better. It is that the gap between the current rent and the lawful rent matters more than the gap between the current rent and an advert. Prices also differ: a vacant apartment can be sold to owner-occupiers, and its price may reflect that. Put the price difference into the comparison, then run the full monthly calculation in our rental property cash-flow guide.

Alpha Minoris's Buyer's Agent service collects these documents from the seller before you commit, for apartments in Berlin, Dresden and Leipzig: the lease with every addendum, rent-payment evidence, deposit details and the records needed at handover. You do not need to live in any of the three cities.

The tenant is not a party to your purchase, and the apartment is their home. Arrange viewings through the seller, at times agreed with the tenant. The lease and payment records contain personal data, and data protection law expects it to be limited to what is necessary (Art. 5(1)(c) GDPR). Ask for what your decision needs, with bank details and unrelated personal information removed, and keep it secure. Once you are the landlord, introduce yourself in writing and explain who handles repairs and rent.

Does a sale end the tenancy in Germany?

No. The buyer takes over the lease with its existing rent, terms and deposit. The tenant keeps the same rights as before the sale.

Can I raise the rent after buying a tenanted apartment?

Only within the lease and the law. An increase to the local comparative rent needs the rent to be unchanged for 15 months, and is capped at 15 per cent over three years in Berlin, Dresden and Leipzig. A stepped or index-linked lease follows its own clause.

Can I give the tenant notice so that I can move in?

Only with a genuine need for the apartment as a home for yourself or your family, and with the statutory notice period. If the building was converted after the tenant moved in, a waiting period applies: ten years in Berlin, three in Dresden and Leipzig.

Who pays the agent when I let a vacant apartment?

You do, if you commission the agent. A tenant can be charged only when the agent was instructed exclusively for them.