How to find a flat in Berlin

The starting point

There are far more people looking than there are free flats. A single listing from a municipal company often draws several hundred applications, and a large share of them arrive on the day it is published.

So it is rarely the nicest application that wins. What counts is whether you applied at all while the listing was still live, and whether you meet the formal criteria: income, household size and, where required, a WBS.

Where the listings are published

The municipal companies and the cooperatives publish on their own websites; some municipal offers also appear on the shared portal inberlinwohnen.de. Large private landlords each run their own portal.

There is no single place that holds everything. Anyone searching by hand has to watch several sites separately.

From listing to keys

1. The listing appears on the company's website.
2. The application — a form with your data is submitted.
3. E-mail confirmation (double opt-in). At some companies the application does not count without that click.
4. Waiting. A rejection often never arrives — silence is the most common answer here, not a malfunction.
5. Invitation to a viewing, frequently a group appointment with many applicants at once.
6. Selbstauskunft and documents — proof is requested only now, not with the application.
7. Offer, tenancy agreement, handover including the deposit and the Wohnungsgeberbestätigung for your registration.

Documents to have ready beforehand

Anyone who starts collecting them after the invitation loses the flat to someone who already had them.

• SCHUFA-BonitätsAuskunft (the version meant for landlords)
• proof of income, usually the last three payslips
• ID card or passport
• Mietschuldenfreiheitsbescheinigung from your previous landlord
• WBS, if you have one

What the rent really costs

As a rule of thumb landlords expect a net income of about three times the Kaltmiete.

• Kaltmiete — the figure from the listing, without running costs.
• Nebenkosten — heating, water, refuse, caretaker.
• Warmmiete — what is actually debited.
• Kaution — up to three months' Kaltmiete (§ 551 BGB).
• Cooperative shares — an extra payment at cooperatives, often four figures, but refunded when you move out.

What the service does

• Watches the public listings of the companies named below in Berlin and Brandenburg — at night and at weekends too.
• Fills in their public application forms with your profile data and sends the application in your name.
• Clicks the confirmation links from the e-mails where an application does not count without that click.
• Collects the companies' replies in your account and reports invitations to a viewing.
• Flats of companies where automatic application does not work are not shown to you at all.

What the service does not do

• It does not guarantee a flat. Only the housing company decides who gets it.
• It does not attend viewings, does not book appointments and does not sign a tenancy agreement.
• It does not send your SCHUFA report or payslips — the company asks you for those later and directly.
• It does not invent anything: what is not in your profile cannot be in the form.
• If a form requires a file attachment, the service does not submit it — there is nothing to guess here.
• It is not a substitute for legal or social advice.

Companies with automated applications

Berlin: HOWOGE, degewo, Stadt und Land, Gewobag, berlinovo, WBM, Vonovia, Deutsche Wohnen, ADLER Group.

Brandenburg: WOBRA, GuWo Guben, WBG Brandenburg, WOWI Frankfurt (Oder), WOBAG Schwedt, WoGe Finsterwalde.

This list comes from the service's own code, not from a marketing page. When a company is added or changes its form, this page changes with it.

One plan: €29.99 per month including 19 % VAT, cancellable at any time. To get to know the service there is a free test drive: 24 hours, no card, up to 20 real applications, once per person. It ends on its own and does not turn into a subscription.