Renting out an apartment in Berlin

The process is the same for almost every letting. Take these four steps in the right order and you avoid the most common mistakes: an unlawful rent, a weak listing, and a choice based on gut feeling instead of documents.

1. Set the price - the lawful rent under the Mietspiegel and rent cap.
2. Prepare - energy certificate, floor plan, photos.
3. List - publish a complete, honest listing.
4. Screen - choose applicants on the basis of documents.

In Berlin you cannot set the rent freely. On a new lease the Mietpreisbremse applies: the cold rent may be at most 10% above the local comparable rent, and that benchmark is the 2026 Berlin Mietspiegel.

Get the exact figure for your apartment in four steps with the free Mietspiegel calculator. The exact cap and the exceptions (new builds, comprehensive modernisation) are explained on the Berlin Mietpreisbremse page. A rent well above the comparable figure is not only open to challenge, it also deters good applicants.

Before the listing goes live you need the energy certificate. Its figures are legally required in the listing itself: energy source, construction year, energy demand or consumption, and the efficiency class. Leaving them out can trigger a fine.

Just as important, though not mandatory: a floor plan, the exact floor area, and good daylight photos. Listings with bright, tidy photos and a floor plan get noticeably more qualified enquiries. You only need the Wohnungsgeberbestätigung later, when the new tenant registers at the Bürgeramt.

A good listing is honest and complete. It states the cold rent, service charges and deposit, the floor area, the number of rooms, the floor, the features (kitchen, balcony, heating type), and the earliest move-in date. The more precise the details, the fewer unsuitable enquiries you get.

On Domily you upload the photos and describe the apartment in one line; the full description is generated for you. You then reach people who have already stored their rental profile, so the documents are there from the start.

The most important step is the choice. A sought-after apartment quickly draws 30 to 50 applications. To decide reliably, rely on three documents: the self-disclosure form (Selbstauskunft), the proof of income (usually the last three payslips), and creditworthiness.

On Domily, applicants attach these to their application themselves, and you set your income and document criteria per listing. For what to look for in a credit report, see the guide on checking a tenant's creditworthiness. As a rule of thumb, the cold rent should be at most a third of net income. If you are looking for a replacement tenant for a lease still running, see the article on finding a Nachmieter.

Two formats work well: the individual viewing (calmer, more time per person) and the group viewing (more efficient with many interested parties). What matters is that you invite only applicants whose basics fit, and that scheduling does not collapse into a mess of emails. On Domily, interested tenants book their own viewing slot.

Once you have chosen, the lease and handover follow. The rental contract should clearly set out the cold rent, the service-charge advance, the deposit (at most three months' cold rent), notice periods, and any agreement on minor repairs. At handover, record the condition of the apartment and all meter readings in an apartment handover protocol. That protocol is your protection when the deposit comes up at move-out.