Buy and rent a house

Letzte Aktualisierung am 21.11.2023

In der heutigen Niedrigzins-Phase (Anm.d.Red.: Auch Ende 2023, nach Ende der mehr als zehnjährigen Niedrigzinsphase) lohnen sich nur noch wenige Anlageformen. Sparbücher erzielen aktuell so gut wie keine Erträge (Das gilt auch Ende 2023 immer noch, bei deutlich höheren Leitzinsen. Das Sparbuch hinkt bei der Rendite immer hinterher.) und auch Tages- und Festgeld schaffen es kaum, die Inflation auszugleichen. Die höchste Rendite ist derzeit wohl nur mit Aktien und Immobilien zu erreichen.

• But shares are too uncertain and susceptible to fluctuations for many investors.
• Immobilien dagegen bieten eine konstant hohe Rendite mit einer hohen Absicherung auch in Krisenzeiten. Das Prinzip: Ein Haus kaufen, um es zu vermieten.  

Using a house as an investment yields a fairly secure and attractive return. However, there are a few things to bear in mind. 

The basic principle of buying a house to rent out is the so-called leverage:

Haus kaufen und vermieten: Wie funktioniert das? (Eigene Darstellung. Stand: Nov 2023)

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For the property to be profitable, the expected return should be calculated realistically. How high will the rental income be? How is the cold rent per square metre calculated? The location plays a significant role here. It determines how much rent can be charged. It makes sense to take the time to compare property prices and rents in different locations.

Auch die Höhe des Kaufpreises ist wichtig. Das Verhältnis zwischen Kaufpreis und Jahreskaltmiete muss stimmen und sollte bestenfalls zwischen 20 und 25 liegen. Die Nebenkosten dürfen dabei nicht vergessen werden, da auch sie eine entscheidende Rolle spielen.
In die Kalkulation sollten unbedingt die Notar- und/oder Anwaltskosten, gegebenenfalls die Maklerkosten sowie die Grunderwerbsteuer mit einfließen. Ebenfalls sollte bereits zu Beginn kalkuliert werden, wie hoch die voraussichtlichen Verwaltungskosten für die Immobilie sind.
Muss die Immobilie zunächst renoviert werden, fallen unter Umständen hohe Renovierungskosten an.

Risk factors in the building fabric or the like can be ruled out by investors who build a house and rent it out. But building a new house to rent out is of course more expensive than buying an existing house. 

Yield house rental

In any type of investment, the return is the decisive indicator for checking the profitability of the investment. 

In the case of shares, this is usually quite simple, since apart from the difference between the selling price and the original purchase price, only the dividend has to be taken into account in order to calculate the return.

Demgegenüber hat das Investment in ein vermietetes Haus vor allem einen großen Vorteil: Der Fremdkapitalhebel. Denn der clevere Investor nutzt immer noch den historisch niedrigen Zins, um den Kaufpreis mit einem Bankdarlehen abzudecken. Die geringen Gebühren für Zinsen fallen heutzutage kaum ins Gewicht, dafür können die Mieteinnahmen dann für die Tilgung des Kredits verwendet werden. 

In some cases, a certain amount of equity is required when buying a property. However, this is not always necessary. If you want to buy a house as an investment, you may be able to enter the real estate business without equity.

Those who decide to buy a property as an investment do not move into the property themselves: The House is financed and rented out. This has the advantage that the loan taken out for the acquisition is usually covered by the Rental income is carried. Investors should make sure that the expected return is higher than the mortgage rate. Typically, the banks in these cases will offer No to little equity capital so that financially weaker investors can also invest in real estate.

Nevertheless, investors should try to raise at least the ancillary costs from their own funds. This is in line with the investment philosophy of Meine-Renditeimmobilie.de.

The costs of buying a house basically consist of: 

• Purchase price
• Notary and land register fees
• Broker commission
• Real estate transfer tax
• Service charges
• Renovation costs, if applicable

When calculating the costs, it is important to make sure that they are the actual costs. Often sellers and/or estate agents set lower costs in order to make the investment look more attractive.

Build a house and rent it out calculator / Calculate the return on an existing house. You can calculate the property yield for a house as an investment with the following tool:

Buy and rent a house without equity

As described, it is quite possible to buy a house as an investment without equity. But not everyone has the opportunity to do so; there are certain prerequisites:

• Very good credit rating with positive household accounts 
• Collateral 
• A coherent concept for the house as an investment
• Experience helps

A positive budget calculation is an important factor. This helps the bank to recognise that you will not get into financial difficulties even in the event of a potential loss of rent and that you can continue to service interest and redemption payments. This gives the bank security.

Speaking of collateral: A house or flat that has already been paid off (or other tangible assets such as a stock portfolio) can be given to the bank as collateral, which significantly increases your chances. This allows the bank to access additional funds from you in the event of tenant default, without putting interest and repayment at risk. 

Ein schlüssiges Konzept, fein säuberlich ausgearbeitet und Ihrem persönlichen Bankansprechpartner professionell präsentiert hilft dabei, Ihrem Vorhaben einen seriösen Rahmen zu geben. 
Genau so handhaben wir es auch für unsere Kunden, wenn wir die Finanzierung in deren Auftrag bearbeiten. Ein Pluspunkt, den wir als Meine-Renditeimmobilie gegenüber dem frischen Anleger haben, ist unser Ruf bei vielen Banken und persönlichen Ansprechpartnern: Es zeigt sich, dass die langjährige Zusammenarbeit Vertrauen aufgebaut hat und wir auch kompliziertere Fälle in der Regel platziert bekommen. 

If you have experience in the real estate sector - whether through private investments or professional overlaps with the financial sector - this helps to make a good impression on the bank advisor. Not a must, but of course welcome. 

Build a house and rent tax

You would like to build and rent out a house and wonder which taxes are incurred in the course of this? An overview:

• Land transfer tax for land: If you buy an undeveloped plot of land in order to build a house on it, you must pay land transfer tax on the purchase price of the land. 
• Income tax: Rental income that you earn from renting out the completed house is subject to income tax. 

As we are not tax advisors, this is not to be regarded as tax advice. Please consult your tax advisor for detailed questions.

House as an investment what to consider

If you consider a few basic factors when buying a house as an investment, you eliminate your risk considerably. These include:

• Do not buy too expensive: For a specific property or plot of land, check how expensive other properties in the area are. In addition to the usual real estate platforms, additional tools such as Geomap are helpful. 
• Building land: If you buy a plot of land that is still undeveloped, the plot must be designated as building land in order for you to be allowed to build. Of course, this point is irrelevant if you are buying an existing house.
• Regional factors: How strong is the economy in the region, will there be enough jobs in the future? How do you assess the neighbourhood in which the property or house is located? Is it more up-and-coming or characterised by people moving away? 
• Political factors: Is the local political situation in favour of real estate investments? A glaring example of a risky location in these times is Berlin: Here, the rent cap was passed in 2019, which is extremely unfavourable for landlords as it harms profitability. Less rent means less return. Since 2021, however, the rent cap is history. It remains to be seen what the federal politicians will decide with regard to the rent cap. 

Neben diesen allgemeinen Kriterien zum Thema “Haus vermieten was beachten” gibt es objekt-/grundstückspezifische Risiken, die es zu beachten gilt (Stichwort Bausubstanz etc.) 

If you don't want to go searching yourself, we will be happy to help you find the right property. Please contact us for this purpose.