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Is Buying a 58m² Apartment in Friedrichshain for €310k a Good Investment? Seeking Advice
I've just been offered the opportunity to buy the apartment I'm currently renting in Friedrichshain. Here are the details:
Size: 58m²
Balcony: 6m²
Price: €310,000
Condition: Needs a n… Hey Reddit,
I've just been offered the opportunity to buy the apartment I'm currently renting in Friedrichshain. Here are the details:
Size: 58m²
Balcony: 6m²
Price: €310,000
Condition: Needs a new kitchen and bathroom before it's livable
Plan: Live in it for a while, then potentially rent it out
I'm trying to figure out if this is a good investment, and I'd love to get some advice on what I should be considering before making a decision.
My main questions:
Price: Does €310k seem reasonable for a 58m² apartment in Friedrichshain, considering it needs some renovations?
Renovation Costs: What should I budget for a new kitchen and bathroom? Any tips on how to keep costs down?
Rental Potential: Once renovated, what kind of rental income could I realistically expect in this area? How is the rental market in Friedrichshain?
Future Resale Value: How do you see the property market in Friedrichshain evolving in the next 5-10 years? Is this area likely to appreciate?
Other Considerations: Are there any legal, financial, or practical issues I should be aware of before purchasing, especially in Berlin?
I'd appreciate any insights, especially from those who've bought or invested in property in Berlin. Thanks!
tbh 310k for 58m2 in friedrichshain is in the normal range but the kitchen+bathroom thing is a real pain point. if you're already living there you might have some leverage on the price, landlords often sell to tenants at a slight discount to avoid dealing with makler fees and empty apartments. worth asking if 290k is possible, worst they say is no
on renovation costs i'd say 20-25k is realistic but the real killer is finding someone who actually shows up. berlin handwerker situation is a nightmare rn, i waited 4 months for a plumber last year. if you can do some work yourself like painting or tiling, you'll save a ton. auch! has decent bathroom fixtures for way less than obi
one thing nobody mentioned is the grundsteuer reform that just hit berlin. your property tax could jump significantly depending on the einheitswert of the building. ask the seller what they're currently paying and check the new bewertungsgesetz calculations online. some altbau owners got hit with 3x increases
for rental potential, friedrichshain is still solid but the mietspiegel is strict. you cant just charge market rate if its an existing building, the rent increase is capped at 15% over 3 years and you need to stay under the ortsübliche vergleichsmiete. if you want to max out rental income look into mö
honestly 310k for 58m² in friedrichshain is a bit steep but not crazy, especially if you're in a good spot like near Boxhagener Platz or Warschauer. the catch is that kitchen and bathroom renovation in berlin right now is brutal, expect at least 15-20k if you're doing it smart and not going full designer. i'd budget closer to 25k to be safe, contractors are booked out for months and materials jumped like crazy
for rental income, you're probably looking at around 12-14€/m² cold rent after renovation, so maybe 700-800€ monthly. friedrichshain is still popular but the rental market has cooled a bit with all the new builds in rummelsburg and ostkreuz. the mietpreisbremse is real here, so don't expect to jack up the rent when you move out
resale value wise, friedrichshain is pretty mature already, i don't see it exploding like 10 years ago. but it holds value well, especially if you're near the ringbahn or a sbahn stop. just don't expect 10% annual gains like the old days
big thing nobody mentions is the hausgeld (monthly maintenance fee) - check what the neighbor's paying, some altbau buildings in fhain have crazy high costs cause of old heating systems or pending renovations. that can eat into
You should check if there's a Vorkaufsrecht in the area, Friedrichshain still has some Milieuschutz zones that can limit what you do with the place later.
What is the correct spelling for a street name that appears differently on multiple signs in Charlottenburg?
Worth noting that Berlin street names have official umlaut and ß rules that trip people up, so a sign showing "Strasse" versus "Straße" is not actually a spelling error, just an older transcription. Same with "ue" versus "ü" (e.g. "Kantstrasse" vs "Kantstraße"), both are considered valid renderings and you'll see the ß version on the blue Schilder and the ss version on older plaques or in databases that predate Unicode. If the difference you're seeing is between those two forms, there's nothing to fix and both are technically correct.
if the signs u mean are the old enamel ones on the house facades those are often protected as Baudenkmal so nobody's allowed to correct them even if the spelling is outdated. the binding version is whatever is in the Berliner Strassenverzeichnis plus the entry in the Liegenschaftskataster, so if u tell me the street i can point u to the right Bezirksamt Mitte or Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf page. tbh the merged district thing is real but the facade signs are a separate story, theyre basically museum pieces at this point
honestly thats super common in Charlottenburg, the district offices were merged from older Bezirke and nobody ever fixed all the Schilder. if its a real street you can check the official strassenverzeichnis on berlin.de, that list is what the Burgeramt actually goes by. which street is it? some of the Kaiserdamm / Kantstrasse signs are notorious for this.
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