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Possible Wohnung scam?
Place is a dump, they promised to cle… We just went to a Besichtigung for 2-Room today. There's way lots of details to lay out but I'll give you the most important ones and could give more on request.
Place is a dump, they promised to clean it sofort so that we could move in ASAP.
ASAP because apparently they are not Vermieter but just Mieter subletting negligent individuals and they want an immediate out. So we would take over this place as Hauptmieter (that's how we understood it).
As the viewing was over, it was all emotional (for me) as they said they would do it with us immediately, no need to meet other viewers anymore. I was on air.
On the happy way home, guy called me to say "okay we got to do this contract now, you can send us HALF of Kaution 4 days from now".
Then later he said "No the half im Vorfeld, the other half after signing" ???
Then a bit later after some exchanging documents, he asked me to wire the money now so we could have something binding between the parties.
Thankfully managed to negotiate to wire the Kaution tomorrow after we have signed the Vertrag and with everyone present (which is not exactly legal either but I had to stall him somehow)
So lange Rede, now we have a day prep to somehow protect us from being ripped off and get others' opinions. Thank you for reading this stuff through, we would thoroughly appreciate your help. (Fazit: It's just so hard to live life nowadays)
You already know it's a scam, so let me give you a practical detail. In Berlin, it's standard that you pay the Kaution only after signing the contract and getting the keys, and it goes into a Mietkautionskonto in your name, not their pocket. These people are rushing you with changing demands because they want your money before you have time to think. If you wire anything, you'll never see it again and they'll ghost you when the "contract" turns out to be worthless. Save yourself the headache and report the listing to the platform, then keep looking.
You already got the right advice to walk away. One thing nobody mentioned yet is that the whole "subletters making you Hauptmieter" thing almost never works legally without the actual landlord signing off. Even if these people are legit tenants trying to dump their lease, the Hausverwaltung has to approve you as new Hauptmieter, and that process takes weeks, not days. The rush is to get your money before you have time to think or check anything. I'd also ask yourself why they're willing to skip showing the place to other people, that alone makes no sense in a city where flats get 50 applications in a day.
i mean honestly the fact they're not the eigentümer and trying to rush you into taking over the hauptmieter role is already suspect. the kaution back and forth is a circus but the real issue is they're desperate to offload the contract without the landlord knowing. you'd be inheriting whatever mess they're escaping. ask for the eigentümer's contact or the hausverwaltung's details, if they can't produce it run. even if it's legit you're taking on their problems and that's rarely worth it in berlin.
i'd say skip the big names and look at studiowest in prenzlauer berg, they do amazing japanese style but the waitlist is like 6 months. if u want something quicker, the artists at bitterlich tattoo in mitte are super underrated, especially for fine line. and honestly, walk past the instagram hype, go to a shop in person and ask to see their portfolio book, that's where the real stuff is.
The Berlin tattoo scene is pretty spread out, so it depends on what style you're after. For fine line and minimalist work, I'd look at A Fine Line in Kreuzberg, they're booked out weeks in advance for a reason. If you want bold traditional, check out Die Wilde Ecke in Neukölln, they've been around forever and the artists there are solid. Honestly, your best bet is to scroll through Instagram and find someone whose healed work you like, not just the fresh photos, because that's where the real skill shows.
One thing nobody's mentioned yet is the tattoo convention at Arena Berlin, usually in early summer. It's a good way to see a bunch of styles in one afternoon and talk to artists face to face without committing to a shop. I found my guy there three years ago, he works out of a tiny studio near Boxhagener Platz and does amazing neo-traditional, but he rarely posts on Instagram so you'd never discover him otherwise. Bring cash if you go, a lot of the booths only take that on the day.