It’s 20 years since the infamous Berlin wall came down, reuniting east and west and transforming life in the city of Berlin, Germany.

A recent episode of Channel 4’s Location, Location, Location, saw Phil Spencer and Kirstie Allsopp helping a couple look for a home in the UK and an investment property in Berlin. In typical Location, Location, Location fashion, despite looking at some great properties in Berlin, the couple eventually decided that perhaps they wouldn’t buy in Berlin just yet after all. But if it’s piqued your interest and got you wondering about the benefits of Berlin, then here’s a brief rundown.

• Germany as a whole has a strong culture of renting property, rather than buying. Berlin is no different and there’s a low percentage of property ownership – over 80% of Berliners are tenants, rather than property owners. This offers good possibilities for buy-to-let investors, who want to purchase Berlin property for rental purposes.
• The rental culture means that many people rent on a long-term basis, rather than short-term, so you may be able to get a tenant who stays put for a while, reducing the hassle of regularly having to find new tenants.
• There are also opportunities for short term corporate rentals too. Many large companies are based in Berlin and, where they used to house employees in hotels for a short-term basis, the increase in tourism has boosted hotel prices. So, small furnished apartments on short leases are proving a good alternative for business use.
• Some of the prime areas to buy include the up-and-coming central eastern districts, as explored by Location, Location, Location, such as Prenzlauer Berg, Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg.
• Other more established and affluent areas of Berlin, with more expensive properties, are the central western parts, such as Charlottenberg, Wilmersdorf, Mitte and Schoneberg.
• In the central parts of Berlin, there are mostly flats and apartments available – in old historic buildings, as well as some new builds. If you’re interested in houses, you may need to look towards the leafy suburbs, on the outskirts of the city.

See something you like? Take a look at properties for sale in Berlin.

Berlin

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009 at 7:58 pm and is filed under Buying, Germany, Letting, Western Europe. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.