Estate agent commission and the orderer principle

In short: In residential rentals the orderer principle applies: whoever commissions the agent pays them. For tenants the commission is therefore usually excluded if the landlord engaged the agent.

In more detail: For buying property different rules have applied since December 2020: buyer and seller usually split the commission for residential property equally.

In detail

• Rent: If the landlord engages the agent, they may not demand commission from the tenant.
• Circumvention: Contracts that pass the costs on to the tenant indirectly are invalid.
• Purchase: Both sides often pay the same. The amount is customary locally (usually around 3 to 3.5 percent per side plus VAT).
• Form: Agent contracts for residential property must be concluded in text form.
• Ancillary costs on purchase: Besides commission there are real estate transfer tax, notary and land register (mietvertrag-die-wichtigsten-punkte-vor-der-unterschrift).