


Buying Holiday Homes in Germany: What are the Prices?
The real estate consultants at Engel & Völkers provide expert guidance for the purchase of holiday properties. As an international real estate network with over 1,100 locations in 35 countries, our local agents offer extensive knowledge of the residential and vacation markets in nearly every major holiday region.
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Applying for a change of use: How do you obtain the necessary planning permission?
The change of use of a building or part of a building is an undertaking under building law. Whether you have to apply for a change of use and need planning permission does not primarily depend on whether you are planning structural measures. Changes of use are subject to planning permission if the new use is subject to different or more extensive requirements under public law than the previous use.

Selling a house on an annuity basis
The annuity-based house sale is an alternative to the traditional house sale, which usually ends with the buyer paying the seller the negotiated sum for the property and being registered as the new owner in the land register. With an annuity-based sale, on the other hand, the sale price is not paid in one go, but in instalments. The advantages and disadvantages of this type of property sale are explained below.


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Real estate commission – Everything you need to know about brokerage fees 2026
The real estate commission—also known as the brokerage fee or agent’s fee—is the compensation for the intermediary or proof-of-opportunity services provided by a real estate agent. Anyone looking to buy or sell property will quickly face these core questions: Who pays the agent when selling a house? How high are the fees when buying? And when is the payment due—after the notary appointment or earlier?

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Broker commission: Reform 2020
In May 2020, the Federal Cabinet finally discussed the reform of estate agent commission - since then, sellers and buyers have shared the costs of the estate agent when buying a property. This law rejects the so-called ordering principle. In particular, the law makes the division of the estate agent's commission between the buyer and seller of a property, which has not been uniformly regulated in Germany to date, fairer. In the following, we explain exactly what changes the reform to commission entails and why it now pays off more than ever to commission a real estate agent.

Notary contract - 4 things you should know when selling a house
A house sale is nearing its end: The buyer for the property has been found together with the estate agent, the price negotiations are over. Now all that is missing is the notarial contract of sale or notarial deed to make the transaction legally binding and to notarise the purchase at the notary's office. But what does such a contract actually contain and what legal force does it have? Can you withdraw from a notarial contract after signing it? In this article we explain
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