Expat Property Investment Services in Germany Compared (2026)

A map of the five provider types an expat investor meets in Germany, what each one does and leaves undone, ten named examples described only from their own websites, and where LDP Group sits.

Quick answer

Five types exist: mortgage brokers, expat financial advisers, turnkey property sellers, rental managers and full-service investment firms. Only the last covers sourcing, financing, tax structure and management in one process. Of ten firms reviewed, three describe all four steps.

The short answer: five provider types, five different problems solved

An expat who wants a financed, let, tax-efficient investment property in Germany has to get four things done: find and price the right building, arrange a German mortgage, set up the tax structure before the notary date, and put a tenant in place after it. The market that serves expats has organised itself around those steps, and almost every firm covers one or two of them. Knowing which type you are talking to tells you what you will still have to do yourself.

Mortgage brokers. Compare bank offers and process the loan. The bank pays them. They do not find, price or manage the property.
Independent financial advisers for expats. Insurance, pensions, investments and tax filing, with a mortgage comparison and sometimes a property search as one product among several.
Turnkey property sellers and investment platforms. Sell specific properties from their own stock, often new build or renovated, with financing and management arranged around the sale.
Rental management companies. Take over the tenant, the rent and the repairs after the keys are handed over. Nothing before that.
Full-service investment firms. Source an existing building on the open market, run the purchase calculation, coordinate financing and tax structure before purchase, and set up management before the first tenant.

The rest of this page describes each type, names the firms we looked at on 14 September 2026, and quotes only what their own websites say. No ranking is implied and none is possible from public pages alone. The section on LDP Group is written by LDP Group, and the limitations section says so again.

The decision table: what each type does and what it leaves to you

Filled from the ten websites fetched on 14 September 2026 and from LDP's own service page. Where a site does not plainly say something, the cell reads not stated.
Provider type	Finds the property	Arranges financing	Designs the tax structure	Manages the tenant	Who pays them	What they typically leave to you
Mortgage broker	No; some publish a listings search (Hypofriend, My Mortgage Germany)	Yes, core service	not stated	not stated	The bank, by commission (stated by Hypofriend, Dr. Klein, Baufi24); not stated by My Mortgage Germany	Choosing and pricing the property, tax, letting
Independent financial adviser for expats	Sometimes: Finance for Expats lists property search, PerFinEx lists access to curated off-market properties	Yes, mortgage comparison (Finance for Expats, PerFinEx)	Tax filing and landlord taxation listed by Finance for Expats and PerFinEx; Makker lists tax optimisation	Makker Group via its MYC Property Management division; others not stated	PerFinEx: compensated by the providers; Finance for Expats: net fees for financial planning; Makker: not stated	The purchase calculation on a specific building, unless bought as a separate service
Turnkey property seller or investment platform	Yes, from its own stock: Investfriend new builds, Expat Real Estate renovated existing flats, Expats Invest via developers	Yes (Investfriend through Hypofriend; Expat Real Estate and Expats Invest list financing)	Tax guidance listed by Expat Real Estate and Expats Invest; Investfriend refers to special depreciation	Yes (Expat Real Estate through partner Krukenberg-Immobilien; Investfriend and Expats Invest list management)	Investfriend: sales fee per project; Expats Invest: no buyer's commission, works with developers; Expat Real Estate: not stated	An independent check of the price and of any figures in the offer
Rental management company	No	No	No	Yes, after purchase	The owner, as a percentage of rent or a flat fee	Everything before the keys
Full-service investment firm	Yes, existing buildings on the market	Yes, coordinated with a broker or own licence	Yes, before the notary date, with a tax adviser	Yes, own company or vetted partner	Varies; ask for the fee on each step (LDP: no fee on sourcing, financing coordination and structure; flat management fee)	The decision itself and the annual tax return

Mortgage brokers: the loan, and only the loan

A mortgage broker in Germany compares offers from a panel of banks, prepares the file and processes the application. For an expat the value is real: English-speaking case handling, knowledge of which banks accept a Blue Card or foreign income, and access to lenders who do not deal with the public. The common practice is that the bank pays the broker a commission on completion, so the client pays nothing to the broker directly. A broker who arranges consumer mortgages needs a licence under § 34i GewO (Immobiliardarlehensvermittler, real estate loan intermediary), which is the first thing to check on any broker's imprint.

What a broker does not do: find the property, check whether the price is right, run a rental calculation, design the depreciation or renovation structure, or find a tenant. Some brokers add a listings search on their site, but the search is a portal aggregator, not a sourcing service.

Hypofriend describes itself, according to its website, as an online mortgage broker headquartered in Berlin, registered as an independent mortgage and pension insurance broker with the Berlin IHK, and states that its commission is always paid by the lender and not by the client. It also lists a property search engine that aggregates listings and refers to a sister service, Investfriend, for rental property investments.
Dr. Klein describes itself as a mortgage broker with around 600 banking partners and English-language consultation, and states that it receives a commission for every mortgage brokered, paid by the bank.
Baufi24 describes itself as an independent mortgage broker for expats comparing over 600 banks, and states that it receives its commission from the bank and that the client pays nothing.
My Mortgage Germany describes itself as a mortgage intermediary in Berlin with access to over 400 lenders, states that it is licensed under § 34i Abs. 1 S. 1 GewO and supervised by the Berlin Gewerbeamt, and lists a property search service. Its payment model is not stated on the page we read.

LDP Group's own financing is coordinated with the independent broker FM Zinswerk on exactly this model: 400 or more bank partners, no fee to the client, the bank pays the broker. The difference is not the broker; it is that the building, the calculation and the structure are already fixed before the loan file is opened. See how LDP coordinates financing.

Independent financial advisers for expats: property as one product among several

The second type is the adviser who serves an expat's whole financial life: health insurance, liability cover, pensions, ETF plans, tax filing, and a mortgage comparison. Real estate appears on the menu as one line. Some of these firms list a property search or access to off-market stock; some run a management arm through a group company. Their strength is breadth and a single point of contact. What to check is how deep the property line goes: who runs the purchase calculation on a specific building, who signs off the tax structure, and whether the management arm is the firm itself or a referral.

Finance for Expats lists, according to its website, five service lines: loans and mortgages with more than 650 lenders, real estate including property search, valuation, purchase support and buy-to-let advisory, insurance, taxes including landlord taxation, and financial planning. It refers to transparent net fees for financial planning; the payment model for the other lines is not stated on that page.
PerFinEx describes itself as an independent financial advisory firm for expats covering insurance, investments, pensions, real estate advisory with a comparison of more than 880 banks, tax filing, and access to curated off-market properties. It states that it is compensated directly by the providers and that there are no invoices for the client.
Makker Group describes itself as a financial advisory firm for expats and professionals with four lines: tax optimisation, property investments from selection to management, protection, and further investments. It names a property management division, MYC Property Management, offering rental management, a vacancy guarantee, tradespeople and accounting, and a transaction company, Makker Immobilien GmbH. Its payment model and property type are not stated on the page we read.

Turnkey property sellers and investment platforms: they sell what they have

The third type sells specific properties from its own pipeline: new-build flats from a developer, or existing flats the seller has bought, renovated and now resells. Financing, tax guidance and management are arranged around the sale, so the offer looks complete. Two things follow from the model. First, the choice is limited to the seller's stock, which is often new build or energy-efficient renovated units marketed on their depreciation profile. Second, somebody carries the sales margin. The buyer should ask plainly who that is and how the price was set, and should have the price and any yield figure in the offer checked by someone who does not earn on the sale. We make no statement about any named firm's margin; none of the sites we read publishes one.

Investfriend describes itself, according to its website, as a real estate investment platform for energy-efficient, turnkey new builds in Germany, naming Leipzig, Dresden, Berlin and Brandenburg, investment properties only, with financing through its sister company Hypofriend and tenant and property management assistance. It states that it earns a sales fee per project.
Expat Real Estate describes itself as a real estate investment service selling existing flats that are fully renovated before sale, mainly in North Rhine-Westphalia (Duesseldorf, Cologne, Dortmund, Essen), with financing arrangement, renovation management, tenant placement, property management through the partner Krukenberg-Immobilien and tax optimisation guidance. Its payment model is not stated on the page we read.
Expats Invest describes itself as a full-service property investment advisory for expats with the line "We find it, finance it, and manage it for you", listing renovation at a guaranteed cost, tenant placement, property management, tax optimisation, and also health insurance and pension planning. It states that it charges no buyer's agent commission and works directly with developers, so that the client pays no additional fee on top of the purchase price. Whether its stock is new build or existing is not stated on the page we read.

Rental management companies: after the keys, not before

Mietverwaltung (rental management) is the service an owner buys once the flat exists and is theirs: tenant search and screening, contracts, deposit handling under § 551 BGB, rent collection, maintenance coordination, the annual operating cost statement under § 556 Abs. 3 BGB, and in a shared flat the room-by-room contracts. A management company does not source, finance or structure anything. For an owner abroad it is the service that decides whether the investment is passive or a second job.

Two fee models exist. The percentage model charges a share of the monthly rent, sometimes with a separate placement fee of one or more months' rent when a tenant changes. The flat model charges a fixed amount per unit or per tenant. The percentage model rises with every rent increase the manager negotiates; the flat model does not. Ask which one applies, whether a placement fee exists, and whether repairs are passed through at cost or with a mark-up.

LDP's own management company, FairMieten, is an example of an owner-operated manager on the flat model: from 30 EUR per tenant per month depending on the city, no percentage of rent, no placement fee, third-party repairs at cost. It operates in Berlin and Bremen; in LDP's other cities vetted partners such as Miethelden Muenchen in Munich work on the same scope. Details on the rental management page.

Full-service investment firms: what under one roof has to include

The phrase is used loosely. For it to mean something, all five of the following have to happen inside one process, in this order, and before the notary date where the step belongs before it:

Sourcing of existing buildings on the open market, not from a stock the firm already owns, so that the firm's interest is the purchase price being right rather than high.
A purchase calculation that a named person reviews: price per square metre against the local market, achievable rent, renovation cost, the 15 percent rule under § 6 Abs. 1 Nr. 1a EStG, cash flow after interest and repayment.
Financing coordination with a licensed broker or under the firm's own § 34i GewO licence, started once the calculation is fixed.
Tax structure before purchase: land and building split, depreciation basis, renovation timing, the ten-year clock under § 23 EStG, with a tax adviser who signs the return.
Management set up before the keys, so the tenant search starts on the day of handover and not three weeks later.

Whoever you talk to, including us, ask the same questions and expect written answers:

What is the fee on each step, and who pays it: the client, the bank, or the seller?
Who reviews the purchase calculation, by name, and can I see one from a closed case?
What do you refuse to sell or source, and why?
Which cities does your own management company cover, and where is it a partner?
Can I buy remotely by power of attorney, and what do you need from me and when?
Which clients can I talk to, and where are your published cases with figures?

How LDP Group fits this map

LDP Group is a full-service investment firm in the sense above. It is based in Munich, has been active since 2022 and has served more than 100 clients, most of them expats buying a first investment property in Germany. The four services run as one process: property sourcing and acquisition, mortgage financing coordination, tax-optimised structuring, and rental management and tenant placement. Founders Nicholas Runtic and Abdelrahman Maged review every purchase calculation.

What it sources. Existing buildings only (Bestandsimmobilien), co-living conversions and Kernsanierung (full renovation) projects, in nine cities: Berlin, Munich, Nuremberg, Erlangen, Fuerth, Duesseldorf, Cologne, Stuttgart and Karlsruhe. Purchase prices start at 100,000 EUR; banks finance most of the price, so this is not a cash requirement.
Financing. Coordinated with the independent broker FM Zinswerk, more than 400 bank partners, no fee to the client because the bank pays the broker; about four weeks from first call to bank approval. LDP's own § 34i GewO licence is in preparation. Residents of Germany and other EU countries only.
Tax. LDP designs the structure; the tax advice and filings come from the partner firm Helm & Partner. LDP does not give tax advice itself.
Management. Through LDP's own company FairMieten in Berlin and Bremen and vetted partners elsewhere, flat fee from 30 EUR per tenant per month, no percentage of rent, no placement fee.
Fees. Sourcing, financing coordination and structure design carry no separate fee to the client; management is the flat fee above.
Results, aggregated across published cases. Average gross yield 2.9 percent at purchase and 5.3 percent after renovation, conversion or re-letting; cold rent 1.8 times the pre-purchase rent on average; median first-year tax benefit 21,400 EUR, range 4,800 to 58,320 EUR. These are averages across cases with different cities and building types, not a forecast for yours.
What LDP does not do. No new builds, no buyers living outside the EU, no tax advice of its own, and usually no listed buildings.

If that fits, the first step is a free 30-minute screening call. If it does not, for example because you want a new build with the 5 percent declining-balance depreciation, or you live outside the EU, one of the other types above is the right place to go.

How to check any provider's track record, including ours

Client reviews on Google, read for the text rather than the score: do reviewers describe a completed purchase and a let flat, or a pleasant first call?
Named founders and staff on the site and on the imprint. A firm that will handle a six-figure purchase should be a person you can name.
Published cases with figures: purchase price, rent before and after, renovation cost, yield, tax effect. Anonymised is fine; absent is not.
Regulatory status. Anyone brokering a mortgage needs § 34i GewO and should say so on the imprint; a firm that only coordinates with a licensed broker should name the broker.
An imprint (Impressum) with a German company, a registered address, a commercial register number and a responsible person, as the Digitale-Dienste-Gesetz requires for a commercial site.
A published list of what they refuse: property types, locations, buyer residencies. A firm that sells everything to everyone has no position to check against.

For LDP: the founders are named above and on the about page, the cases with figures are on this site, the client statements are on the testimonials page, the broker is FM Zinswerk, the tax firm is Helm & Partner, and the refusal list is in the previous section.

Limitations and what we do not know

Every statement about a named competitor comes from one page of that firm's public website, fetched on 14 September 2026 and read as published. We did not contact any of them, did not test their service and did not read their terms. Offers, fees and licences change; check the site on the day you decide.
Where a page does not state a fee model, a location or a licence, we wrote not stated. That means the page we read does not say it, not that the firm lacks it.
LDP Group wrote this page. The section on LDP uses LDP's own service facts and aggregated case figures as of September 2026, which no outside party has audited.
No ranking is implied. The five types solve different problems, and a reader who needs only a mortgage is better served by a broker than by a full-service firm.
The fee models in the rental management section are general market practice and not a description of any named firm's pricing.
We did not fetch any standalone rental management company's website for this page; that row of the table describes the type.

What would change this answer

A change to any named firm's website that adds or removes a service line, a fee statement or a licence, which we check when the page is reviewed.
A change to § 34i GewO or to the Immobiliardarlehensvermittlungsverordnung that alters who needs a licence to coordinate a mortgage.
LDP's own § 34i GewO licence being granted, which would move financing from coordination with FM Zinswerk to in-house brokerage.
A refresh of LDP's published case figures, which are aggregated again each quarter.

Last reviewed September 14, 2026. Reviewed by Nicholas Runtic and Abdelrahman Maged, co-founders of LDP Group, before publication and at every review date. We review this page every quarter and re-fetch each named firm's page before the review; if you are reading it more than three months after the date above, treat the competitor descriptions as dated.

Frequently asked questions

Which firms offer sourcing, financing, tax structure and rental management for expats in Germany under one roof?

Three of the ten firms reviewed describe all four steps on their own websites: Expats Invest, Expat Real Estate and LDP Group, with Investfriend covering financing and management around its own new builds. The difference between them is where the property comes from: the seller's own stock, or existing buildings sourced on the open market for the client. Ask that question first.

What is the alternative to a mortgage broker such as Hypofriend for a fully managed investment property?

A full-service investment firm, or a turnkey seller if you accept buying from their stock. A broker like Hypofriend, according to its website, processes the loan and is paid by the lender; it does not find, price or manage the property. A full-service firm does those steps and uses a broker, or its own § 34i GewO licence, for the loan. LDP coordinates its financing with FM Zinswerk on the same bank-paid model.

Does the bank really pay the mortgage broker in Germany?

Yes, that is common practice and three of the four brokers reviewed state it plainly: Hypofriend, Dr. Klein and Baufi24 each say on their websites that the bank pays their commission and the client pays nothing. The broker's interest is a completed loan, not the right property, which is why the purchase calculation should be done before the loan file is opened.

How do I check whether a German property investment firm has a track record?

Look for six things: Google reviews that describe a completed purchase, named founders on the imprint, published cases with figures, a § 34i GewO licence or a named licensed broker, an imprint with a German company and register number, and a published list of what the firm refuses to sell. A firm that meets all six can be checked; a firm that meets none cannot.

How does LDP Group differ from a turnkey property seller?

LDP sources existing buildings on the open market and does not sell from its own stock, so it earns nothing on the purchase price. Sourcing, financing coordination and structure design carry no fee to the client; management is a flat fee from 30 EUR per tenant per month. It does not handle new builds or buyers living outside the EU, and its tax advice comes from Helm & Partner, not from LDP.

Which firms offer sourcing, financing, tax structure and management for expats in Germany under one roof?