Run a client case with your numbers
Start from a purchase our clients actually made, with the price and the rents from their business case, then put in your own financing, tax rate and renovation. You see the cash you bring, the monthly position before and after tax, and where the loan stands in ten years.
Munich, Olympiapark
3-room co-living
As recorded in the client's business case before purchase, with the financing terms and income of that client. The calculator below uses today's rate table (5 October 2026) and your inputs, so its monthly figures can differ from the case. See this case with photos and floor plans →
The flat
From the case
The 15 percent line for this flat: up to €66,570 of renovation within three years (incl. VAT) is maintenance and deducted; one euro more and all of it is depreciated with the building instead (§ 6 Abs. 1 Nr. 1a EStG).
Financing
A loss from the flat reduces the tax on your German salary in the same year.
Range on our rate page, German tax resident, including EU Blue Card holders: 80 to 100%. Our cases include 100% and 105.5% financing.
Today's table for this loan-to-value (as of 5 October 2026).
Tax and running costs
Your top (marginal) rate, not your average rate. Joint filing usually lowers it.
An assumption, not a valuation: the contract, the finance ministry's working aid or an appraisal sets the split. Only the building depreciates.
Default: €80 non-recoverable service charge plus management from €30 per tenant (3 tenants). A furnished co-living flat also carries internet and a furniture reserve.
€101,000 of the loan repaid, €303,000 left to refinance or repay. You top up €18,250 after tax over the ten years. Rent, costs and tax rate held flat, no price change assumed. A sale after ten years is free of income tax (§ 23 EStG).
The same calculation with less rent or a higher rate. Cash position per month in year one.
| Scenario | Cold rent counted | Rate | Before tax | After tax |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| As entered above | €2,250 | 4.35% | -€103 | -€87 |
| Rent 20% lower | €1,800 | 4.35% | -€544 | -€343 |
| One of 3 rooms empty all year | €1,500 | 4.35% | -€838 | -€513 |
| Interest rate one point higher | €2,250 | 5.35% | -€439 | -€284 |
| All three at once | €1,200 | 5.35% | -€1,468 | -€881 |
One room empty assumes every room pays the same share of the rent. Your vacancy allowance of 2% applies on top in every line. The higher rate is applied from day one, as if the loan had been agreed at that rate; it is not a forecast of the rate after the fixed period.
Illustrative estimate: actual terms depend on the property, your profile and the lender. Not financial or tax advice. Solidarity surcharge and church tax are not included.
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How this calculator works
The case sets the flat: purchase price, cold rent before and after the work, and the state, which fixes the property transfer tax. Everything else starts from a default you can change: the ten-year fixed rate from our rate table for the loan-to-value you choose (as of 5 October 2026), 2 percent initial repayment, a 42 percent marginal tax rate, a 70 percent building share, 2 percent depreciation for a building completed between 1925 and 2022, running costs of €80 plus management from €30 per tenant, and a 2 percent vacancy allowance. The loan starts at 80 percent of the price unless the case records its own financing.
Purchase costs are the transfer tax of the state plus about 2 percent for notary and land registry. There is no separate agent fee on an LDP purchase; our commission is part of the price. Banks do not finance purchase costs unless the loan exceeds the price. The monthly instalment of a German annuity loan is loan times (rate plus initial repayment) divided by twelve; interest runs on the falling balance, so the repayment share grows every month, and the calculator runs the loan month by month.
Tax follows the rules for rental income: rent after the vacancy allowance, minus interest, running costs and depreciation. Depreciation is 2, 2.5 or 3 percent a year on the building share of the full acquisition cost, transfer tax and notary included (§ 7 Abs. 4 EStG); land never depreciates, and repayment is never deductible. A German tax resident offsets a loss against salary at the marginal rate; someone living abroad carries it forward against the flat's own later surplus.
Renovation within three years of purchase is measured against the 15 percent line of § 6 Abs. 1 Nr. 1a EStG. If the net cost stays at or below 15 percent of the building's acquisition cost, the calculator treats it as maintenance and deducts it in year one; above the line, all of it is added to the building and depreciated. The calculator assumes the whole budget is contractor work with 19 percent VAT. Work that lifts the standard in three of the four core features (heating, sanitary, electrics, windows) is capitalised regardless, which only a tax advisor can judge for a specific plan.
The ten-year view holds rent, running costs and tax rate flat and assumes no change in the price of the flat. Contributions to the building's maintenance reserve are deducted here as they are paid; for tax they count only when the reserve is spent. Solidarity surcharge and church tax are not included.
The stress test under the result runs the same calculation four more times with your inputs: with the rent 20 percent lower, with one room of a co-living flat empty for the whole year (for a flat with a single tenant: three months empty), with the interest rate one percentage point higher, and with all three at once. It shows the cash position per month before and after tax in year one. One room empty assumes that every room pays the same share of the rent, and the higher rate is applied from the first day, not after the fixed period.
Worked examples
All four examples use the case at the median purchase price, Munich, Olympiapark, 3-room co-living, bought for €505,000, with the cold rent after the work (€2,250 a month) and the calculator's defaults. The rate is today's ten-year fixed rate from our table for the chosen loan-to-value, as of 5 October 2026.
Today's defaults, 80% financed
A German tax resident with a 42 percent marginal rate, no renovation on top of the price.
| Purchase costs (transfer tax 3.5% + notary and land registry 2%) | €27,775 |
| Loan (80% of the price at 4.35%) | €404,000 |
| Equity you bring | €128,775 |
| Monthly instalment (4.35% + 2% repayment) | €2,138 |
| Cash position per month, before tax | minus €103 |
| Tax effect, year one | €189 saved |
| Cash position per month, after tax | minus €87 |
| Loan left after 10 years | €303,000 |
Same flat, €66,000 renovation: under the 15 percent line
The line for this flat is €66,570 including VAT: 15 percent of the building share of price plus purchase costs, net of VAT. Under it, the work is maintenance and deducted in year one.
| Equity you bring (renovation included) | €194,775 |
| Tax effect, year one | €27,909 saved |
| Cash position per month, after tax (year one) | €2,223 |
Same flat, €68,000 renovation: over the line
€2,000 more and the whole budget becomes acquisition cost of the building, depreciated at 2 percent a year instead of deducted (§ 6 Abs. 1 Nr. 1a EStG). There is no partial treatment.
| Equity you bring (renovation included) | €196,775 |
| Tax effect, year one | €760 saved |
| Cash position per month, after tax (year one) | minus €39 |
Same flat, bought from abroad at 60%
A buyer living abroad with no German salary. The published range for non-residents is 50 to 60%; the rate follows the table band for this loan-to-value. German tax on the flat's surplus starts at the 14 percent entry rate from the first euro, so this example uses 14 percent instead of 42.
| Loan (60% at 4.23%) | €303,000 |
| Equity you bring | €229,775 |
| Cash position per month, before tax | €462 |
| Tax effect, year one (14 percent) | €597 due |
The difference between the second and third example is the point of the 15 percent rule: €2,000 more renovation changes the first-year tax effect by €27,149. Plan the budget against the line before the work starts, not after.
What the case figures show, and what they do not
- The four figures on each case come from the business case LDP prepared for that client before the notary date: price, cold rent before and after, and the first-year tax effect for that client's income.
- The monthly figures in the calculator are today's, not the client's. The rate table changes every two weeks, and the financing terms of each client are not published beyond the loan-to-value where a case records it.
- The rent after the work is the business-case figure at purchase, not a live rent roll. Test the flat as bought, too.
Frequently asked questions
Why does the calculator show a smaller first-year tax effect than the case?
The case figure was calculated for that client's income and financing, from the depreciation, interest and renovation costs in the business case, and the cases page does not break the renovation out. The calculator starts with no renovation and a 42 percent marginal rate. On the median case, a renovation just under the 15 percent line moves the first-year tax effect from €189 saved to €27,909 saved.
Can I finance 100 percent of the price or more?
German tax residents with a strong income profile can. The published range on our rate page is 80 to 100%, and cases on our cases page were financed at 100 percent and 105.5 percent. Above 90 percent the rate is higher: today's ten-year table shows 4.63% for 90 percent and more against 4.35% at 80 percent (as of 5 October 2026). Non-residents are typically limited to 50 to 60%.
What changes if I live abroad?
Three things. The loan is usually smaller, so you bring more equity. The rent is taxed in Germany from the first euro of surplus, without the basic allowance. And a loss from the flat cannot be set against a foreign salary: it is carried forward and used against the flat's own surplus in later years, so the tax saving arrives later, not never. Choose "Living abroad" in the calculator to see all three.
Is the rent after the conversion guaranteed?
No. It is the figure in the client's business case at the time of purchase, not a live rent roll. Co-living rents depend on letting rooms individually and on local rent rules, and Munich and Berlin both regulate rents. Choose "As bought" in the calculator to see the same flat as a plain rental.
Can I get this calculation by email?
Yes. Enter your email under the result and we send a confirmation link first; after the click the calculation follows straight away. Nothing else is sent unless you also tick the mortgage rate update every second Tuesday, which you can cancel with one click.