Enter the price, your equity, and your rate to see your real monthly payment on a German mortgage: the Rate, the closing costs you pay on top of the price, and how much you still owe when your fixed-rate period ends. Renting right now? Turn on the break-even to see the year buying pulls ahead.
A German mortgage is an Annuitätendarlehen: you pick an interest rate and a starting repayment rate (Tilgung), and together they set a fixed monthly payment. But the price on the listing is never what buying actually costs. Property transfer tax, the notary, and the agent add roughly 9–12% on top, and in Germany those closing costs come out of your own pocket, not the loan. This tool shows the whole picture, then, for renters, whether all of that beats just paying rent.
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The mortgage covers the walls; it does not cover what is inside them. German household contents insurance (Hausratversicherung) replaces your furniture, electronics, and belongings after a fire, burst pipe, burglary, or storm — and it is cheap. Feather is the English-language service I point expats toward, so you can compare and sign up without wrestling German paperwork or a commission-driven agent.
Get household insurance with Feather →The monthly payment is a standard German annuity: your loan times the sum of the interest rate and the starting repayment rate, divided by twelve. Each month the interest shrinks and the repayment grows, so the loan falls faster over time. The “remaining debt” is the balance left when your fixed-rate period ends — the amount you refinance at whatever rate exists then, which is why a longer Zinsbindung is worth more when rates are high.
Closing costs are added on top of the price and must come from your equity: property transfer tax (Grunderwerbsteuer, 3.5–6.5% depending on the state), notary and land registry (about 1.5%), and the agent (Makler) if there is one. German banks typically want your equity to cover at least these closing costs, and ideally 10–20% of the price on top, so the tool flags it when your equity looks thin.
The rent-vs-buy break-even uses the fair “invest the difference” method. The renter starts by investing the equity a buyer would have spent, and whoever pays less each month invests the gap at the return you set. Buying wins when the home equity you build (value minus remaining loan) overtakes the renter’s portfolio. Ongoing ownership costs are estimated at 1% of the price a year for upkeep; selling costs, tax on investment gains, and Kaufpreisabschlag on resale are left out, so treat the break-even year as a realistic guide, not a guarantee.
Property transfer tax rates: state finance ministries, 2026.