Selling your Berlin apartment without an agent: what actually pays off

The real cost of a Makler in 2025

Selling a flat in Berlin through an estate agent is expensive — and since the Bestellerprinzip reform of December 2020, the cost is no longer hidden. Buyers and sellers now each pay roughly 3.57% of the purchase price including VAT. On a median Prenzlauer Berg two-bedroom at €500,000, that's €17,850 out of your pocket. On a €1,000,000 apartment, you're looking at €35,700 gone before the notary fee even appears on the bill.

What changed in 2020 is that the old trick of loading the full commission onto the buyer no longer works. Sellers pay their share regardless of who instructed the agent. The math is now visible, and more Berlin flat owners are asking the rational question: what am I actually getting for this money?

Why private sales are growing in Berlin

The short answer: technology caught up with the process. Five years ago, listing without an agent meant printing flyers and waiting. Today it means uploading twelve photos, setting a price, and going live on a platform that reaches tens of thousands of registered buyers within hours.

Berlin's Altbau stock — pre-war apartments with three-metre ceilings, Gründerzeit stucco, and double-leaf windows — sells itself to the right buyer. The challenge has never been finding demand; Berlin's vacancy rate hovers below 1%. The challenge is finding the right buyer: someone with financing confirmed, a realistic offer, and no chain to collapse. Private sellers using a structured digital process are finding those buyers as fast as agents — and keeping €17,850 in the process.