Buying a house in Germany: viewing checklist and documents

The appointment at the notary's office (Notartermin), where the purchase contract will be signed, is in two weeks. At the viewing, the basement looked dry. Now you remember that the wall behind the shelf had white patches. This guide helps you close such gaps before you sign. It tells you which documents to request before the appointment and what to look at outside and inside. It lists the questions to ask about the building services and the years of construction in which hazardous substances come into question. At the end, you sort your findings by urgency.

This guide is the English version of our German checklist article and cites the same sources. The full printable checklist with 44 points is available as a PDF in German on the German page; a condensed English version follows below. German terms you will meet in documents and contracts are given in brackets. This guide is not legal advice.

What the checklist is for

A checklist for buying a house is an ordered list of points that you work through during the viewing and while collecting the documents. This one is made for private buyers of a used detached or semi-detached house. Its order follows the route you take anyway: first the documents, then the plot, the building envelope, the interior, the attic and the building services, and finally the evaluation.

The checklist is deliberately not a survey. It does not value the purchase price, it does not put a figure on repair costs, and it does not establish causes. What it does is something else: it records what you saw – and what you did not see.

Before the viewing: the documents

The first part starts before the appointment. Request the land register extract (Grundbuchauszug) and read section II (Abteilung II). It records the encumbrances on the property – except mortgages, land charges and annuity charges – as well as restrictions on the owner's right to dispose of it.¹ A neighbour's right of way appears there, not in the sales brochure. Also ask for the building permit (Baugenehmigung), the approved plans and records of modernisations with the year in which each was carried out.

You do not have to ask for the energy performance certificate (Energieausweis). When a property is sold, the seller or the estate agent must present the certificate or a copy to the prospective buyer at the latest at the viewing.² Ask for it if it is not on the table. The complete house file (Hausakte) is also useful. It includes the structural calculations, the working drawings, the building permit, a soil report and a list of the contractors who built the house.³

Ask, too, how the living area (Wohnfläche) was calculated. The German living area regulation (Wohnflächenverordnung) has to be applied when the living area is calculated under the act on the promotion of social housing.⁴ In a private sale, a different basis may therefore have been used. Sloping ceilings, balconies and basement rooms are counted differently depending on the basis.

On site: how to walk through the house

On site, you work from the outside in. Take a torch, a folding rule and a camera, and plan at least one hour. Photograph every finding with the date and a scale in the picture, such as a coin next to a crack. A photo without a scale can hardly be interpreted later. Also note what you could not see because furniture or a locked room was in the way.

Respect the limit of self-help. You look; you do not knock anything open, you do not drill and you do not climb onto the roof. Leave suspicious building parts untouched. If you smell gas, find electricity in damp areas or there is a risk of falling, leave the area and call in a specialist firm, the utility or the authorities. After the appointment, sort your findings by urgency and write down the open questions for the seller.

What to look at closely

The basement is the most important part. Ask whether waterproofing was added later and by which method. If no waterproofing was ever installed, a damp basement is to be expected in an old building.³ That need not be a problem as long as you only store things there that do not mind moisture – but it is a problem for your plans if you want to set up a study downstairs. A musty smell, flaking plaster and white salt efflorescence are the signs to look for.

In the bathroom, look at the joints around the bath and the shower. An elastic joint between bath and wall is not waterproofing.⁵ If water runs behind it, this cannot be seen from the outside.⁵ That is why the checklist has a separate point for the rooms below the bathrooms. A stain on the basement ceiling under the bathroom tells you more than a freshly renewed silicone joint in the bathroom itself.

In the attic, the roof structure is exposed. Look for water marks, exit holes, bore dust and fungal strands. Timber beam floors infested by wood-destroying fungi are often no longer fully load-bearing, so that propping becomes necessary immediately.⁶ If you see anything like this, do not step any further onto that area. The finding belongs in professional hands, not in a cost estimate in the car park.

The year of construction decides the section on hazardous substances. Since 31 October 1993, the manufacture, placing on the market and use of asbestos and products containing asbestos have been banned in Germany; if construction began before that date, asbestos is presumed.⁷ Candidates are fibre cement panels on roof and facade, floor coverings, adhesives and fillers. For older roof structures, ask about wood preservatives: organic agents such as PCP or lindane used to be applied, and they can pollute the indoor air.⁸

Heating, electrical installation, windows and roof are the items that make a used house expensive. Note the year and condition of each separately and sort the need for work into three levels: immediately, within the next five years, later. This shows you how much money you need to keep available on top of the purchase price.

The checklist in short

Documents

• Land register extract, section II read (rights of way, other encumbrances, restrictions)
• Building permit and approved plans – do they match the house as built?
• Records of modernisations with the year (roof, windows, heating, electrics, waterproofing)
• Energy performance certificate presented at the viewing
• House file: structural calculations, working drawings, soil report, list of contractors
• Basis of the living area calculation

Outside

• Second viewing in the rain planned: where does water run down the house, are the gutters tight, do puddles form along the facade?
• Cracks in the facade photographed with a scale – do they run through building parts, repeat or show an offset?
• Base of the walls: damp patches, flaking plaster
• Fibre cement panels on roof or facade (asbestos if built before 31 October 1993)

Inside

• Basement: musty smell, flaking plaster, white salt efflorescence; waterproofing added later, and by which method?
• Bathrooms: joints at bath and shower; stains on the ceilings of the rooms below
• Attic: water marks, exit holes, bore dust, fungal strands – if found, do not walk on
• Older roof structures: wood preservatives used?
• Floor coverings, adhesives and fillers in houses built before 31 October 1993
• Rooms and areas you could not see noted

Building services

• Heating: year and condition
• Electrical installation: year and condition
• Windows and roof: year and condition

Evaluation

• Findings sorted: immediately, within five years, later
• Open questions written down for the seller – and answered before the notary appointment

Common mistakes when buying a house

The most common mistake is a single viewing in sunshine. A dry wall base says little on a hot day. A second viewing in the rain shows where water runs down the house, whether the gutters are tight and whether puddles form along the facade.

The second mistake is trusting oral promises. What you are told at the viewing does not automatically end up in the purchase contract. The buyer's rights because of a defect are excluded if the buyer knows of the defect when the contract is concluded (§ 442(1) of the German Civil Code, BGB).⁹ On the other hand, the seller cannot rely on a contractual exclusion of liability if they fraudulently concealed a defect (§ 444 BGB).¹⁰ How these rules interact in your case is assessed by a lawyer (Rechtsanwalt); clear up any doubts before the notary appointment.

The third mistake is cost planning that is too rough. Record each installation separately and use the three levels above to see how much you need in addition to the purchase price.

The fourth mistake is the order. Anyone who reads the documents only when the draft contract arrives has already negotiated the price. The right order is the reverse: first the documents, then the house, then the price.

When a surveyor helps

Three findings speak for bringing in a professional before you decide to buy. First, damp whose cause remains unclear, such as wet basement walls without any visible source. Second, cracks that run through building parts, repeat in several places or show an offset. Third, a suspicion of hazardous substances that cannot be resolved without a sample. In all three cases, your decision depends on something you cannot determine yourself.

A surveyor approaches the house differently from you. They see the building as a whole, place construction method and year in context and check the documents against the building as built. They can measure moisture, assess the build-up of building parts and arrange tests carried out by specialist laboratories or measurement service providers. The result is an assessment of which findings are urgent and which are not.

A pre-purchase survey during the viewing is the calmest route. You bring your completed checklist to the appointment, and the open points are assessed on site. The result is not a guarantee of a house without defects. It is an ordered basis for your decision. For legal questions about the purchase contract, a lawyer remains responsible.

Frequently asked questions

Does the seller have to show me the energy performance certificate at the viewing?

Yes. When a property is sold, the seller or the estate agent must present an energy performance certificate or a copy to the prospective buyer at the latest at the viewing.² If a built-up property is to be sold, a certificate must be issued unless a valid one already exists for the building.² If none is presented at the viewing, ask for it and note the answer. The certificate says something about energy demand or consumption, not about the condition of the building.

Can I still claim for defects that I saw at the viewing after the purchase?

The buyer's rights because of a defect are excluded if the buyer knows of the defect when the contract is concluded.⁹ That is why it is important to clear up doubts before the notary appointment, not afterwards. Things are different if the seller fraudulently concealed a defect; then a contractual exclusion of liability does not help them.¹⁰ Whether that is the case is a legal question for a lawyer.

Which documents matter most before buying a house?

The most important are the land register extract, the building permit with the approved plans, the energy performance certificate and the records of modernisations with their years. Section II of the land register extract shows the encumbrances on the property and restrictions on the right of disposal.¹ The plans show whether the building was built as approved. Structural calculations, a soil report and a list of the contractors are useful in addition.³

Is a damp basement in an old house a defect?

If no waterproofing was ever installed, a damp basement is to be expected in an old building.³ For storing things that do not mind moisture, that may be acceptable; for a study or a guest room, it is not. Ask whether and how waterproofing was added later, and look for a musty smell, flaking plaster and salt efflorescence. Whether a damp basement counts as a defect in the legal sense in your purchase is a question for a lawyer.

What does a survey before buying a house cost?

The price depends on the size and age of the building, the effort on site and whether you need an assessment in conversation or a written report. Measurements and laboratory tests cost extra. Have the scope confirmed in writing beforehand. Our fixed prices for pre-purchase surveys in Berlin are listed on our page on technical due diligence; more on how surveyors' fees work in Germany is in our guide What does a building surveyor cost in Germany?

Note

This guide reflects the state of technical knowledge on the date of writing. It is not legal advice and does not replace an inspection of the individual case. Whether claims exist and how they can be enforced is assessed by a lawyer (Rechtsanwalt). Statutes and regulations must be checked in their current version.

---

About the author

M. Sc. Karim Abu Elkheir, BIB Ingenieurbüro für Bauwesen, Berlin. Contact: info@ing-bassam.de, +49 176 23581339. English version as of 5 October 2026, based on the German article as of 26 September 2026.

Sources and footnotes