Inherited a property. What now?

After a death, a great deal arrives at once. The good news: the property itself can wait. Nobody has to decide within a few weeks whether to sell, let or move in. A few deadlines are still worth watching:

• Accepting or disclaiming the inheritance: six weeks from when you learn of it. If you do nothing, you accept. Disclaiming only makes sense if debts exceed the value – rare with Berlin property.
• Informing the tax office: the acquisition must be notified within three months, even if no tax is due in the end. An informal letter is enough.
• Correcting the land register: transferring title to the heirs is fee-free within two years. You need a certificate of inheritance or a notarial will with the opening record.
• Running costs: service charges, building insurance, property tax and loans continue. Tell the managing agent, insurer and bank – and, for rented flats, the tenants where rent should now be paid.

If the deceased leaves several heirs, they own the property together – as a community of heirs. That means: no one person can sell, let or move in without the others agreeing. Day-to-day matters (repairs, insurance) can be decided by majority; a sale needs every signature.

In practice there are three ways to unwind the community:

1. One heir takes over and pays the others out. That needs a value everyone accepts, and finance the bank will support.
2. A joint sale and dividing the proceeds by inheritance shares. The most common and usually the most economic route.
3. Partition sale by court – the emergency exit if the heirs cannot agree. Any co-heir can apply. It often takes more than a year, is expensive and typically yields far less than an open-market sale.

Most conflict is not greed, but different ideas of what the property is worth. A neutral valuation that every heir receives at the same time takes the heat out of the conversation. That is what we offer – free of charge, and without taking sides.

Whether inheritance tax is due depends on the degree of kinship and the value of the whole estate. The personal allowances:

At Berlin flat prices children quickly exceed the allowance – though each child has their own. Two children inheriting a flat for €750,000 often pay no tax; a single child may.

The family home stays tax-free

Spouses and children inherit the deceased’s owner-occupied home tax-free if they move in without delay and live there for ten years. For children the exemption applies up to 200 m² of living space. Anyone who moves out or sells earlier loses the exemption retrospectively – except for compelling reasons such as needing care.

How the tax office values

The tax office does not see the property. It values under the Valuation Act using standard methods – for flats in Berlin usually via comparable values from the official valuation committee, for houses via depreciated replacement or income value. Since the 2023 reform these figures are often close to or above market value. If the true value is lower – for example because of a repair backlog, an awkward layout or a rear-building location – you can prove it with a report from a certified expert (section 198 BewG). A sale price actually achieved within a year of the death also counts as proof.

Anyone who sells a property at a profit within ten years of buying it pays tax on the gain at their personal income-tax rate. For heirs there is an important twist: you step into the deceased’s holding period. If your mother bought the flat in 2010, the period has long expired – you can sell tax-free at once. If she bought in 2020, the period runs to 2030, and the gain is measured against the 2020 purchase price, not the value at death.

Exception: if the property was lived in by the deceased or by you in the year of sale and the two years before, the sale stays tax-free. Rented flats do not fall under this exception.

If a community of heirs sells, this applies to each heir’s share. If one co-heir buys the others out, a new ten-year period can start on the shares acquired – a detail to know before the settlement.

There is no universally right answer, but there is an honest sum. Three questions help:

Do you want to move in yourself?

Then inheritance tax (family home) and emotion usually speak for it. But set renovation, service charges and paying out co-heirs against your housing situation – and check whether layout and location still fit your life in ten years.

Do you want to let it?

In Prenzlauer Berg and Pankow you will find good tenants quickly. Bear in mind, though: the rent brake and the official rent index often cap rent at 3 to 4% gross yield on today’s value; maintenance reserve, management and vacancy risk come on top. Add the duties of the Buildings Energy Act for older houses, and the question of who deals with it if you do not live in Berlin. Letting is a business, not a savings account.

Do you want to sell?

Then timing matters less than many think. The Berlin market moves in years, not weeks. What matters more is whether the flat is sold vacant or rented – vacant often achieves 20 to 30% more in Berlin. If an inherited flat is still let, it is worth looking at the tenancy: sometimes a solution with the tenants emerges, sometimes a sale to an investor is the better route. More in the guide to selling a rented flat.

The process is the same as any sale – with three peculiarities.

Authority to sell. The notary needs proof that you may sell: a certificate of inheritance or a notarial will with the opening record, and with joint heirs the signature of every co-heir (or a notarial power of attorney). Anyone living far away need not travel – completions by power of attorney or later approval are routine.

Paperwork. Much of it sits in the deceased’s files: declaration of division, minutes, budget, floor plans. Whatever is missing, we obtain from the managing agent, building authority and land registry. An energy certificate is mandatory – we arrange it.

Condition. Inherited flats are often unrenovated and still furnished. Our experience: clear out, yes; renovate, no. Buyers in Prenzlauer Berg have their own ideas and will not pay for your kitchen. What does pay is a thorough clear-out and a neutral state for the photos. We can introduce clearance firms and hold the keys if you are not on site.

We start with a free estimate of value, which every heir receives at the same time, and then take you from particulars to handover. You decide, we work. How a sale with us works.