Lettings Berlin
FAQ Owners

Please register your furnished apartment online. You find the registration form here. A few minutes later, you will automatically receive an email, confirming that your registation has been successful. 
Please also send photos of the apartment. It is important that the photos are at least 700 x 500 pixel and mostly landscape format. On this page, you find all information on taking photos. If you want to market your flat with us long term, we will also come and take professional photos later. This service is free of charge. 
As soon as we have your registration and the photos, we will give you a feedback regarding price and changes of renting out your apartment. You can always chance prices etc later on. You only have to write an email.
We will now write an expose in English and in German, which will listed on our websites. This will be anonymous and the detailed address won't be on shown the website either.  Will you then introduce prospective tenants, who have applied for your object, to you and and send them your contact details. We also provice rental agreements - in German as well as in English, which you can conclude online. You will also get information on all important issues regarding the rental agreement. The tenants pays the rent and the deposit to you - and a commission fee to us. Our service is free of charge for owners. 
If you do not live in Berlin, you can also book the management service for furnished apartments. Please note that no all apartment are accepted for the management service. Only quality apartments with tasteful and modern furniture, centrally located in areas that rent out easily, and they have to be available for at least one year without interruption.
If you want to apply for the management service, please fill in this form.

Once you have registered and sent photos of your apartment, we will give you a feedback on price and on the chances of finding a tenant. 
Furnished apartments are still very much in demand throughout the year, so if you have a good apartment in an attractive area, it will normally be no problem to rent it out 12 months per year. But we always check offer in advance and we do not list properties which will be difficult to rent. This may be dissappointing for some owners, but on the other hand you get an honest repsonse and you do not have to wait for months in vain. If you do not expect a 90 -100 % occupancy, please let us know.
Sometimes we will also have to tell you that renting out unfurnished is the better option. For owners, it always makes sense to find out about the market and chances of an object in advance - ideally before you buy it. We also offer a consultation via telephone (after you have sent exposés and information) or we view objects. Here you can read more about our service buy property in Berlin.

Once you have registered and sent photos, we will check it and if the chances are good, we will list it in our database. Please understand that we always need your full registration in order to check it. It is not enough just to give information on the phone - we need that whole picture. But before you register, you should have a look at all objects in our database. This will give you an idea about price, furnishing etc. 
We will check applications for your apartment and send you prospective tenants. We will also prepare the rental agreement which you only have to fill in. We always advice to use our agreement form, since it is available in English and German and it can be filled in and sent online (online application) All important aspects of the rental are organized in this agreement (like keys, payment etc,) Please not that the contract is concluded between owner and tenant and the tenant pays to the account of the owner. 
All agencies dealing with furnished apartments are brookers. Unless your apartment is accepted by the Akkusativ management service, we cannot take care of the apartment. This is the responsibility of the owner. 
As an owner, you have to: 
- read our website carefully. We give you all information you need, but it is necessary to read this information. This will guarantee a good working relationship with us and with the tenants and it makes the rental process so much easier.
- if you do not live in Berlin, you need someone to look after your apartment, if it is not managed by our sister company Akkusativ. 
This person has to take care about keys, viewings, organization of final cleaning,  repairs and has to answer questions of the tenants (e.g. how things work - you can also write a manual). Crocodilian hands out keys in case of emergency and we also organize viewings for certain apartments close to our office (if we always have a key at our office)
- You have to take care about the payment and the deposit. 

This is a difficult question. It is easier for us if the apartment is exclusively marketed by us. That way, we can offer your apartment to prospective tenants and guarantee that the apartment is really available. 
Attractive apartments, which are tastefully furnished, centrally located and medium-priced, are nearly always rented out and we get requests throughout the year. If we have doubts regarding your apartment, we will let you know. In that case, we advice you to register the apartment with another agency as well. 
For owners, it is often easier to rent out their apartment with only one agency because they can be sure that this agency will market the apartment with full activity. And this is only the case, if the apartment is marketed with one agency exclusively. 
If we market your apartment, you should not advertise it on internet platforms like Craigs List, city magazines or WG- gesucht.

Pleaese register your furnished apartment here. Please note - we only market apartments that are fully furnished and avialble for at least 4 months. It is also important that you send us photos of the apartment.   

Our service is not a binding office and we reserve the right to reject apartments.
The owner can of course also cancel our service. Please read our business term for owners.      

Please note - in order to check your apartment, we always need your registration because we need information on all details listed in the registration form. And we need photos as well. Once we have decided to list your apartment, we will come to the apartment to take professional photosgraphs. This service is free of charge for owners. 

Yes, we want to see every apartment we list and we also want to take photos. 
Please understand that you have to register and send photos first before we can arrange a viewing and taking photos. Please also understand that we cannot list all apartments offered to us. We can only list your apartment if we are convinced that it can be rented out. It should be centrally located, tastefully furnished, a certain standard and it should not be overpriced.

The apartments listed on our website will give you an idea.

If you do not want to register and still would like to have a feedback, you can either send us photos. If you want us to come to the apartment, this service is also offered at a fee - please write to ask for prices.   
  

Does:
- modern, urban style
- quality furnishing, not the cheapest stuff from Ikea
- if Ikea, which is okay, unless it is a luxury apartment, mix it with other brands. Only Ikea looks cheap
- Keep is light and bright, Black furniture makes rooms dark and small.
- Clean, simple, not too much furniture plus some selected decoration
- Always keep in mind what tenants need on everyday basis (blinds f, curtains for bedroom e.g., DSL, everything should be simple to clean (no wood in the kitchen!). Enough lights etc. 
- Furnishing with attention to detail
- Quality bedcovers and linen that also look good after months and years.


Don'ts:
- Old furnishing, period furniture, most often mix of old and new.
- Dark furniture 
- 100%  Ikea
- Country style - not in demand in Berlin. 
- No decoration, cold and uncomfortable rooms
- Not enough lights
- Cheap and thin mattresses (standard Ikea okay)
- No washing machine
- no DSL

Crocodilian also offers an expert design and furnshing service for moderate fees. If you are interested, please get in touch with us.
  

No, we have stopped this. We do not list furnished rooms any more.

Good apartments, which are centrally located and not overpriced, are usually rented all year. 
If your apartment is available for a longer period of time - e.g. a year, the chances of renting it out every month, are best.
We have clients throughout the year and we get enough requests from all over the world every month.

Yes. We provide bilingual rental agreements which have been checked by a lawyer. Your advantage - they can be concluded online and do not have to be scanned, faxed or sent by mail. 

• Akkusativ organizes viewings
• Akkusativ signs rental agreements on your behalf
• Key service – 24 hours 7/7
• Management of deposit 
• Inspection of apartment after tenant has left
• Organization of final cleaning
• Refund of deposit  
• Help with repairs and other dealings
  
The aim and goal is to make the rental process as fast and easy as possible, for both owners and tenants. Akkusativ offers the management service for quality apartments which are
- renovated to a very good standard, new bathroom
- have a new built-in kitchen
- are tasteful furnishing, urban and modern style. Here you find examples of those Croco-booking aoartments 

-  are available for at least one year, preferybly longer, for furnished rentals. 
- only used by the owner once a year maximum. This is important.
- rented out monthly (from one month up to one year) not on a daily or weekly basis. 

Akkusativ will sign rental agreements on the behalf of the owners. Therefore it is also necessary that the owner takes responsibility for his apartment.   property management contract for sole/several/individual owner

Crocodilian also offers a furnishing service for apartments which will be rented out exclusively by Crocodilian.

• The management takes care of everything - rental agreement, deposit, payment, handing over of apartment, keys, cleaning etc.
• We can plan in advance because we always know if the tenant will extend the lease or if the apartment will become available again. So we always have enough time to look for the next tenant.
• Renting out apartment is a fast business and prospective tenants often rent somewhere else if things cannot be organized fast enough. With the management, viewings, contracts, payments etc. can be organized within a relative short period of time, even within one day since the prospective tenant does not have to get in touch with the owner any more. Keys can also be collected from our office 24/7, also on the weekend. 
• Apartments which are managed by our partner cmpany Akkusativ, are rented out 95% of the year.
• All apartments are cleaned by a professional cleaner and we always check the condition of the flat.. 
• Objects that are managed by Akkusativ, are market Croco-Booking on the Crocodilian website. Crocodilian guarantees quality, cleanliness, fast service and key service 24/7.   

The exclusive management service is only offered for apartments which meet the following criteria

• centrally located, close to U- and S-Bahn
• renovated within the last 5 years
• lift, if located on 4th floor or higher (exceptions possilble)
• modern furnishing: Built-in kitchen, tv, cable, DSL , modern bathroom
• Tasteful and cosy furnishing, modern with flair, no antique or second hand furniture, no plants. Modern and urban style.
• Wooden floors - parquet, tiles or laminate, no carpeted floor.
• Washing machine is a must
• Dishwasher is a plus for apartments in higher price range.
• The apartment should be available for rentals for at least one year. 
  
  Are you interested in the management service? Please fill in the request form if your object is not registered with Crocodilian yet. Please also send photos. We will get back to you as soon as possible.

If you buy an apartment and plan to rent it out furnished in the future, you should 

1. Ask yourself, who your target group will be. Professionals are always looking for centrally located apartments, they won't rent in areas like Pankow, Rummelsburger Bucht etc, which are very nice, but not so central. Academics, students and also families do consider Zehlendorf and Steglitz, because of the University and JFK school. 
2. The apartment should not be too far away from a U-Bahn or S-Bahn station. 
3. If you buy a more expensive apartment, there should be a lift, if it located on a higher floor.   
4. 1 and 2-room apartments are most popular with tenants. The ideal size should be ca 40 - 65 or 70 m². With larger 2-room apartments, you do not necessarily get paid the size. But this also depends on the object, of course. 3 room apartments are also very much in demand, but they should have two bedrooms.
5. The most popular areas with tenants are Mitte, Prenzlauer Berg - and then Kreuzberg, Friedrichshain, Tiergarten. Schöneberg and Charlottenburg.
6. You should always make sure that you do not buy too expensive and you should calculate what you need to get as a monthly rent.
7. Check the apartments in our database - this will give you an idea what kind of rents are realistic. 
8. If you apartement is nicely furnished and not overpriced, if it has DSL and a washing machine, it will also rent out if the area is not so ideal. Crocodilian is always short of good apartments  - we get a lot of requests from potential tenants from all over the world and we never have enough furnished apartments. Crocodilian will also give you advise on furnishing and we also furnish apartments (please ask for prices).   
9. If you have enough time to furnish the apartment yourself, please make buy a fitted kitchen, washing machine, double bed, not a sleeping sofa, even if the flat is small, make sure that you have quality mattrasses, preferable a double bed, a wardrobe and, if you have enough space, a desk. You should buy modern furniture - this is very important. Ikea is okay for cheaper apartments, but you should not buy the cheapest Ikea furnishing and the flat should not look like the typical Ikea standard flat. Black furniture should always be avoided, dark furniture in small room, and you should not mix too many colours. Although you should add a bit of could, to make the flat look also interesting on the photos. The bedroom should have blinds or curtains. And you should not buy cheap but quality. For more information please check the website of our sister company Akkusativ.