Any recommended local agents in Berlin?

Hi all,
Heading over to Berlin to look at some flats week after next. Would like to get some more names of agents I can contact before I head over. If anyone has any positive experiences with local agents I'd apprectiate it.

Cheers.

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I found [SIZE=-1]Adelheid from http://www.adhoc-immo.de/ very helpful. She really showed me lots of apartments & was very informative. She's a German woman married to an Irish guy so even though she's local her English is very good & she certainly knows her areas in Berlin.

Best idea is to line up appointments with a few different agents & then you can compare & make up your own mind. That's what I did & I found it useful to get a clearer picture.

EA commission is at 6% in Germany so feel free to make these guys work for their money !
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Thanks perplexed. I have already spoken to Brian (the husband) and have arranged to view a couple of their properties. Any others?

While I'm at it, I presume one gets a survey done just as here, do you know any over there? What about notaries, who did you use? Good bad or indifferent?

Ta very much for the help.

Good for you ! Yes, Brian is the husband. Tell him Brigid said Hello. (No relation or connection it's just I got to know them well through my purchase)

The other companies I dealt with were Berlin Invest but I can't locate them anymore. Also [broken link removed] through a guy called Seamus Mc Conville. He was very helpful also but I didn't like the properties they had at the time.

I didn't get a survey done as I was getting the apt I bought renovated anyway. I had it rewired & replumbed so everything was taken care of.
The Notary I used was Alexander Kollmorgen with http://www.wilmerhale.com/alexander_kollmorgen/ . He was recommended by Adel & I found him extremely efficient, as well as having excellent English & making sure I understood absolutely everything about the contracts.

Good luck with your search. I absolutely love Berlin & I hope you enjoy your trip. Any more queries feel free....

Thanks again perplexed.

So your experiences with adhoc were positive I take it. I will have 2 full days to look at apartments next week. On balance I think it's a gamble I am willing to take. From speaking to some german friends (who recently bought a buy to let there) there are still some large ministries yet to leave Bonn and move to Berlin. These will bring yet more civil servants to the capital.

Did you move there or is your apartment let out?

Edit: Is this the crowd you couldn't locate: http://www.berlininvestment.com/ ?

No it wasn't that company. I'm sure it was called Berlin Invest & the guys name was William but maybe they've folded. Other one could be worth a look though. The more options you give yourself the better.
From my experience any of the more local companies seem to give better value than the big companies advertising in Ireland.

I bought a 1 bed apt in Wilmersdorf in a beautiful old building. The building was in good condition but the apt itself needed updating. It's now let at a rental of €473pm. Cost of apt + renovation was approx €97k. House charge is €149pm which is quite steep & really eats into the rental but it's almost covering itself so I'm not complaining. It's in an upper class area & close to Ku'damm & the U/S bann system. If Berlin does go up as most folk expect it should do very well. This is a long term investment for me. I don't expect any dramatic appreciation for quite a few years.

Good luck on your trip & let me know how you get on.

I've just found that site it's [broken link removed] . The guy I was dealing with was William Telford & he was most helpful also. He lined up about 3 different apts for me to see.

Ah yes, I had stumbled across that one too. I am tending to lean towards flats I find on german sites for germans. I think the asking prices will be much closer to what the seller would really accept as a lowest offer.

Having read a few of the Bulgarian threads and the dowright lies people are being told by agents/developers etc. I feel more confident in dealing with the germans. For example-that site I found above. The guy's name is Alexander Korte and when I told him the postcode I was interested in he came back and said "sorry, we don't have anything there but it is a very nice area and I would buy there myself". So no hard sell. No BS about it being a bad investment. Just a straightforward answer.

I have arranged to view a couple of properties I found on immoscout as well as two with Adhoc. I have particular reasons for the area (motorway access being important) and so I can't just buy anywhere in the city within budget.

I would be like you here-not looking for a 'quick buck'. I'm looking for a second home! If it appreciates, great, if not, well it's still cheaper than renting. I have limited myself to 40k + taxes & charges as the max I can pay (savings) as I don't want to top up my mortgage on my house here. It's still amazing that you can buy a flat in the capital of the largest economy in Europe for that sort of money if you ask me.

Thats good work Murph. For the price you're willing to pay I don't think you'll find something too central, but the transport system in Berlin is top class. Anywhere you're near the rail or metro you'll be fine.
I find the Germans very forthright which I find great. Too much BS in some markets !
Nobody will tell you you'll make a quick buck there but the rental market is pretty strong & waiting some yrs isn't a problem when it's not costing too much.

I'll be interested to see how you get on.

By the way if you haven't been to Berlin before & I presume you're landing at Schonefeld, just walk to the train station (follow the crowds ) & you'll get a train straight to the centre for just over €2. Most people speak English so it's never a problem getting directions.

cheers perplexed-like I say, I will be living in it and I want to be able to access the A113 Autobahn fairly quickly so central would be bad for me and southeast is good. I'll keep ya posted!

Perplexed,
Could you check your PM's. Cheers.