Can I let my Dresden property while living abroad?
approx. 5 to 8 %
usual order of magnitude for letting management, based on the net cold rent
12 months
deadline for the service charge statement under Section 556 (3) BGB
Section 49 EStG
The German filing obligation remains even after you move away
What this page does and what it does not
This page is not the decision aid between letting and selling. It starts where the decision to let has already been made. What I observe with owners who have moved from Dresden to Zurich, Vienna or Valencia: the first six months go well, then the first real incident arrives, and from that point it becomes clear whether the setup holds.
Still undecided? Read the let or sell decision aidThe five risk areas and what helps against each
I have sorted them by what actually costs money and nerves in practice, not by legal systematics.
Technical faults and emergencies
The risk
Heating failure on a Friday evening in January, water damage at the weekend, no access to tradespeople from a distance. Plus the time difference: the emergency service wants a cost commitment while it is night where you are.
Countermeasure
A property manager with a contractually agreed emergency budget up to which they may instruct work without asking first. A fixed list of tradespeople for heating, plumbing and electrics. A key deposit the manager can access. A power of attorney that clearly states what they may do.
Tenant changes and re-letting
The risk
Coordinating viewings, checking creditworthiness, drawing up the handover protocol: from a distance it either takes too long and the flat stands empty, or it goes too fast and you get a tenant you would not have chosen on site.
Countermeasure
Set the selection criteria out in writing beforehand: proof of income, Schufa credit report, confirmation of no rent arrears, ratio of rent to net income. Handover protocol with photos and meter readings, sent to you digitally. Schedule the video call with the candidate as a fixed step.
Law and deadlines
The risk
The service charge statement must reach the tenant within twelve months (Section 556 (3) BGB), otherwise additional claims are as a rule lost. Terminations and rent increases must be provably received. Without a contact in Germany, every step becomes a logistics question.
Countermeasure
Appoint a contact in Germany with power of attorney and include their address in the tenancy correspondence. Agree the statement as an explicit duty of the manager, with an internal cut-off three months before the deadline. Have the rent index development reviewed once a year.
Own use if you plan to return
The risk
Own use is not a switch you can flip at short notice. The termination must be reasoned and in the correct form (Section 573 (2) no. 2 BGB), the notice period runs up to nine months depending on the length of tenancy, and the tenant can object on hardship grounds. The litigation risk is yours.
Countermeasure
If you want to move in on a fixed date, plan realistically with about a year of lead time. Think the tenancy agreement and the return perspective together from the outset. Have a tenancy law specialist review the termination letter before you send it.
Money and bank account
The risk
Some banks terminate accounts of people resident abroad or change the terms. Anyone regularly withdrawing surpluses into another currency carries an exchange rate risk on their ongoing income. And a dedicated maintenance reserve is almost always missing.
Countermeasure
Clarify with your bank in writing before you leave whether the account continues. Keep a liquidity buffer in the German account instead of sweeping it clean monthly, which defuses the currency question and emergency payments at once. A fixed monthly reserve per square metre that stays put.
Tax: why Germany stays in charge
This is where most of the false assumptions sit. Your rental income remains taxable in Germany even if you have long since lived elsewhere. That follows the situs principle, which most double taxation treaties reflect (Article 6 of the OECD Model Convention).
Four points to settle before you move away
Limited tax liability, Section 49 EStG
After you move away, income from letting German property remains taxable in Germany. The filing obligation does not end, it becomes more complicated.
No basic allowance, Section 50 (1) EStG
Taxpayers with limited tax liability generally do not receive the basic allowance (Grundfreibetrag). What disappears into the allowance for a small landlord living in Germany is taxed for you from the first euro.
Authorised recipient, Section 123 AO
Without a German service address, assessments and deadlines can pass you by. For people resident abroad with German tax obligations, appointing one is practically important.
Progression proviso in your new country
Many states exempt the German rental income but use it to determine your personal tax rate. Your tax burden there can rise even though the income itself is not taxed. It depends on the relevant treaty.
Calvin Linke, Immobilienpartner Sachsen
Tax note: Non-binding guidance, without warranty – not a substitute for tax advice.
What letting from abroad really costs
These items are missing from almost every yield calculation owners show me before moving away. Yet they are the difference between the return on paper and what actually arrives. The figures are orders of magnitude from the Dresden market, not fixed prices.
| Item | Order of magnitude | Often forgotten |
|---|---|---|
| Letting management, ongoing | approx. 5 to 8 % of the net cold rent, or a flat amount per unit and month | Almost always, because it is not in the gross yield |
| Special management tasks | Re-letting, damage handling and modernisation support usually billed separately | Yes, only surfaces at the tenant change |
| Tax advisor, annual return | An annual item, the amount depending on scope and fee agreement | Yes, it gets budgeted as a one-off expense |
| Maintenance reserve, separate property | A fixed monthly amount per square metre, on top of the communal reserve | Yes, the communal reserve only covers common property |
| Vacancy at tenant change | Two months at 750 euros cold rent is 1,500 euros | Yes, re-letting is slower from a distance |
Add these items up once and put the result next to your expected net cold rent. If the decision still comes out in favour of letting, it rests on solid ground.
When letting from abroad is still the better choice
Remote letting is not a wrong decision. It fits certain starting positions well. If two or more of these points apply, holding is workable.
Under three years left of the speculation period
If the ten-year period under Section 23 EStG is close to expiring, waiting can avoid the taxable capital gain entirely. That is the strongest arithmetic reason to hold the property.
A concretely planned return
Anyone who wants to live in Dresden again in four years does not sell only to buy back into noticeably different market conditions. Tenancy agreements and the own-use perspective then belong in the plan from the start.
A favourable legacy mortgage
A running loan at an interest rate well below today's market level is an asset in itself. You give that advantage up with the sale, and an early repayment penalty may be added.
A property in a good Dresden location
Where re-letting reliably works quickly, the vacancy risk falls. And that risk is the most expensive one from a distance, because you can barely speed it up.
Have your starting position calculated honestly
Moving abroad and wondering whether your flat can carry remote letting? I look at the location, the rent level and your cost side and tell you frankly where the numbers point. Including when the answer argues against selling.
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