Emigrating: sell or rent out? Calculator with the real remote costs

An ordinary rental yield calculation assumes you live nearby. That assumption disappears when you emigrate, and with it three cost blocks appear that were invisible before.

Property management. From abroad it is a requirement, not an option. Someone has to hold the keys, instruct the tradesperson and be present at a tenant change. In the Dresden market this usually costs around 5 to 8 per cent of the net cold rent.

Tax adviser. Your German filing obligation does not end when you leave. With limited tax liability under § 49 EStG you continue to declare your rental income here, and virtually nobody does that themselves from abroad.

Vacancy buffer. Tenant changes take longer from a distance. Anyone budgeting zero vacancy is budgeting a fantasy.

Persons with limited tax liability generally do not receive the basic tax-free allowance (§ 50 Abs. 1 EStG). Under unlimited liability part of your income stays untaxed; under limited liability tax applies from the first euro. Entering your previous effective rate into the calculator sets the bar too low.

The second point concerns your destination country. The rental income stays taxable in Germany because the property is here. The destination country usually only takes it into account for the progression clause, so it does not tax the income again but raises your local rate on other income. Which rule applies to your specific destination belongs in the conversation with your tax adviser. The nine questions for that conversation are in the download above.

There are situations where the numbers clearly favour keeping the property, and I say that as someone who earns a living from sales:

• The ten-year period under § 23 EStG is close to expiring and selling now would trigger tax. See the speculation tax calculator.
• You are planning a return within a manageable timeframe and want to move back in. What that involves legally is set out in the guide on returning to Germany.
• You hold an older loan at a rate you could not obtain today.
• The property sits in a Dresden location with sustained demand.

If both routes are close after ten years, that argues for selling. The reason appears in no table: letting keeps you tied to a country you are in the middle of leaving. You stay obliged to file, you need a German bank account, you need an authorised recipient for official documents under § 123 AO, and every burst pipe puts you at the mercy of third parties. What that means in practice is set out in the reality check on letting from abroad.

Before you take the calculator seriously you need two reliable inputs: a realistic market value and clarity about your ten-year period. A portal asking price is not enough, because asking prices and achieved prices in Dresden diverge noticeably depending on location and condition. For the period, what counts is the exact date of the notarised purchase contract, not the calendar year.

Once both are settled, the rest is arithmetic. And then the figure tells you what you probably already suspect.