Relocation & Settling In
An apartment in Berlin, without a Schufa.
No Schufa. No German payslip. No Anmeldung yet, which you can't get until you have a flat, which you can't get without the Anmeldung. It's the most common corner our clients arrive in, and one we know the way out of.
The blocker
The document you can't get, standing between you and the flat.
Almost every Berlin listing asks for a Schufa, the one-page credit report that says you carry no debts or defaults in Germany. It's the first thing an agent looks for.
The problem isn't that your record is bad. It's that you don't have one yet. A Schufa only exists once you have a German bank account, a German address and a financial history here, none of which you can build from abroad, and none of which a landlord will wait for. The blank page reads, unfairly, as a risk.
Landlords lean on it because Berlin's market lets them: with dozens of applicants per flat, it's easier to filter on a missing checkbox than to weigh a foreign profile on its merits. So the good applicant, solvent, employed, entirely reliable, gets quietly passed over for the one who happens to have lived here longer.
The answer isn't to find a Schufa. It's to make it unnecessary.
The method
We replace the Schufa with something a landlord trusts more.
Five moves, from your real financial standing to a signed lease.
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We map what you actually have
An honest look at your profile: savings, an employment contract or offer letter, credit history from home, and whether a guarantor is realistic. Most people have more to work with than they think. The trick is knowing which piece a Berlin landlord will accept in place of a Schufa.
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We build the credible alternative
From that, we assemble the stand-in that fits your case: proof of funds or savings, an employer contract or letter, an international credit report, a guarantor with a Bürgschaft, or a larger Kaution or Mietkautionsversicherung. Together, enough to make the missing Schufa a non-issue.
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The landlord-ready dossier
We put it together the way German landlords expect to receive it: cover note, income and funds, references and identity, translated where it helps, ordered and complete. A file that answers the questions before they're asked reads as low-risk, Schufa or no Schufa.
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We take it to landlords who are open
Not every owner or agent works this way, but many do, and after years in Berlin we know a fair few. We present your application to people who know us, where a well-made foreign profile gets read on its merits rather than filtered out by a checkbox.
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The Anmeldung, then the lease
Once you sign, the flat gives you the Wohnungsgeberbestätigung, which lets us book the Anmeldung, the registration that unlocks your Steuer-ID, bank and everything after. Our Berlin Arrival Package handles that first fortnight. We read the contract, flag the clauses that matter, and see the keys into your hand.
What we deploy
The credible alternatives, assembled into one file.
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Proof of funds, presented well
Savings and liquidity set out in the format a landlord trusts: reassurance, not a bank dump.
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Employer contract or letter
Your German or international employment shown clearly, including offers that pre-date your first payslip.
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An international credit report
Where a home-country credit record helps, we obtain and translate it to stand in for the Schufa you don't have yet.
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A guarantor & Bürgschaft
If a guarantor is available, we structure the Bürgschaft correctly so it carries real weight with the landlord.
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Deposit alternatives
A larger Kaution where it helps seal the deal, or a Mietkautionsversicherung so your capital isn't tied up.
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The landlord-ready dossier
The complete German application file, assembled and translated, that makes a foreign applicant an easy yes.
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Landlords known to be flexible
Your file goes to owners and agents we know, where a strong profile matters more than a Schufa checkbox.
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Negotiated and read in German
We correspond, apply and read the lease in German: one point of contact from first message to move-in.
Why us
A missing Schufa is a presentation problem. We present for a living.
The difference between a rejected foreign application and an accepted one is rarely the money. It's how the case is made, and to whom.
After years looking after demanding guests in Berlin's hospitality world, presenting a person as trustworthy, in German, to people who already know us, is pretty much our craft. A landlord who'd filter out an unfamiliar name will read a file that comes from us, because our name on it is itself a reference. You never appear in our marketing, and the flat never appears in anyone's feed.
Questions
What people ask us before they begin.
What exactly is a Schufa?
The SCHUFA is Germany's main credit bureau. A SCHUFA-BonitätsAuskunft is a one-page report showing you've no debts or defaults on record here. Landlords ask for it as a quick proxy for 'this tenant pays reliably'. The catch: it only exists once you have a German financial footprint, so a new arrival simply has nothing to show, which is a blank record, not a bad one.
Can I really rent with no Schufa at all?
Yes. It's the most common situation we handle, and it's workable. A landlord doesn't really need a Schufa; they need to believe you'll pay the rent. We give them that through other, equally credible evidence: funds, employment, a guarantor or a deposit structure, put together in the form they expect. No Schufa is normal for a foreign applicant, and we treat it that way.
Will I have to pay a bigger deposit?
Sometimes, and it's often the cleanest solution. German law caps the Kaution at three months' Kaltmiete, and offering the full amount up front reassures a cautious landlord. Where you'd rather not tie up that capital, a Mietkautionsversicherung, a deposit guarantee, can stand in its place. We'll tell you honestly which route a given landlord is likely to accept.
Do I need a German guarantor?
No. A guarantor with a Bürgschaft helps and can tip a marginal application, but it's one lever among several, not a requirement. Plenty of our clients are approved on proof of funds and an employment contract alone. If you do have someone willing to guarantee, we structure it properly; if you don't, we build the case another way.
I'm a freelancer, Selbständig or a student, can you still help?
Yes, these are routine for us. A freelancer shows the picture differently: recent invoices, an accountant's summary, business bank statements and savings, rather than payslips. A student usually leans on a guarantor, proof of funds or a blocked account. In every case the job is the same: turn your real financial standing into evidence a Berlin landlord reads as safe.
How does this fit with the rest of the apartment search?
It's one part of our Managed Apartment Search: the same team sources the flats, attends viewings and negotiates the lease, with the no-Schufa dossier built in. And because the flat unlocks your Anmeldung, our Berlin Arrival Package then handles that registration and everything it opens: Steuer-ID, bank account and the paperwork of your first weeks in Berlin.
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Begin
No Schufa? Tell us where you stand.
Two lines will do: your work situation, your budget, and roughly what you can put down. A real person replies within the day, in confidence, with an honest read on your chances.