Evaluate apartment building in under 5 minutes

Let’s start with a case that could happen to you today:

Imagine an acquaintance sitting next to you in a café and saying: “Someone here in the street wants to sell an apartment building, I knew the old lady, her son is now looking after it. I’ll ask about it for you.” A day later, you receive the figures on WhatsApp: 240,000 euros annual rent, purchase price is said to be 8.5 million, A-location. Sounds exciting – but is it really a good deal?

The important thing is that you only need two figures – the purchase price (PP) and the annual net cold rent (ANR). Once you have these, you can immediately calculate the purchase price factor and the yield. Both are the most important key figures for recognizing whether an investment makes sense or not.

Another tip: Whether you’re looking for a return on investment or a purchase price factor, use my free real estate calculator on Immobilien Guru.

Stream here for free – the fastest real estate valuation in the world

Calculate purchase price factor and yield

Example:

• Purchase price: € 8,500,000
• JNKM: € 240,000

Now you can get started right away:

Purchase price factor = purchase price / JNKM = 8,500,000 / 240,000 = 35.4

A purchase price factor of 35 means that it takes over 35 years to recoup the purchase price through rental income – without costs, without interest, without risk. Far too long.

How much return are you making?

You can also see this immediately:

Yield = JNKM / purchase price = 240,000 / 8,500,000 = 2.8 %

Sounds okay at first – but is it really?

The magic limit: 5.5% or more – applies at current interest rates of 3.5%

If you work with borrowed capital – and almost everyone does – you have to take the current interest rates into account. Let’s assume you get 3.5% interest. Then realistically add around 2% for maintenance and reserves. That makes a total of 5.5 %.

So you only earn from a return of over 5.5 %

With a return of only 2.8%, you are making a loss month after month – despite rental income.

How much should you pay at most?

Here’s the trick: simply reverse the formula. You want at least 6% return? Then:

Purchase price = JNKM / desired return Purchase price = 240,000 / 0.06 = € 4,000,000

At a yield of 6%, the property should cost a maximum of €4 million. With an 8 % yield, it could even be as low as € 3 million.

Example: You want 8 %

Purchase price = 240,000 / 0.08 = € 3,000,000

Anything above that is not financially attractive – or you have to negotiate the purchase price down.

That’s all you need to remember in the first step, with a quick assessment from your smartphone or notebook! Are you getting an offer? Ask for the address, purchase price, JNKM (renovation status, rental status, …) – then you can evaluate quickly and the seller can sell their apartment building quickly.

Conclusion: “Only 2 numbers decide” – to put it simply

All you really need:

• The annual net cold rent (JNKM)
• The purchase price

Then compare that with the current financing costs and the 2% maintenance buffer. From a return of 5.5 %, you are in the black – anything less is a risk or a hobby.

Formula for your everyday life

Desired yield / JNKM = maximum purchase price

Keep this formula in mind – you’ll need it more often when you’re checking real estate offers. It will tell you in seconds whether a property is suitable or not. And even better: you can immediately make the seller a realistic offer.

Is 8.5 million a good deal?

I went into this in detail on immobilien-erfahrung.de, you can read about it again here: The difference between yield and investment properties.

The difference lies in the focus: with an investment property, what counts is what comes into your account each month – i.e. a positive cash flow from rental income, usually in B locations and C locations. With an investment property, on the other hand, you focus on long-term value appreciation and sales proceeds – usually in A-locations such as Berlin, Cologne, Düsseldorf & Co.

You want direct cash? The first option brings you income directly. Do you want more cash in the long term? The second requires patience, capital and market knowledge – in return, you can expect a big profit later on.

Even better:

If you buy cheaply in an A-location, all the better Cash flow + long-term cash = top class. Buy, upgrade, increase rent, increase value.

That’s it. This is how you evaluate extremely quickly. Good luck with your investment!

Your purchase price offer therefore always depends on your personal goals: Do you need / want operational or strategic cash.

What would this property with a net annual rent of 240,000 euros in an A-location be worth to you?

More tips from the field?

Do you want to regularly recognize good deals, make faster decisions or simply learn from my experience? Then browse through the blog or read the most important articles on the topics – step by step, from practice, for investors.

I have explained these topics to you in detail:

• Valuate apartment building
• Calculate purchase price factor
• Tip: My purchase price factor calculator
• Estimate returns correctly
• Financing with leverage

You want to sell or have questions? Then write to me – I’ll be happy to help you.

• Contact us now
• Purchase profile