Zillow is a renowned tool thanks to its features that make it easy to buy, sell or rent a home.
Its photographic listings that contain the prices and detailed descriptions of various properties allow you to choose a perfect home for your needs and budget.
Unfortunately, German residents can’t use this incredible database when searching for rental or sale listings.
After all, Zillow only lists properties in the United States and Canada; hence not an option for someone looking for a home in Germany.
That said, German residents also have various sites equivalent to Zillow, which makes it easy to find homes within its boundaries.
Some of their real estate portals are large enough to list up to 95% of the houses and apartments in the country.
That’s a good place to start whether you just relocated to Germany or want to change your neighbourhood.
The most popular sites are Immowelt, Immonet and Immobilienscout24.
The site you choose mostly depends on what you are looking for, and the better the choice, the greater the options.
Finding a Home in Germany
Various real estate portals have made finding a home in Germany easy and convenient.
You may not even need to leave your comfort zone to get an amazing apartment.
Some sites list both commercial and residential properties.
From buying to renting, your options are always more than you need.
Let’s narrow down your choices to make your search simple without compromising the quality of the results.
Best Sites When Searching for a Home in Germany
The most popular real estate portals offer a wide range of properties.
These platforms offer different options, including unfurnished apartments, furnished apartments, apartments with agent commission, apartments without agent commission, offices, houses and storage, among others.
With a coverage of up to 99% of Germany’s real estate market, one can understand why they are popular.
The information is always up to date, too.
Nevertheless, these sites are only available in the German language.
The big 3 sites for apartments, houses and offices available in Germany are;
- Immobilienscout24
- Immonet
- Immowelt
Best Sites for Temporal Accommodation in Germany
If you aren’t staying in Germany for a long time, you may be looking for an interim accommodation.
Whether you need one for yourself or your family, you can easily find accommodation via the following sites;
- AirBnB is available in various languages but only offers weekly stays
- Citywohnen, which has an English website
- Homecompany, which also has an English website
- Suiteforyou
- The Homelike, which also has an English website
- Zeitwohnagentur-Hamburg
Best Sites When Searching for a Shared Apartment in Germany
If you are a student looking for a shared apartment to reduce the cost of renting one, you need to consider the following Zillow alternatives;
- “Mitwohnzentrale” has several platforms specializing in properties in one particular city
- easywg
- WG-gesucht with a focus on rooms within an apartment only
For rooms within an apartment, tenants only share the bathroom and the kitchen
In most cases, you will be renting an unfurnished room, but you may also find furnished apartments.
Other Real Estate Sites in Germany
However, on rare occasions, you may fail to find a real estate property on the big giants in property listing.
Don’t give up yet if you haven’t tried their small counterparts.
People rarely use them due to their small sizes, but that doesn’t mean they are completely useless.
You may be surprised to find what you are looking for on such portals; hence worth checking out.
However, be aware of their limitations, especially regarding their search functions and filter options.
Equally important, the sites don’t update their listings often; hence possible to find outdated information.
Nevertheless, these sites are still worth looking at when looking for houses.
They include the following;
- FastHome
- Lieblingsmieter is known for listing apartments without agent commission
- null-provision, which is an extract from Immobilienscout24
- Wimdu
- Wohnungsbörse
- Wohnungsmarkt24
- Yoom
Tips When Choosing a Real Estate Listing Platform
The following features are crucial when using a real estate listing platform; hence important to consider them when selecting one.
Property Listings
The bigger the database of property listings, the better since it increases your chances of finding one that’s right for you.
However, the database shouldn’t just be huge but also be updated for it to be relevant and useful.
Besides property listings, you need additional information to make a great choice.
The crucial ones include detailed descriptions and high-quality photos.
Another often overlooked feature is the search filters that help you narrow down your options using the various characteristics you are looking for in a property.
Mapping
You don’t buy or rent a home before researching its neighbourhood.
That’s where mapping comes in to help you get data regarding the neighbourhood and its geographical data.
User Account
Upon finding a property you like, adding it to your favourites makes it easy to get back to it later.
That’s just one of the benefits of finding a platform that supports user account creation.
With a user account, you can also get personalized recommendations relevant to your search history or notifications of new listings, thus simplifying your search for a home.
Advanced Search Functionality
These sites depend on searches, and you don’t want one that’s user-unfriendly in this respect.
It would be best if you easily filter your options using various criteria, including property type, price range and location.
It narrows your search to a few results that are easy to compare and select.
Contact Forms
A contact form makes it easy for potential buyers to reach out to the seller of a property they like.
These forms should be easy to spot, strategically located and straightforward to use.
Mobile Optimization
Gone are the days when you needed a tablet, laptop or desktop to access a website.
Choose a real estate portal that’s mobile-friendly, thus allowing you to navigate seamlessly using your mobile phone.
The layout should look good regardless of the size of your screen.
How Accurate Are Zillow and Other Platforms Estimates?
These platforms use algorithms to determine the estimates of the various properties.
Therefore, the better the algorithm, the more accurate the estimates.
Besides, the site owners need to update these algorithms regularly to enhance accuracy since things keep changing.
Why Do People Use Zillow and its Alternatives?
With platforms such as Zillow, you don’t want to visit various places in search of the one that’s most suitable for you.
On the contrary, you get their respective information online, and it is sufficient to help you compare different properties and make a great choice.
That saves you a lot of time and money you would have spent moving from one property to another.
Besides, you can visit these websites anywhere and anytime, hence convenient despite a tight schedule or lack of familiarity with the area.
How Are Tulia and Zillow Different?
Whereas Tulia and Zillow are real estate listing databases, they are different in several aspects.
For instance, the website design of Zillow is better than Trulia’s, with a better graphic experience.
Trulia only lists properties in the US, but Zillow covers both the US and Canada.
Zillow’s search results are on the right side, whereas its map is on the left, and vice versa is true for Trulia.
Whereas Zillow offers a property’s estimated market value, Trulia provides crime map data and monthly costs’ visual breakdown.