Keep facts and questions apart at a German flat viewing

01Prepare an evidence sheet

Use four headings: rooms, monthly charges, availability and questions. Mark each fact that the speaker calls approximate. The sheet is not a tenancy assessment. It trains you to retain a spoken fact without upgrading it into a promise. A bright room on camera does not prove how quiet it is at night.

Choose a real flat tour with spoken details, rather than music over property images. Do not send an application or personal data for this exercise. Use a short section with two or three concrete facts. A complete fast tour can overload your notes before you learn how its information is organised.

02Read what the price includes

Die Wohnung hat zwei Zimmer und eine separate Küche. Die Kaltmiete beträgt achthundert Euro. Dazu kommen etwa zweihundert Euro Nebenkosten. Strom zahlen Sie selbst. Einzug wäre ab dem ersten Mai möglich, die Küche bleibt aber nicht in der Wohnung.

Translation: The flat has two rooms and a separate kitchen. The base rent excluding additional charges is eight hundred euros. About two hundred euros in additional charges comes on top. You pay electricity yourself. Moving in would be possible from the first of May, but the kitchen fittings will not remain in the flat.

Küche can refer to a room or its fittings. The last sentence concerns what stays, not the disappearance of the room. Etwa marks an approximate figure.

03Make a follow-up list

Calculate the stated base rent plus the estimated additional charges. Label the result carefully. List two things that prevent it from being a complete monthly budget. Add a question about the kitchen that does not assume a fitted kitchen is included. Your question should clarify what remains at handover.

For the real video, write the inclusion word beside each cost: inklusive, zuzüglich or extra, if those words occur. If they do not occur, do not add them. Replay the cost section after making an initial note. Finish with open questions rather than a confident total built from incomplete information.

04Answer key: a subtotal, not a guarantee

Eight hundred plus about two hundred gives about one thousand euros before separately paid electricity. It is a subtotal based on these exercise figures. The exact electricity cost and scope of additional charges remain unknown. The text does not describe a deposit, internet cost or contractual terms.

The flat has a separate kitchen room, but its fittings do not stay. A useful question is: Welche Küchengeräte bleiben hier? This means: Which kitchen appliances stay here? You can also ask what the additional charges cover. This worksheet does not define legal rent categories for every contract. Use the actual documents and qualified advice for a real tenancy decision.

05Transfer without becoming a property expert

Jibber Jabber is our app. Interactive captions can help you inspect housing phrases in a suitable German tour. Word lookup supports language understanding; it does not verify listings, calculate a complete housing budget or provide legal advice. Keep those tasks outside the listening score.

After replaying, give a report with one confirmed fact, one estimate and one open question. This exposes the difference between hearing a claim and proving it. For a second clip, focus on availability rather than price. Note whether a date is possible, preferred or fixed. Preserve that distinction in your summary instead of making every date sound agreed.

See our video-player guide ↗