Brokerage activities - Permit

You need a license if you wish to offer the following services on a commercial basis:

• Real estate brokerage (real estate agents),
• Brokerage of loan agreements (except for real estate loans for consumers),
• Residential property management (residential property managers), or
• Planning or carrying out construction projects in your own name or on behalf of others (real estate developers, construction project managers)

Depending on which license you apply for, you will be authorized to perform the following activities, for example:

• Brokerage of real estate and rights equivalent to real estate, as well as brokerage of the sale, encumbrance, rental, or leasing of real estate
• Brokerage of condominium ownership as well as contracts for mortgages and land charges,
• Brokerage of commercial and residential spaces, meaning all types of space leases, including leases and subleases, and thus also apartment and room brokerage
• Brokerage of loans (except for real estate financing for consumers)
• Planning or carrying out construction projects using third-party assets, for example, with the assets of tenants, leaseholders, other beneficiaries, or persons applying for rights of acquisition or use. In this context, it makes no difference whether you act in your own name (as a developer) or on behalf of third parties (as a construction manager). The following activities, for example, fall under this category: submitting building permit applications, hiring architects and contractors, securing and drawing down financing, taking out insurance policies, and calculating future rent.
• Management of rented apartments or jointly owned residential property by multiple individuals. You are considered a property manager, for example, if you
  • implement decisions made by the apartment owners and ensure compliance with the house rules;
  • take the necessary measures for the proper maintenance and repair of the common property;
  • arrange for and receive all payments and services related to the day-to-day management of the common property;
  • manage the funds collected.

To act as a broker for real estate consumer loan agreements, you need a separate license under commercial law.

You must have the permit before starting operations. Therefore, submit your application well in advance—that is, a few weeks before you plan to begin operations.

To work as a

• real estate agent,
• real estate developer
• construction supervisor
• residential property manager

the following applies: The license is deemed to have been granted if the authority has not made a decision on your application within three months of receiving the complete documentation.
You must simultaneously notify the authority responsible for business registrations of the start of your business activities.