• Kaution means the security deposit you need to pay with the first rent (usually around 2-3 monthly rents). The deposit will be payed back to you when moving out, provided you caused no damage to the apartment.
• +NK=Nebenkosten are the utilities fees (monthly cost for heating, TV,  or electricity, stairwell cleaning, janitor, etc.), which are not included in the rent and will be charged extra.
• Provision: If the apartment is procured by a realtor you will probably need to pay a commission (approx. two monthly rents). Therefore, it is worthwhile to look for apartments offered directly by the landlord (Vermieter) –these flats are often advertised as provisionsfrei=no commission charged.
• SCHUFA: SCHUFA Holding AG is Germany's largest credit agency (the abbreviation SCHUFA stands for "Schutzgemeinschaft für allgemeine Kreditsicherung"). It collects data on the creditworthiness of everyone registered in Germany. Landlords often like to see a positive SCHUFA, i.e. a SCHUFA report without negative entries (unpaid debts or similar). You can get a SCHUFA report free of charge at https://www.meineschufa.de/de/datenkopie . Simply click on "Apply now" under "Free data copy". Then enter personal data such as name, date of birth and address. Optionally, documents such as the identity card can also be uploaded, but this is not a must. It can take up to 14 days for the SCHUFA report to arrive by mail. It is faster if you buy the SCHUFA credit report for 29.95€.
• Electricity (Strom) is normally not included in the rent. You will need to get a contract with an electricity company. It is usually possible to simply resume the contract of the preceding tenant.
• If the indicated monthly rent is specified as “warm”, the monthly payment includes the costs for heating. The specification “kalt” means the rent without heating costs, which will be charged extra.
• WG is short for “Wohngemeinschaft” and means shared flat.
• Zwischenmiete means a room/apartment offer for a limited period of time (usually during a temporary absence of the regular tenant/flatmate).

Abbreviations frequently used in accommodation adverts:

When moving into an apartment, you meet with the owner or an authorized deputy at the renting location for the key handover, the “Schlüsselübergabe”.

The number and types of keys that you received should be indicated in the rental contract.

Tenant and landlord should then make a hand over certificate (“Übergabeprotokoll” or “Wohnunsprotokoll”) in which all potential present damages of the apartment should be listed. This way both parties know which damages are already there at the time of move in.

The certificate should be signed by both parties.

The same process should occur upon move out; when the keys are handed over and potential damages are listed. Here you should be handed a signed certificate of the apartment´s state, too.

It´s recommendable taking photos directly after move in and shortly before moving out, so any potential damages are recorded.

If you notice any damages after moving in, you should report them to the landlord as soon as possible.

If there aren´t any damages caused by you, you should get the deposit back within four weeks after move out.

If you ever get into a conflict with your landlord, or if you just want to be on the safe side and have some legal advice, you may consider becoming a member of the tenant protection union (Mieterschutzbund). For a membership fee of 60-80 Euros a year, you get legal advice by lawyers trained in housing rights, you can have all your correspondence between you and the landlord checked by them (e.g. bills, facility costs demands etc), and they can even do all the communication with your landlord on your behalf.

This is their website where they offer consultation in different languages (the button “weiter” on the right hand side): https://www.iv-mieterschutz.de

It is not mandatory to become a member in the unit but can be helpful if you ever get into a conflict regarding renting. Anyway, you can also become a member and get advise when the conflict had already started. 

If you ever get into a conflict with your landlord, or if you just want to be on the safe side and have some legal advice, you may consider becoming a member of the tenant protection union (Mieterschutzbund). For a membership fee of 60-80 Euros a year, you get legal advice by lawyers trained in housing rights, you can have all your correspondence between you and the landlord checked by them (e.g. bills, facility costs demands etc), and they can even do all the communication with your landlord on your behalf.

This is their website where they offer consultation in different languages (the button “weiter” on the right hand side): https://www.iv-mieterschutz.de

It is not mandatory to become a member in the unit but can be helpful if you ever get into a conflict regarding renting. Anyway, you can also become a member and get advise when the conflict had already started.