Understanding foreclosure auctions — step by step
From finding a property to financing, the security deposit, and the final award: our guide walks you through every step of a German foreclosure auction — covering the key rules, costs, and risks.
Compulsory auctions for beginners: the full process in 8 steps
The guide to your first compulsory auction: in 8 steps from finding a property to financing, the security deposit and the award.
Reviewing a property before a compulsory auction: appraisal, land register and hidden risks
You buy with no warranty and often without an interior inspection. What to check in the appraisal, the land register and the occupancy before you bid.
Financing a compulsory auction: how the bank sets your bid limit
Your bank sets your bid limit. Security is due on request of a party to the proceedings. Prepare financing and security before the hearing.
Security deposit at a compulsory auction: 10%, deadlines and how to lodge it
A party to the proceedings usually demands 10% of the market value as security. No cash: a timely bank transfer, bank cheque or bank guarantee is accepted.
Bidding by power of attorney – why it must be notarised
If you bid for someone else, even your spouse, you need a publicly certified bidding authorisation. Without it at the hearing, your bid is rejected.
How does an auction hearing run? Bidding time, lowest bid and award step by step
How an auction hearing runs: the call, the lowest admissible bid, at least 30 minutes of bidding time, bidding with ID. The award makes you owner at once.
How much of the market value do you have to bid? The 5/10 and 7/10 thresholds in a compulsory auction
The 5/10 and 7/10 thresholds lapse at a new hearing only after refusal of the award on a value-threshold ground. A second hearing alone is not enough.
What happens after the award? Payment, interest, taxes and the risks you take on
With the award you become owner. Plan payment, interest and taxes. Review tenancies, surviving rights and current charges owed to the owners' association.
Compulsory auction: what differs by federal state?
The procedure is identical nationwide. The one major difference is the real estate transfer tax (3.5% to 6.5%). All 16 state rates and what else varies.
How we determine risk classes for compulsory auctions
ZVG Melder detects risk findings from official appraisals, structures them into classes and shows how strong the data basis is.
Compulsory auction portals compared, 2026
Official source and eleven private portals compared: cost, hearings visible without an account, appraisal, saved searches, maps. Checked on 5 October 2026.
Partition auction (Teilungsversteigerung): process, costs and your options
Partition auctions in divorce or inheritance cases: the § 180 ZVG procedure, costs, when it can be stopped and what buyers should look for.
Finding auction dates at the local court: notice board, portal and the faster overview
Where local courts officially publish auction dates, what the announcement contains and how to see a court's hearings in one place.
Using the ZVG portal: searching auction dates, opening valuation reports and what the official site does not show
How to search zvg-portal.de for compulsory auctions, open the valuation reports and see what the official portal does not do. Checked in October 2026.
Reading the appraisal for a compulsory auction: what it says, what it leaves out and where the risks are
Where to get the market value appraisal, what it leaves out and how to read the land register, building encumbrances, tenants, condition and valuation.
The lowest bid (geringstes Gebot) and rights that remain in place: what you take on beyond your cash bid
The lowest bid can contain rights you take on in addition to your cash bid. Which rights remain in place, what they cost and how to set your bid.
ZVG portal down: zvg-portal.de outage of 21 to 23 October 2026
zvg-portal.de was unreachable from the evening of 21 October to the afternoon of 23 October 2026. How long it lasted and what bidders should check now.