Der immocation Podcast | Lerne Immobilien · immocation

595 🎙️| Mit 24 Jahren schon 114 Wohnungen. Niklas gibt Vollgas! (Interview mit Niklas)

·1 hr 6 min·5 clips

At 24, Niklas already owns 114 apartments after starting with just a goal and a checklist at age 21.

1. Der Immocation Podcast hosts Stefan and Marco interview Niklas, a 24-year-old investor who has acquired 114 apartments since starting at age 21 during COVID lockdowns. 2. Host Marco introduces Niklas as a former Azubi (apprentice) who previously appeared on episode ~283 with his first multi-family house; Stefan co-hosts and provides context on the Immocation Masterclass program. 3. The episode's core thesis is how a young investor with limited capital adapted strategy across the 2021-2025 market cycle, and then pivoted acquisition knowledge into an energy consultancy. 4. Niklas started investing in 2021 in Leipzig, targeting buy-and-hold apartments where a 5-6% gross yield achieved plus-or-minus cash flow neutral at then-prevailing low interest rates. 5. After approximately 18 months in Leipzig, he moved focus to Halle — noting it was cheaper than Leipzig (around 2,500 EUR/sqm versus Leipzig's higher prices) but similarly well-connected with an airport, highways, and a university. 6. He and his father partnered from early on: Niklas provided market knowledge from his real estate education; his father provided capital access and construction experience from a prior family business. 7. Their first deals in Wittenberg came partly off-market through broker relationships, which Niklas credits as essential compensation for the credibility gap a 21-year-old faces with sellers and financers. 8. Wittenberg purchase prices collapsed from approximately 1,800 EUR/sqm to 700-900 EUR/sqm between 2022 and 2024 as interest rates rose, which Niklas calls a direct halving of entry prices. 9. Niklas produced a table comparing 2021-2024 purchase price levels against interest rates and concluded mid-2022 through 2023 was the worst period for buy-and-hold cash flow; he resumed buying around the 2023-2024 year change. 10. He chose 10-year and 15-year fixed interest rate terms in 2021, acknowledging in hindsight that 20-year fixed rates would have been wiser given the subsequent rate spike to approximately 4%. 11. He now argues buying in 2025 at halved entry prices with rents that have grown significantly offers better risk-adjusted returns than buying at peak prices in 2021, even accounting for higher rates. 12. The topic of energy efficiency emerged as a market-differentiating skill: Niklas observes that gas floor heating (individual circuits, not centralizable) is increasingly a deal-breaker in lower-margin locations like Wittenberg. 13. At a Magdeburg building they centralized heating by adding new shafts and pipes throughout the house — an 'incredible effort' that doubled their effective investment cost from 1,000 EUR/sqm entry to 2,000 EUR/sqm total. 14. The alternative model they developed for a different building: infrared heating (using existing electrical infrastructure), rooftop PV with battery storage, and tenant electricity contracts that sell power to residents at below-grid rates but above the 10-11 cent feed-in tariff. 15. Niklas describes thinking of the landlord role holistically: 'I'm the gas station, from the perspective of the wallbox' — providing heat, electricity, and EV charging as integrated services. 16. He estimates double-digit returns on the one-time energy investment are achievable at C/D locations when PV, storage, and tenant electricity are combined, citing actual completed projects. 17. The tone is conversational and interview-driven, with Marco asking clarifying questions about purchase prices and strategy while Niklas provides specific numbers and deal-level examples. 18. The interview runs at a practical, experienced-investor level — specific EUR/sqm figures, interest rate timelines, and technology comparisons ground abstract strategy in concrete decisions. 19. Aspiring buy-and-hold investors interested in C/D city locations in Germany and the emerging energy renovation business model will find this episode directly actionable. 20. Listeners seeking high-level motivational content or who are unfamiliar with German real estate market structure and pricing will find the episode too granular without prior context.

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