Founding a property-management business in 2026: requirements, duties, first mandates

The property-management market is in motion: many firms face succession, owner associations report long searches for a manager, and digitalisation is changing how portfolios are run. For founders this is an unusually good starting position — if formalities, liability and tooling are right from the start. This guide walks through the requirements and the first steps.

Anyone managing residential property commercially in Germany needs a licence under § 34c (1) GewO (residential property manager). Depending on the federal state, the IHK or the trade office is responsible. The core requirements: personal reliability, orderly financial circumstances and proof of professional indemnity insurance — plus the usual trade registration.

A formal qualification certificate is not required for the licence itself — but professional qualification becomes a de-facto requirement via two other routes: the continuing-education duty and the certified manager.

Apartment owners can demand that a certified manager be appointed (§ 26a WEG). Certification is earned through an IHK exam; certain qualifications such as real-estate management apprenticeships are treated as equivalent. If your young firm wants WEG mandates, plan the exam firmly — advisory boards now ask for it specifically.

Residential property managers and involved staff must complete 20 hours of continuing education within three years (§ 34c (2a) GewO in conjunction with the MaBV) and document it. For a young firm this is less a burden than a curriculum: law, statements, technology — the syllabus of your first years.

Professional indemnity insurance is a licence requirement; an extended financial-loss policy is worth considering. Just as important: community and rental funds belong in separate accounts per association or property from day one — cleanly apart from the firm's own account. Accounting that strictly separates properties and accounts is the technical basis for this.

First mandates rarely come from advertising — they come from proximity: small associations without a manager, dissatisfied boards in your network, takeovers from firms without succession. Two things convince more than any brochure: being reachable, and producing professional statements.

Against established firms, a modern owner and tenant portal is a visible difference: resolutions, statements and requests digitally instead of binders and answering machines. As a young firm you can offer that standard from the first mandate.

No entry licence, no annual contract: costs should grow with the portfolio (per unit), not run ahead of the business.

Condominium, rental and accounting in one system: bolt-on point solutions cost margin later.

Portal included: your professionalism edge over established firms.

DATEV export and GoBD-compliant records: your tax adviser will thank you at the first annual close.

EU hosting and a data-processing agreement: GDPR questions arrive with the first advisory board at the latest.

Starting on Excel and switching „later“ — the switch then lands in the middle of the first annual statement. Running third-party funds through your own account. Pricing the management fee too low to win mandates — renegotiating is hard in a WEG. And underestimating deadlines, from statement periods to convening the assembly.

1. Register the trade and apply for the § 34c GewO licence. 2. Take out professional indemnity insurance. 3. Plan the IHK certification (§ 26a WEG). 4. Set up separate accounts per association/property. 5. Choose software with condominium + rental + accounting + portal — per-unit pricing, cancel monthly. 6. Find first mandates via your network and advisory boards. 7. Document continuing education.