In Munich, where I live, there’s a regulation called the Mietspiegel. It’s meant to protect tenants from skyrocketing rental prices by setting reference rents for different neighborhoods and property types. Sounds fair. But understanding how it works? That’s another story. Even native German speakers struggle with the complexity of it—tons of clauses, exceptions, and cryptic wording.

I decided to check whether I might be overpaying for my apartment. Spoiler: the process is still ongoing. But here’s how AI, especially ChatGPT, has become my advisor along the way.

Step 1: Understanding the Mietspiegel Questions

The first part of the process involves filling out a detailed form from the city’s official website. It includes questions about the apartment: size, building year, floor, energy efficiency—and oddly specific things like whether your bathroom has a towel-warming radiator.

So what did I do? I asked ChatGPT.

I uploaded photos of my bathroom, kitchen, and apartment layout. I explained details about the building and equipment, and let the model help me interpret what answers to select in the official form. In one moment that made me laugh, ChatGPT confidently told me that yes, my towel radiator counts as a “Komfortausstattung.”

Step 2: Comparing AI Estimates with the Official Tool

After submitting the form on the city’s website, I got a base rent estimation for my area.

Then I asked ChatGPT to calculate the same, just based on our prior conversation. To my surprise, the results were almost identical—within a few euros. This gave me a lot of confidence that the AI had helped me fill out the form correctly.

Step 3: Analyzing My Rent and the Previous Tenant’s

Armed with that info, I compared the suggested base rent with the rent I currently pay. I even pulled out numbers from the previous tenant’s contract (a trick I had read about earlier). After doing some math with ChatGPT, it looked like I might be entitled to request a reduction of about 100 EUR per month.

Step 4: Strategic Advice on What to Do Next

At this point, things get delicate. Asking for a rent reduction isn’t a casual thing—it can damage your relationship with your landlord. So I asked ChatGPT again:

What’s the best way to approach this?

It suggested several things:

  • Be diplomatic in the initial conversation.
  • Gather all evidence neatly in writing.
  • Consider joining a tenant association (Mietverein) to get legal support.

Funny enough, that was already my plan for the future—but ChatGPT even helped me compare the best Mietvereine in Munich and recommended one with a good balance of cost and service.

Still In Progress…

The final outcome? To be continued.

But even if I don’t end up getting the 100 EUR reduction, I’ve already learned a lot. AI didn’t just save me hours of frustration—it made a super bureaucratic process much more accessible.

Who knows—maybe AI will pay my rent next time. 😉

TL;DR: Using ChatGPT and a couple of photos, I was able to understand and apply Munich’s Mietspiegel system, estimate my fair rent, and plan how to approach a possible rent reduction. The process is still in progress—but already proving to be valuable.

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