Before you buy: check sun, heat, noise
A viewing shows one hour. Azima turns the floor plan from the listing into a 3D room and runs it against the city’s official data — for 21 December as well as 21 June.
PDF report €9.50 — a twentieth of one expert hour (€185–250) · Free preview: every page, hours for one room on one day · no account · see a sample (PDF)
What you get for €9.50
A PDF for this one flat: your floor plan as a 3D room, the hours of direct sun per room on 21 March, June and December — plus summer heat, noise and information from 16 official sources. Not an expert opinion. see a sample (PDF)
Buying a flat in Vienna: what to check?
Three things: the flat, the building, and what only shows over time. The flat you check on site — with the compass on your phone, a window on tilt and a look behind the wardrobes. The building is in the property manager’s documents.
Over time you learn how the light falls on 21 December, how hot July gets, how loud the facade is across the year and what may be built opposite. Where the list says “Azima”, the report calculates this before you buy. A notary or lawyer checks the purchase contract and the land register; this list does not replace that.
Checklist for the viewing
- View twice if you can, in the morning and late in the afternoon — one appointment shows the light at that one hour only.Azima · sun per room in March, June and December
- Take the compass on your phone and note which way the living-room and bedroom windows face.
- Look out of every window at the building opposite: how tall it is and how narrow the lane or courtyard in between.Azima · measured height of the neighbouring buildings
- Tilt the windows to the street and to the courtyard and listen for a minute — trams, deliveries, voices in the courtyard.Azima · street noise from the noise map, aircraft noise
- In an attic flat, ask about insulation and external sun shading — and how warm it got up there last summer.Azima · summer heat at the address, modelled
- Look behind wardrobes, in the window reveals and in the cellar compartment for dark stains and flaking plaster; a single freshly painted patch is worth a question.
- The heating demand (HWB) from the energy certificate belongs in the listing and tells you how much heat the building needs in winter — not how warm it gets in summer.
- Ask how the flat is heated (gas boiler in the flat, district heating or heat pump), whether the building plans to switch and what the monthly charges are.
- Ask the agent or seller for the property manager’s forecast (Vorausschau), the balance of the reserve fund and the minutes of the last owners’ meetings: they show whether roof, facade, lift or pipes are due.
- Walk through the staircase, the cellar and the courtyard: these parts belong to all owners, and all owners pay for their repair.
- The city’s zoning and development plan (Flächenwidmungs- und Bebauungsplan) shows how tall the building opposite may be — the building class says more about your future view than the house that stands there today.Azima · zoning and building class
What a viewing does not show
Seven questions a November afternoon leaves open — and what the report answers.
Hours of direct sun per room on 21 December, June and March — with the gaps the houses opposite cut into the day.
The window direction plus the measured height of the facade opposite. A south window facing a 22-metre wall is not a south window.
A modelled summer-heat level for the address, from building form, green, street trees, water and elevation — never a fake temperature.
Street noise from the official noise map at the address, and aircraft noise from its own series of overflights.
Zoning and building class from the city’s plan — the legal maximum height, not today’s view.
Flood, heavy rain, contaminated sites, radon, earthquakes and geology — each with the source named.
Sun load and plant light on the floor plan: where the desk stays cool, where the lemon tree thrives.
What it costs — measured against what is at stake
Land transfer tax (3.5 %) and land registry fee (1.1 %) alone come to €23,000 on a €500,000 flat. The report costs €9.50 and answers the question that cannot be changed afterwards: what this flat is like in December, in July and at six in the morning.
Ask the agent for it
You can buy the report yourself — or ask the agent for it. An agent who knows the flat has it within a few minutes. One sentence is enough:
Is there an Azima report for this flat? I would like to see the hours of sun per room in December, the summer heat and the noise at the facade.
A measured disadvantage is never removed — not even when the agent pays. That is exactly why the question is fair.
How you get the report
Enter the address. In Azima, free: the house, its neighbours from official heights, the path of the sun, the hours per floor.
Paste the floor plan. Copy it from the listing. Azima reads rooms and windows in your browser — the file never leaves it.
Buy the report. Free preview: every page, hours for one room on one day. The buy button opens Paddle’s checkout; the PDF is created on your device, every page with a verification link.
Card details only with Paddle (PCI DSS certified) · No account · Invoice by e-mail · Money back if the report cannot be created · Floor plan stays in your browser · Official City of Vienna data
Questions about buying? One line to [email protected] — ideally with the invoice number from Paddle’s e-mail.
The report PDF comes in English; the neighbourhood portraits inside are written in German.
Check an address — free →The Azima report is a PDF for one Vienna flat, meant for the time between the viewing and the purchase contract. It gives, per room, the hours of direct sun on 21 March, June and December, calculated from the floor plan, the window direction and the officially measured heights of the neighbouring buildings; plus summer heat (modelled), street noise from the noise map, aircraft noise from its own measurement series and information from 16 official sources such as zoning, flood, heavy rain, contaminated sites and radon. It costs €9.50 once including VAT, without an account; the light check before it is free. A measured disadvantage is never removed. The report is not an expert opinion.
Frequently asked
What does the report cost?
€9.50 once, including VAT, for one flat (one address, one floor). The light check before it — house, path of the sun, hours per floor — is free. Free preview: every page, hours for one room on one day.
Is the report an expert opinion?
No. Azima is software that calculates a model from open data. It answers the questions before an expert opinion — is the viewing worth it, does “bright” hold in December. A certificate of insolation under ÖNORM is a different, signed document.
Do I need the floor plan?
For hours per room, yes — copy it from the listing. Without it Azima shows the hours per floor and uses an example plan that is clearly marked as an assumption.
Can the seller or agent remove a disadvantage?
No. A measured disadvantage is never removed, only explained better — aircraft noise, shading, summer heat stay in the report, whoever pays for it.
Does it also help when renting?
Yes. The questions are the same; only the contract is shorter.
Do I need an account?
No. After buying, Azima shows your Azima key — twelve characters. It is your login and stays on this device; save it straight away by copying it or e-mailing it to yourself. With it you open the purchase on another device. Lost it? On viennalivingmap.com/en/your-purchase/ you get it back with your purchase e-mail and the invoice number from Paddle.
Can I compare two flats?
Yes. After buying a report, the comparison puts two properties side by side on one sheet.
What about a refund?
If creating the report stops before it is complete, you get the full price back. Before buying you expressly request that work begins straight away, and you confirm that you lose your right of withdrawal once the report has been fully created. “Withdraw from contract” is linked in the footer of every page.
All prices · The free location report · For agents: Premium · Terms and refunds · Your purchase: key, PDF, invoice
Sources: City of Vienna Open Data (roof model LOD2.1, zoning, noise map 2022 and others, CC BY 4.0) · sun position calculated astronomically · land transfer tax: GrEStG section 7 · registry fee: Court Fees Act TP 9.
Check an address — free →