The 2% is worth it. It's an expensive, but essential step in Germany. Because there isn't a default real estate purchase contract, so you need to trust that y

The 2% is worth it. It's an expensive, but essential step in Germany. Because there isn't a default real estate purchase contract, so you need to trust that you'll receive the property. It's like paying a lawyer to mediate an expensive purchase, and they carry some legal risks with it. They also do the bureaucracy with the government to add your name to the Grundbuch (it's a book from the government about who owns what % of a property), and also clean up the previous debts that it had (they are written there).