Buying property in Germany
Discussion
I currently live in the UK, but I am looking to buy a house in Germany. How difficult a task would this be? I don't speak German, but I'll be paying in cash so that hopefully gets most of the mortgage & credit problems out of the way.
Would German estate agents & solicitors be happy working in English, and are there any other technicalities I should watch out for? I’m just at the beginning of my research, so I still need to find out what the equivalent of council tax is, etc.
Would German estate agents & solicitors be happy working in English, and are there any other technicalities I should watch out for? I’m just at the beginning of my research, so I still need to find out what the equivalent of council tax is, etc.
No direct problem for a non-resident to buy property but you have to do the following
1) all contracts have to be notarised by the state notary public, both parties have to be present (language german! and fees!!)
2) payment can only be made through the local tax-office, you will then have to pay the tax and stamp duty equivalent. (Note you will have to pay german tax on your rent income whether resident or not. this can then be balanced against your GB income tax under the dual taxation system.)
3) when this is paid you'll get confirmation of the payment and then
4) you'll get confirmation that you've been entered onto the owners rolls (Kataster Amt)
5) any debts, leins, mortgages etc are also noted on the rolls, and you have to go to the state notary to get these removed when you've paid them off (again you'll have to pay for that)
6) the only yearly payments are the land duty which costs us only around €50 p.a.
7) There are various compulsary insurances, and waste disposal charges, dependant on the amount of occupants for which the owner is responsible (can be recovered from renters)
8) renting out property can have a lot of problems as the renters are virtually impossible to get rid of if they don't want to move. If the renters are on social the state may well pay for their rent, but beware they can also force you to rent to them further and effectively take possesion of your property and pay you only what they (social services) think you should get as rent. You will still be responsible for all repairs etc... this is perhaps the biggest danger, hwoever it rarely happens...
The easiest way to get rid of renters is serve them notice of self occupancy. You'd have to have an Aufenthalsterlaubnis (permission to live in Germany) to be able to serve them this notice.
I'd not buy property here without 1, a tax accountant here and 2, a lawyer here.
Hope this helps
1) all contracts have to be notarised by the state notary public, both parties have to be present (language german! and fees!!)
2) payment can only be made through the local tax-office, you will then have to pay the tax and stamp duty equivalent. (Note you will have to pay german tax on your rent income whether resident or not. this can then be balanced against your GB income tax under the dual taxation system.)
3) when this is paid you'll get confirmation of the payment and then
4) you'll get confirmation that you've been entered onto the owners rolls (Kataster Amt)
5) any debts, leins, mortgages etc are also noted on the rolls, and you have to go to the state notary to get these removed when you've paid them off (again you'll have to pay for that)
6) the only yearly payments are the land duty which costs us only around €50 p.a.
7) There are various compulsary insurances, and waste disposal charges, dependant on the amount of occupants for which the owner is responsible (can be recovered from renters)
8) renting out property can have a lot of problems as the renters are virtually impossible to get rid of if they don't want to move. If the renters are on social the state may well pay for their rent, but beware they can also force you to rent to them further and effectively take possesion of your property and pay you only what they (social services) think you should get as rent. You will still be responsible for all repairs etc... this is perhaps the biggest danger, hwoever it rarely happens...
The easiest way to get rid of renters is serve them notice of self occupancy. You'd have to have an Aufenthalsterlaubnis (permission to live in Germany) to be able to serve them this notice.
I'd not buy property here without 1, a tax accountant here and 2, a lawyer here.
Hope this helps
MrRatchet said:
Ironically enough, Adenau, or within about 30 minutes of it.
Can you help?
Sure thing, I know the local Notary who is based in Adenau so can point you in his direction, and I also know the local estate agent http://www.immobilien-skiba.de/Can you help?
Feel free to drop me a PM when you have any questions.
Thanks mate, theres a house on there thats exactly what I'm after.
The bureaucracy challenges is made even more difficult with the language barrier. What I need is a friendly, English speaking estate agent / soilictor who can do all the leg work for me!!
Back to google for the time being.
The bureaucracy challenges is made even more difficult with the language barrier. What I need is a friendly, English speaking estate agent / soilictor who can do all the leg work for me!!
Back to google for the time being.
hi i have a couple of houses in the efel near bitburg, i had no problems to buy in Germany ,there is a website to buy houses in the area where old people have given them to the state , if you get a good bank manager you wont want to spend your monies ,i got a 2%mortgage 9 years ago and you borrow on that mortgage at that rate all the time you have a mortgage ,my fread just bought a detached two bed house for 20,000 euros
Property in Germany is a bit different to the UK as far as I understand.
- Only around 50% of German inhabitants live in their own property
- Probably mostly because tenancy law is tenant friendly
- and renting is seen normal in society; ie. kids move out when they study and start to rent at the age of 21 or so.
- changing places is quite common, especially between the ages 20 to 30 when in education or start of career. Many students have lived in Hamburg/Berlin/Köln/etc. for some years each before they settle as professionals. Even then moving for a job is common.
- Since the housing market is in the hands of only a smaller part of society, it's less volatile than say Spain or UK; trensfers are thus less often
- Property in the country side rather loses value than gains (east more than west), but all in 1-digit %ages pa.
- Property in cities, especially in the best areas, gains value. Again in in 1-digit %ages
- House prices highly depend on expected tenancy revenue (guideline: between 5x annual revenue (lesser industrialised countryside) and 20x annual revenue (good adresses in larger cities))
- As of today, mortgage interests are low, so many people can affor to bus; however, only few people are prepared to sell. Possibly because they wouldn't know a better place to tie their wealth in during €-uncertainty.
- Chances for a default on mortgages are low, because usually, if you get a mortgage to buy, banks tend to give mortgages only up to 60% of the property value. You should contribute the rest. This is so, when house prices may fall, the bank have their investment protected, as they a being served first in case of default.
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