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Published: July 27th 2006
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The view from our window
This was taken in the fall, about a month after we moved in. Looking for home We owned our house in the US. It was a cute little red house with a barn/garage out back. It was around 1300 square feet, and was just perfect for us. It had two living rooms (one of which we used as an office) and three little bedrooms. It was built in the 1950s and had appliances to match. It was home. When we decided to move to Germany, Levent's employer provided us with a relocation agent to help us out. We had no idea how necessary that was. Without knowing German and without understanding the - I must be honest, very strange- system here, we would likely be living in a hotel.
Limited selection There is not a whole lot for rent here in Munich. Pretty much anywhere in the States, you can go to an apartment complex and speak with the office management and get yourself an apartment. I know there are a few exceptions, like New York, but for the vast majority of the country, this is the case. The apartments are rarely of a good quality, as most people purchase their living quarters (purchased apartments, called "condos" in the States, are of a
better quality, usually). Rental apartments are for students, temporary workers, and people who can't afford houses yet (even poor people in the States often eventually purchase their own trailer or house). Not in Germany. Apparently, at least 60 percent of Germans live in rented living quarters. One friend, who is American but married to a German, explained to me that a lot of Germans have the mentality that one should not owe money to anyone - including a bank, so the idea of mortgages is not one that is wholeheartedly embraced. Either you buy your place outright or you rent. The people who either have money to buy apartments, or those who don't mind owing money to the bank must be making out very well, because they are renting their places out to the rest of Germany!
So, in part because everyone here rents, and in part because in cities everyone wants to be near the center, apartments in desirable locations are few and far between. They are usually owned by individuals, and advertised in the newspaper's huge "for rent" section. Before coming to Germany, we told our relocation agent (Ulrike), who was wonderfully helpful, what we were looking
The park
This park is literally a 3-minute walk from our apartment for - two to three bedrooms, a balcony, ideally a little garden, two bathrooms, the price range...- and expected that in the week we had to look at apartments, we'd spend every day viewing lots of places and get to choose at the end before we left. I must admit that we were both very stressed when we found out that the relocation company was only being paid to show us five apartments. Five apartments! We didn't even know which part of town we wanted to live in, how could we choose after only seeing five?!! What we didn't realize was that we would be lucky if we got to see any - we had to let Ulrike know that we were flexible in order to see any, as the things we wanted were essentially impossible in our price range (even unlikely outside of our price range)
After a great reduction in needs - ok, we can do without the extra bathroom and garden and the bedrooms - we got to look at
three apartments. Fortunately, very dear, close family friends helped us identify which part of town we wanted to live in (and even arranged viewings of two apartments that were for rent), so at least they were all in the right area. Of the three apartments we got to see with Ulrike, one was on the fifth floor with no elevator (remember, I was pregnant). It was in a great part of town, but was very old and felt a little cramped. The second one, also in a nice area, had built-in cabinets (unusual here - more on that later) and a cute little kitchen, but felt a little cramped - and the couple moving out were moving out because they were having a baby, so it probably wasn't the right place for us. The third place, which wasn't even officially listed yet, was spacious and bright, and had a built-in kitchen. We really wanted that apartment.
Walls, ceiling, floor A built-in kitchen, you ask? What do you mean by that? What I mean is that in Germany, apartments are... well, rather bare. They have walls, floors, ceilings, windows, and doors. They have toilets and sinks and showers in the bathrooms. They are lacking some pretty important things, though. They do not necessarily have kitchen cabinets or appliances. Oh, and did I mention that they do not have light fixtures... or LIGHT SWITCHES??!!! And forget about closets!! Closets apparently do not exist in Germany. I apologize here to all my German friends who might be reading this, as it is not your fault I know, you did not create these standards, but the concept to me can be described by no word other than STUPID. So you move to a new place, and you have to run out and buy light fixtures and light switches! And kitchen cabinets? And there is no place to put anything away because there are no closets. I mean, who thought up this idea? It is great for people who own the place and want to rent it out, but ... oh, I get it. The owners are in control because everyone wants their apartments. The apartments are so desirable that they don't even have to have a kitchen or light switches to be rented.
We couldn't have been luckier in this regard. The folks that were moving out of the apartment were being transferred to Japan, where they would not need to bring their light switches or armoires (German solution for the no-closet situation), which they had bought only 9 months previously at IKEA. They weren't going to just leave this stuff behind, but we got their e-mail address, and made agreements over the internet to purchase their lights, light switches, and armoires. So, at the very least, we had light. And, the apartment came with a built-in kitchen and washing machine, so we wouldn't have to arrive in Germany with me 8 months pregnant and have to figure out how and where to get kitchen cabinets and appliances. Classifieds postings on the expat websites are illustrative of this. "Moving back to England. For sale: oven, refrigerator, light switches, chandelier, kitchen sink." Amazingly, there are thousands of foreigners here who all live in apartments, in spite of this anti-renter system.
Make lots of money without working! You know those ads you see and you know they are too good to be true? Not in Germany. If you want to make lots of money without working, be a real estate agent here. All you have to do is list the place. The real estate agent who "showed" us this apartment earned around 2000 Euros (more than 2000 dollars) for: meeting us at the apartment with Ulrike, and opening the door. Period. She didn't explain anything. Why bother? It is a nice apartment in a great area, somebody will want it, no need to "sell" it. For goodness sake, you don't even need to speak German for that job!
Home Sweet Home So there you have it. After many trips to Ikea, the arrival of the movers, and some long nights setting things up, this apartment has become home. We've got great views of trees, we're a short walk to the park, and around the corner from the grocery store. And when we move on, we'll have a box full of light switches!
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Julia
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Sounds familiar...
I now feel lucky that my apartment came with light switchs and appliances, but a lot of what you said about finding an apartment is so much like it is in NYC. You basically have to show up with a wad of cash to guarentee that when you find a half-decent place (with maybe 1 closet) that you will get it before the next person comes along in 5 minutes.