Why Buy Property in Germany?
Germany is the richest country in Europe, an export powerhouse, offering the best standard of living, with highly quality jobs. To live in Germany and to buy property in Germany is a privilege that is not available to everyone.
Germany has been a very peaceful, stable and safe country since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1986. Germany is a racially diverse country with immigrants from Turkey and elsewhere, and we don’t find much racism here.
The cities in Germany are very modern, with world class infrastructure. It is possible to live very comfortably here. What is surprising is the vast stretches of greenery in Germany, just beyond the cities. There are several wonderful beaches, hills, mountains and lakes. You don’t expect to see so much natural scenery in such a urban country.
Germany also has some of the most charming little towns and villages in Europe, which offer a great escape from the traffic of the cities. Many of these places were badly hit during the World War 2, but have been completely transformed since.
The best cities to live in Germany are Berlin, Frankfurt and Munich. These cities boast a rich nightlife, are great for shopping and are very much futuristic and modern, with great restaurants, cafes and so on.
Buying Property in Germany – What Should You Expect?
Surprisingly few people in Germany own a house of their own. Most locals here tend to postpone property purchase until they are well into their middle age. So, it actually makes sense to buy property here as property prices are depressed as people would rather live on rent than buy homes of their own.
But it is not possible to speculate on a property because the government strictly taxes any property sale. So any profits earned on a property sale are likely to be taken away by the German government. Still, with property prices being so low, it really makes sense to buy a house in Germany if you’re going to be living there for at least a few years.
Buying Property in Germany – The Details
It’s not easy to look for a property on your own in Germany as newspaper ads don’t provide the addresses or contact numbers of property owners. You only get the contact number of the real estate agents hired by them.
It makes sense to hire multiple real estate agents in Germany and not to have an exclusivity contract with any of them. Also, it is important to negotiate hard when it comes to the commission of real estate agents and make the case that it should be the property seller who should be offering the commission – not you.
There is no rule as such as to who should pay the real estate agent his commission, but it makes sense to deal with agents whose commission will be paid by sellers, not by the buyer. Even if you’re to pay the commission yourself, it shouldn’t be more than 3% of the price of the property.
Cost of Buying Property in Germany
Once the real estate commission has been taken care of, there are additional costs that you will be expected to pay, which may amount to 10% of the property price. These costs include the property transfer tax, the notary fee and minor administrative costs. The property transfer tax will be between 3.5 – 6 percent of the purchase price and is paid by the buyer. The greater the cost of the property, higher will be the property transfer tax that is charged. The notary fee will be around 1.5 to 2 percent of the property price.
DNDLAW Solicitors
Donnelly Neary & Donnelly offer a full range of legal services including Conveyancing Tax Commercial Criminal Family Law Divorce Wills Probate Immigration Notary Public from offices in Newry Castlewellan Dublin Portadown serving all of County Down Armagh and Belfast
For more information visit our offices or telephone 028 30264611
Our website is www.dndlaw.com & www.notaryni.co.uk
Offices at
1 Downshire Road Newry County Down BT34 1ED
21 Deans Court Christchurch Dublin 8
31 Main Street Castlewellan County Down
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