 Rajesh Shankar | Dear All,
I want to inform you and possibly give some tricks for buying a flat in Germany. I recently purchased a flat and I want to share some useful Information
First Step!! Make a decision if you want the buy the same property where you currently live. I have a very good flat but i simply hesitated to ask my houseowner if he would sell that and i ended up searching with Immobilien firms..
Then go to bank.. I think it is very easy with banks nowadays. Sparkasse gave me a loan for 105% as i had no Eigenkapital and the interest was 3.9% for all 15 years.
After so many offers, we decided to buy a flat and i signed up with the immobilien firm and they fixed up a Notar termin. I went to the bank and gave all the documents (normally, a plan of the apartment with some pictures in it and description of the rooms with exact size). The bank gives up a guarantee which i need to show it to the notar, when i sign the flat. For the flat what we intend to buy, there was some renovation work that need to be done and the bank accepted even to pay that amount(strange!!). The flat was without provision (that means there is some trouble or that flat is not been sold for a long time). Normally you would expect a provision of 4 to 5 % of the total cost. I bargained a bit and reduced the price up to 5,000€ but later i realized that I had to reduce more than 10,000€ but the new turn in my case was that my house owner decided to sell his house so i suddenly made up my mind to buy the same house where we live in as it is a a new flat, it has a big kitchen and i have all my furniture already in that flat. I immediately cancelled my old flat ( i had to pay 300€ for cancellation) but it was worth to do that but the immobilien firm tried to convince me telling bla bla bla!!!! I shut my ears and kept the phone down..
Then the bank had to cancel my Darlehens vertrag and make a new one for the new flat. The price was identical the difference in age between the 2 flats were 22 years ( so obviously! the immobilien company was cheating me).
Now the important steps for you all to note down before you buy a flat or house.
-Ask the neighbors, about the condition of the flat and ask how long the flat is empty!!. If it empty for several years that means no one wants to buy that.
- Ask about the Rucklage kosten( The money which each property owner needs to invest in case the building needs a repair)
- check for any renovation work.( it is very expensive to renovate a toilet or a kitchen)
- if you buy through a immobilien, bargain much. They might sell you at a very high price
- Check all windows , doors and entrance( They are very expensive to repair)
- Check if you the garage is included with the price of the flat
- -check if the building will do any serious work in the near future( painting or new heating system)
- be sure with your Rucklage kosten( as a owner of the flat, you will not pay Nebenkosten, you will pay Haus geld. It is obviously more than the NB. You need to pay for the maintenance company a specific sum per month, they will take this amount, if they repair some thing in the building, you also need to pay insurance, and lot of other minor stuff)
- I payed 120 neben kosten before, now, I pay 225€ so It is a considerable sum
After all these formalities, if you are very satisfied, then show your interest to buy but again don’t be desperate because the Immobilien company are always looking for desperate customers..
Now, When you have all documents for your flat, you look for a Notar (You can also ask the immobilien company or your house owner). The notar will give you a draft contract and if you agree, then he will fix a date. Just check 100 times with your names and some tricky issue like condition of flat.. You can hire a translator ( it is worth to spend 300€). The bank will also go check all documents and they will give a confirmation that you will be given a credit. You need to take this paper for the Notar termin. The notar will do all work with a fee( It is 1.5% of your total apartment cost). You normally need a Grundschuld for the bank. This can also be applied in the Notar. This costs around 300€ for 100,000€ . The notar will read the contract in front of the house owner and it is his duty to make you understand all the formalities and you are allowed to hire a translator on this occasion. When you seem to understand all, he will allow you to sign the document. Then you need to wait for 3-4 weeks, till all documents are ready and then the bank has 10 days time to pay. The bank will do this immediately. Then the house owner will call all tell the notar that he has received the payment and from that day you are the owner of this flat.
Then automatically you get so many bills from different amts( so don’t be panicked :-)
Typical costs
Grund buch amt : 400-600€
Grund schuld: 300€
Justicekasse: 300
Notar: 1.5%
Grundwerbstuer: 3.5%
When you have paid all these bills, your flat will be registered in to the Grund Buch of your city and then you legally start to reside.
Normally, the party doesn’t end here; you will need now to apply for your Eigenheimzulage and Baukindergeld. But it is very simple. just 2 sheets to complete and then please don’t forget to add all your bills for Eigenheimzulage. .
If you buy a flat for 100,000€, you will normally get 1000 per year but you can add all your bills paid for notar and Grundwerbstuer, renovation and increase it so that you get every year more money.
There are many ways for getting a loan. I managed to get without a eigenkapitel, but it is very important that you have atleast 10% to buy. Because Sparkasse is the only bank which could give you more than 100%. I got a loan of 105% to add all the extra costs. There are 2 types of credits.
-hypotheken
-bausspar vertrag
If I had time , I could have explained, but in brief, I took the Bausparvertrag, where I just pay in to 2 accounts, one account is just my interest account and one account I pay the same rate for saving. After 8 years, the bank will take the saving account and en cash it in to your main account( it is a complex story!! Better ask your financial consultant)
Beware, the bank will charge you bearbeitungs gebuhr and sometimes it is expensive. I paid 1000€ .
If you go for building your own house, it is a good option but maintenance is much more expensive but I also made a try but my salary is not that good to buy a house..
The most critical things when you get a credit. You need to have a stable job and then NE
I did all on my own so I think it is pretty easy for all without any Makler!! You will save more than 5000€if you hire a immobilien so please invest some time to read before you buy
Happy buying!!!
Regards
Rajesh |
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