Handing in Your Notice (on a flat)- the Kündigung

My first flat as a young professional in Germany was shared with another girl who was studying law. It was a conscious decision – I wanted to live with a German to improve my German and coming straight from university, I was used to living in shared accommodation. I knew I had to move out when over the course of several weeks, the buzzer started ringing at all hours of the day and night. I heard voices; lots of different male voices, giggling. One evening I got home around 5pm, tired after a hard day’s work. All I wanted was a cup of tea and to watch some TV in peace. I turn the key and shut the door behind me. I see a pair of shoes; male shoes.  A pair of trousers.  A shirt. I get to the entrance of my room and I find underwear that I have to literally climb over in order to get into my room. The trail continues all the way to her bedroom. Thank goodness they weren’t in mine, I suppose.

So I handed in my notice or “Kündigung”. In Germany, you have to give 3 months’ notice to your landlord that you want to move out and do so by sending an official letter.  Otherwise you are still liable to pay the rent or find someone else to move in after you – a so-called “Nachmieter.” I wrote the letter, got a colleague to check my German and posted it using good old Deutsche Post. I then moved out and the landlady (lawyer student’s mother) verbally promised to transfer my deposit to my bank account.

Two months later I received a threatening letter with lots of capital letters, exclamation marks and bold print from said landlady stating that I still owed her rent, money for bills, etc. because I hadn’t moved out the flat. Help! I am only 21 and this is my first really serious confrontation in German, in Germany and I know nothing about the law here or my legal rights. Little did I know then that it would not be my last …

I was advised to go to the “Mieterverein” – a tenants’ protection union and learned that problems with landlords are a common occurrence in Germany. They will literally try anything on given half a chance.  Surely there was no way she could get away with this though? She was wrong – I was right! Is there no justice in Germany? Put bluntly; no. Resistance is futile. I was essentially guilty until proven innocent.  

The “Mieterverein” were very friendly and very sympathetic and once I paid my yearly contribution of around 70 Euros, they wrote a few letters on my behalf. This probably saved me from a court battle (I had no legal insurance anyway) and meant that I ended up “only” losing my deposit and not having to pay her any additional money.

Why did I lose? Well, I learned that my beloved Deutsche Post provides not just one, but three different registered post services:

 “Rückschein”: someone has to sign on receipt – this can be your neighbour, literally anyone, who picks up the letter on your behalf

“Eigenhändig”: the letter is only delivered to the addressee, who then also has to sign for it

“Einschreiben Einwurf”: nobody has to sign – it is simply documented that the letter was delivered to the addressee’s letter box

Apparently, the only option that would have stood up in a court of law in my case was registered post “Eigenhändig”. Otherwise I could say what I like; I had no proof I had actually handed in my notice.

Selling

Selling our flat in Germany has been a painless process. Maybe we are meant to leave? We signed up to an agent, who we paid 2,38% of the total price of the flat in fees. She then took care of the whole process – advertising, showing people around, and also joined us at the “Notar” (notary) to sign the contract. Note that you have to pay the agent's fees immediately after sale - so, in our case, even 3 months before you receive the money from your buyer - be sure to have the cash! 

We made an extremely quick sale – the first couple that viewed the property declared their intention to buy within a week of it being on the market at the full asking price. This surprised both of us.  Before signing up to this agent we were actually told by another agent that there was no way we would get our asking price; our property was after all “second hand” and he told us to sell it for a considerable amount less. Also, given our smoking neighbours  on one side and our party animal loud-music-playing student neighbours on the other, there was always a concern that one or the other or, perish the thought, both, would be happening at exactly the same moment potential buyers arrived to view the flat. (Oh, and incidentally, the smoking scenario did. Needless to say that couple did not buy the flat.)

Historically, the Germans are a nation of renters. They prefer to rent accommodation rather than buy. Once they decide to buy, unless of course they have unlimited financial means, they usually stay in the property for a long time and there isn’t the same buy-sell-upgrade mentality like in the UK. More often than not, Germans will save and around their late 40s, early 50s decide to buy a plot of land and build a family home. The difference in attitude reflects the difference in housing markets – in  Germany over the last 10 years have risen a mere 2-3%. In fact, since the 1990s housing prices have actually fallen. Buying a flat is also not that easy to finance. Most banks require a deposit of around 20% and proof of earnings over several years before they will even consider giving you a mortgage. You are also highly taxed for buying a flat. The “Grunderwerbsteuer” (property transfer tax) is roughly 3,5% and you pay annual tax on your property.

These times are now changing and due to low interest rates, higher rental prices, and particularly in Baden Württemberg, more demand than supply on rental accommodation, more Germans are opting to buy at a younger age. The good news is that we were very lucky and able to take advantage of this bubble. In our case, the buyer is 25 years old and his father is paying for the flat outright. The bad news is, this means moving out by December and finding rental accommodation.  At least it gives me something to write about!