American reacts to Buying a House in Germany vs USA

[@matthiasloffler7501]

In Germany, we don't consider "rebuilding a house" after a storm. We do this after messing with the Royal Air Force, but not just after bad weather.

[@guzziwheeler]

🤣🤣👍

[@MrThomashorst]

😂😂😂

[@derradfahrer5029]

😆😄😅

[@cnikkor]

The USAF probably did more damage to the German real estate then the RAF (thinking about Dresden, Leipzig etc.)

[@tobyk.4911]

... except when the bad weather is so bad that the affected area looks like a war zone afterwards - do you remember what has happened to parts of the Ahr valley (in western Germany) two years ago? Apparently even German brick houses can disappear under extreme circumstances.

[@kdknet6021]

We Germans would only buy or build a house if we intent to stay at that place. If you plan to change your job to a different location than you would rent

[@JeroenJA]

so, really changing towns is quite common in Germany? Belgium here... if me home town wasn't way to expensive to buy a home in, i would have bought there... instead i'm 40 km away in a smaller town, since here i could buy home i could see myself living in, with the maximun morgage i could get.. and saving for a home does NOT work ... homes tend to cost 10.000 more each year, if you managed to save 10.000€ .. that still means the same amounth to lend, cause you buy a year later... real crazy, average home in flanders doubled in price between 2002 and 2012 .. and even during euro crisis, prices did NOT drop, as they did in the netherlands, they just.. barely rose for a couple of years.. so to me: there does not seem to have been a single year in the past, even 50 years, were homeowners were NOT better of financially then renters.; even in the worst market , they only were not really a lot better of for a year or 2, that's all..

[@tihomirrasperic]

@@JeroenJA Belgium is 200 x 150 km absolutely nothing is far

[@CoL_Drake]

there is no "far away" in small belgium to be fair xD @@JeroenJA

[@franconianbike]

@@CoL_DrakeAnd it's flat .... and the Autobahns are lit in yellow light.

[@pe.bo.5038]

@@tihomirrasperic Yeah!Stupidity is pretty concentrated there!-The clever ones are across the border in the Netherlands!

[@mel_ooo]

buying a house in germany is definitely a huge investment, it's expensive and makes you less flexible if you wanted to move again. so owning a home is generally seen as settling down somewhere with the intent of staying there indefinitely

[@gameboy-nq7je]

And if you get a house through inheritance or something similar all the paperwork before you can sell it takes years to complete anyways

[@christinehorsley]

No it doesn’t ! Unless the heritage is disputed. On the other hand, the buyer doesn’t have to go through a “title search” because each property is listed in the property rolls of the town resp county or region, either the current owner(s) listed as well as any liens on the property, like security for bank loans.

[@karlineschlenkerbein131]

Germany is known as the "tornado alley" of Europe, because there actually are tornados (30-60per year). Never heard of a house, that was blown away, mostly there are damages to the roofs.

[@derradfahrer5029]

To be fair, most Tornados are F3s and lower in Germany, I believe the last F4 was in Pforzheim back in 1968. In contrast, the US had three F4s this year alone, the last F5 was in 2013, and there where 6 F5s recorded in 2011.

[@edelzocker8169]

​@@derradfahrer5029Pforzheim? Der riss ganze Hauswände mit...

[@sascha5724]

@@derradfahrer5029 and waht is also Funny and intressting in Germany and Europe we dont recognise the Fujita Scale (F1-F5) since the Damage Models are Based on the way the US Builds House so it cant be used here for categorising Tornados

[@madkuya9862]

@@derradfahrer5029 Thanks for confirming that Americans dont build to hold up against bad weather.

[@jensschroder8214]

In Europe there are two ring binders and four ring binders. The paper size is A4. This size is brilliant, the A4 folded once becomes A5. Two A4s next to each other makes A3.

[@Anson_AKB]

that system of halving sheets to create the next higher A number and doubling to get the next lower A number can be repeated as often as you want, with landing A0 at exactly an area of one square meter. thus 16 A4 sheets (each roughly the size of american legal or letter formats) add up to exactly 1m² you will also see the usefulness of this system when making photocopies with any zoom that fit exactly instead of getting additional borders or cropping the paper. this is also useful when folding sheets once or twice to fit them in envelopes, and we have similar B and C systems for envelopes to match the A sheets (one is a little bigger than the sheets, the other is yet another slightly different size to allow envelopes to be put in the other envelopes (eg for prepared "return envelopes" in mail) the 2-ring binders are easier to handle than 3-ring binders (i have one of them and hurt myself often) although paper is kept more stable in the 3-ring binder. but if that is your concern, there are also 4-ring binders which allow to have additional holes at the same distances as the usual 2 holes so that you end up with 4-hole binders where you can easily use a 2-hole puncher to do all 4 holes.

[@Thomas_G.]

and off course those are standardized: ISO 838 "Holes for general filing purposes" and ISO 216 "Writing paper and certain classes of printed matter - Trimmed sizes - A and B series" (formerly known as DIN 476)

[@AHVENAN]

Most americans Im pretty sure have never heard of A4, A3 etc

[@mrwatermelo50]

There are binders with 3 in Germany and let me tell you they are HELLA ENOYING so are 4 cause NO teacher is doing 4 so you need to do that yourself , 2 is all you need

[@jensschroder8214]

French revolutionaries and Germans have been looking for a long time for a paper format that can be cut in half to create the next size. A1 is half the size of A0. A2 is half the size of A1... it goes on and on. The American formats such as Letter are chosen purely arbitrarily.

[@Rafaela_S.]

The Speculation Tax on houses is mostly so people don't go an buy houses just for reselling them later on, since we want people to buy houses for living in them. If you buy a house for 250k and sell it in a span of the next 10 years for 350k, you need to pay taxes on your 100k profit, most likely around 30%. Which reduces speculations with houses and keeps the prices lower than without this tax.

[@JeroenJA]

but.. really 30% on the value your house sold for? or just 30% on the surplus value.. witch seems more logical, since speculation is on gaining to much on a short run ... how does this German tax work??

[@modtec1209]

hehe "lower"

[@JPG.01]

It doesn't though housing prices have exploded over the past 10 years due to moronic monetary policy by the european central bank. And there is absolutely no houseflipping in germany because of that tax. Nobody buys a house cheap, then renovates to increase it's value to then resell it. Because this "speculation tax" prevents profits on that. It basically prevents an entire industry with it's stupid existence.

[@Rafaela_S.]

@@JeroenJA the german tax system is complicated, the percentage can go from 0% up to 45% based on the income of this year. You only need to pay tax on the profit. If you buy for 250k and sell for 350k you pay your personal percentage on the profit of 100k, so if it is 30% you pay 30k in taxes. Not even going into taxes for a company thats trading with houses/buildings. Since there it can get insane.

[@Ticho42]

@@JeroenJA yes you only have to pay tax for the profit and not based on the whole house price

[@andrayellowpenguin]

The thing that's most mind boggling to me is that houses in the US are still an appreciative investment! How?! I mean you can't expect them to last more than 10 years with such quality...

[@klamin_original]

I‘m currently on the island of Madeira, Portugal. The temperatures here are constant at 20-23 degrees all year long and they STILL build with bricks instead of plywood. Even Portugal outperforms the US in building quality.

[@APCLZ]

enjoying the tax advantages, huh :P

[@Mangafan47]

Of course they are built with stone, that's pretty much the coldest material available since centuries. European cities are historically grown and so are the way to build houses. Having stone walls and floors, which do not heat up that easily in the summer, is the best cooling mechnaism you could use before AC. That's why the more south you go the more stone is used indoor & outdoor. In the north stone inside a house wasn't common, it's been pure outside protection, while inside you used wheat, grass and wood for isolation to keep the heat inside.

[@AlexandraVioletta]

Wow. I'm envious 😁

[@yournemesis192]

Weather is good but try living on an average Madeira salary of 1000 Euros a month.

[@klamin_original]

@@APCLZ it’s called vacation, mate

[@Rafaela_S.]

In 2015 there has been a Tornado in the town of Bützow with winds of 299 km/h (186 miles/h), Hurrikan Irma had 285 km/h (177 miles/h) 126 houses got damaged, 16 became uninhabitable. And uninhabitable isn't that the house is fully destroyed, just that you can't live in it anymore (by german standards) cause of big leaks or danger hazards from the house (like danger of collapse)

[@headhunter1945]

64% of Americans own a home. In Germany that number is 49%. It's not an insane difference, but it is sizeable. As far as average rent, one person rent in Germany is listed as an average of $804 vs $1567 in the US. Family rent is $1549 vs $2757. On the other hand, income in the US tends to be more, but you also have difference expenses and taxes from one side to the other. It's a complex picture. The most relevant question is probably where you end up with more disposable income after all is said and done. I feel that Germany likely comes out looking pretty comparable despite lower income numbers.

[@marcromain64]

A somewhat useful indicator is how much of your income goes into personal savings. Of course, this isn't perfect either, because saving and purchasing behaviour differs, but when the average German can save almost three times as much of their income, while the average income in the US is only about 20% higher, that might say something.

[@headhunter1945]

@@marcromain64 I agree - I would only have to ask the question: is propensity to save money part of German culture? I suspect it is. I don't think you're wrong, but some of that three times probably is due to that.

[@marcromain64]

@@headhunter1945 You're absolutely right, that's what i meant with saving behaviour. "Etwas auf die hohe Kante legen" (to have money, but don't keep it within reach for every possibly ill-considered purchase decision) is a big thing here. Incurring debt, even if only in the short term (by purchasing something on a credit card, etc.) is not considered desirable.

[@JPG.01]

No germans aren't coming out comparable. Look at the actual living space available. American housing is 1.5x to 2x. bigger than german housing, so people in america pay more to have more. If you were to look at the prices by square meter or square foot, germany doesn't look good at all in comparison.

[@AlexandraVioletta]

@JPG.01 You're spreading facts

[@alexanderpracher6753]

When I buyed a house close to Stuttgart in 2015 it was about 105.000 € for about 100 m² (Only living space without the cellar). I need extra 10.000 € for Lawyer, Ground-Tax (Grunderwebssteuer) and broker. Also about 25 to 30.000 € for renovation (because it is build in the 1800 (estimated, nobody knows it exactly). So all together about 140.000 €. Now I can sell it for 500.000 € (But I won´t). And when we had a very strong storm here in August (lots of trees are broken), I just lost one shingle and that only because one shingle of my neighbours roof fall of my roof and broke this one.

[@JHenry-wv1xv]

Ryan: "Who is speculating on German market with the houses (prices) so high?" - Speculation is a part of what leeds to high prices ...

[@ChristianBeckerKapraun]

As often mentioned in the comments, you'll usually buy a house _once_ as a german. The prices vary very much though - and Stuttgart is not especially known to be a cheap neighborhood ;) When it comes to pure land price, back when we bought our house, this was 60,-€/sqm. After the last reevaluation it's 100,-€ now... As for livingspace - this depends on how old the house is, is it already modernized etc.pp... for my house, i'd come to around 2500,-/sqm as it is now, as a guess. Mathematically it was around 1200,- - 1300,- when we bought it back in the day. So, yeah... Prices vary A LOT over here. Guess it's the same over in the us - the nice modern house in the middle of NYC in comparison to the old wooden shack out in the middle of the prairie... or something like that ;D Also, to mention this, usually germans don't change jobs very often. Sometimes it makes it even harder to get a new job - at some point every recruiter/HR will ask you why you change jobs that often - thats suspect... ^^ So no, Job "opportunities" don't come along that often. And IF they come, and the (old or new) company really want's you - they'll maybe even offer to cover all costs. One can imagine that these things are happening rather sparse ;D

[@Mongolenfreak]

You have changed jobs a lot so far, why did you do that? I got a better offer and wanted a challenge to increase my skill set! oh, so you are unloyal and take the next best job that offers you a small pay raise? no, i really just felt like my previous jobs haven't felt like I was doing something significant and I wanted to improve! So you want us to teach you all you need for this new position, pay you the full wage for that, and then you'll hop onto the next best position before you even make us any profit? No, I really love your job, it sounds exactly like what I was looking for And how can we be sure? Germany in a nutshell, but also: you want to be in an entry level manager position? yes Do you have 15 years experience in the field and ever managed other people? I am 25 and just finished university No work experience, then I hope you have 3 years experience with software XWZ ohm, this software was created by me as my master’s thesis, it's literary 5 months old, nobody is able to have even one year of experience with that? So, you are not qualified with your skills either, I think we might have to pass on you.

[@ChristianBeckerKapraun]

@@Mongolenfreak Exactly! :)

[@the11382]

Job hopping didn't enter the German market I see. How difficult is it for them to fire you? How about working your way up? Job hopping exists when companies are unloyal and prefer hiring new people to fill positions higher up over promoting from lower up.

[@ChristianBeckerKapraun]

@@the11382 Well, it's not unheard of. But, as mentioned, the more you do it the less are your chances for a lasting employment. As for the questions: there are strong labour laws. If you have a job, then YOU. HAVE. A. JOB. ;) To fire someone without a good reason... well, strike that, without a at least valid reason is pretty difficult. And the more workers in that company, the harder it get's. (However, there are more than enough tricks to get you. Or more like legal loopholes.) Be it as it is, very few employers will take on the stress that comes with firing someone. As for working your way up... well, sure, that's a thing. But here i would be just guessing as to how many people manage that. Guess staying in your job and earn more with experience is more the norm. Oh, apropos... temp agencies are the up-and-about over here. If you lease your workforce you don't have the trouble of having to fire someone. A way to circumvent the protection laws...

[@C4Darkorbit]

to be exact, it isnt 40% penalty on the selling price, it is 40% on what you sold the house MORE for than you paid for it. The tax is just on the difference if you sell for a higher price.

[@Engy_Wuck]

also it's only 40% if you're a high income earner. It orients itself on the income tax, which is lower for lower income earners.

[@stevenvanhulle7242]

Two-ring binders are crazy 🙂. Wait till Ryan finds out that we also have four-ring binders. Or my agenda (A5-format), which is a six-ring binder 🙂 (Yes, you need a special hole-punch for the latter)

[@klamin_original]

7:16 we don’t move that often, we maybe move apartments 2 or 3 times in our 20s and early 30s but then we’re looking for a place to settle. When you buy or build a house you usually stay there forever. Maybe you will move once more but that’s rare of you really own a house

[@schnetzelschwester]

I moved 14 times in my life, the last time into a house we bought. The next time will be to the nursing home or to the graveyard. Houses have become expensive over the last years due to speculations. We could only afford the house without traveling, partying and going to restaurants and having new smartphones every year. We literally had no vacations for 15 years.

[@klamin_original]

@@schnetzelschwester I had 2 vacations this year alone, one in Australia and one in La Réunion. What am I doing right and what are you doing wrong? And it’s not inherited wealth, my parents are workers (construction and shoe store assistant)

[@SkandalRadar]

You only pay speculation tax on real estate if you do not live in it yourself (holiday homes also count as long as they are not rented out to others). Then 10 years apply until they become tax-free. And the tax only applies to potential profits.

[@j.8607]

That is not correct. The speculation period is also true for self used real estate. the period is just shorter 3 fiscal years or better to say.. you have to celebrate new year in this home at least two times :)

[@SkandalRadar]

@@j.8607 Yes, you are right. I have forgotten to point that out. Thank you for the reminder. 😀

[@mrchronos3374]

@@j.8607 Almost correct. If you lived in the house directly after purchase, you don't even have to live there for 3 years. The 3 years period is only considered, if you rented the house out before you used it yourself.

[@misssphere2333]

Uyen is making fun of the German habit to sort all documents (even those you never need again) into binders and store them for decades.

[@cccoster1281]

But.. sometimes there is an instruction on it to keep it! And it doesn't say for how long, so....

[@BuggyGamer-db6mw]

​@@cccoster1281I heard something about 10 Years, but not sure either

[@nettcologne9186]

We have standardized 2 ring binders, yes (there are also 4 ring binders, but you also need a special "Locher" (holepuncher) for that).

[@umgssda]

No, you dont need a special hole punch for 4 rings. You just use the 2 hole punch twice to get 4 holes.

[@reinhard8053]

4 ring binders are only used for special things which are more heavy. But everything coming with holes (paper) has 4 holes just in case. With 2 rings you can put in very small pieces of paper.

[@DaGuys470]

Our houses tend to not break from a bit of wind. If they happen to get damaged, the damage is usally a broken roof, shattered windows or broken cables/pipes. So it's fixable.

[@Kristina_S-O]

Well, unless you live in the Ahrtal, next to a coast or in any other region that's likely to get flooded sooner or later. 😢

[@guzziwheeler]

An in most cases it is covered by the house insurance (mandatory for fire risk).

[@Gaehhn]

@@Kristina_S-O A severe flood is on a whole different level from a storm in every way, building anything "flood proof" can only be done by choosing a location where there won't be a flood.

[@labelmail]

when I have been house-hunting in Florida the only comparable houses to German ones in regard to structure where in gated communities and as expensive I found. Unfortunately the fittings inside were shiny but flimsy. Now I live in a 290 year old house in Germany with walls 35 inches thick and the second generation roof-tiles and fear no tornado - maybe an earthquake - but I had a little one of those some time back and nothing happened

[@chiefhb01]

my house in Germany is from 1986, the rooftiles called ‚Frankfurter Pfanne‘ are estimated to last between 50 to 80 yeaars. a couple broke over the yers but are easily replaced

[@beatekreuzer5025]

My parents changed the rooftiles on their house in the 70s. They are still flawless.

[@caccioman]

You only pay 30-40% tax on the profit, not on the sale price as such. If you sell for same price or even at loss, no tax.

[@Maisiewuppp]

In Germany you start saving for a deposit very young. There are government initiatives to incentivise saving for a home. If you save for this purpose there are subsidies to augment for your savings. If you are a good earner in a stable job you can get away with a smaller deposit but the interest rate is a little higher. Most loans are amortising with a fixed interest rate for 10 years which means you can plan your finances around that. You can renew/refinance at the end of the period if you are not done. The goal is mostly to buy or build a home for life, so it makes sense to do it when you have done moving around.

[@DanzilF]

This applies to practically any European country, all the way to the southern part of the content, and some things also apply to the North African countries. And yes, houses are expensive, in some countries more than others. Although yes, taxes in Germany are something else :D I used to work with a German company, and some colleagues moved from my country to Germany for a while. They had to do interviews with landlords before they excepted them as tenants :D

[@klarasee806]

"Get yourself a German husband"... when I had one, we had elves that made a terrible mess each night. When he moved out, they decided to go with him.

[@smiechuwarte-qt8pn]

There is also a tax on speculation in Poland . If you get something from your parents or inherit e.g. a house, land, etc., it is better not to sell anything for five years if you do not want to pay high tax.

[@losarpettystrakos7687]

The speculation tax is calculated based on the profit made from reselling the house, not the value of the house.

[@pfalzgraf7527]

Yes, renting is pretty normal in Germany. So, homeowners invest for a few decades. I know several people who own a house in one place but live in a rented house in another place, renting out the one they own. Some come back to their property once they retire. Others will try and find a job closer to "home" asap - which in this case can be 25 years or more. I also know a German who lives in Ireland, letting the property they own near Munich.

[@Henreinje]

I'm not German, but I know that some craftsmen in different European countries used to buy a worn down house, live in it for 1-2-3 years, while they renovate it, and then sell it at a much higher price only to move into another worn down house and start all over again. This is of course good for home improvement, but less good for tax revenue, as a country without "speculation" tax (or other types of taxation) have people working as full time employees (for themselves) and never ever pay tax. So I'm guessing that plays a role, as well as the fundamental idea, that houses are for living, not speculation.

[@haukenot3345]

You are describing what the Americans call "flipping" a house. Ryan actually mentioned it in the video.

[@Heititeiti]

The Thing with Houses in Germany is: They most likely last the next 250-500 Years if build correctly. But this type of construction is very expensive. Houses here are most likely build on a Foundation made out of concrete which (depending on the Building on top) can be several metres thick and is sometimes anchored with Steel rods. After that most "modern Houses" are build out of reinforced concrete, Steel and glass (mostly 3-4 layered glass in the Windows) or even safety glass. And even the older ones are often made from "normal" concrete or Bricks. And for the Roof you get VERY THICK AND HEAVY beams of hardwood, which can support metric tons of weight, wooden Planks, roofing felt and Clay roof tiles. All of that makes construction and as a result Houses very expensive. ;P

[@olli1068]

My house was built by Duch workers. When they saw the plans, they asked "Why do you build your house so solid? Are you still afraid of the British bombers?" 🤔

[@jackyr3891]

I don't know if this is something you would ever consider doing a video on, but I think it would be interesting to see you look at listings on German real estate websites and compare them with your experiences in the US.

[@MrsStrawhatberry]

I think he actually did that before

[@m.m.4645]

We live in southwestern Germany, a fairly expensive part of the country. We bought our house at very young age in the early 1980s. It was brandnew and we fehlt like kings! In the meantime it is long payed off, we live rent and morgage free. If we wanted to sell it now, we could get 4 times the original price, since we always invested and renovated. It only worked out because we never had to move and wouldn't have to start all over again.

[@thorstenrusch8652]

Well, we don´t have that many storms here but if they´re very hefty. Watch some videos about the storm here in North Germany a few weeks ago. Btw... the roof tiles are not only made out of clay they are also made of slate, reeds (the old ones) or concrete tiles :)

[@ealamin]

The earthquake in Basel in the middle of europe in 1356 had a magnitude of 6.9 on the Richter scale, according to the earthquake service of ETH Zurich. But there are still some houses that are a hundred or more years older and survived that and other quakes.

[@siloPIRATE]

We have two ring binders in the UK. Never seen a three ring binder

[@Dirk-Ulowetz]

About the roof... We had to renew our roof a few years ago. After 60 years.😂 For Americans it sounds like: "I'm buying shindles and use them on my first, my second, my third and perhaps my fourth house. 🤣

[@bigernie9433]

Re sturdier walls: There was a major tornado (which occurs only very rarely in D) in the downtown area of the city of Paderborn a couple of years ago. Rooves and trees were damaged but not the house structures as such, none of them. Re housing prices: Stuttgart is a rather extreme example, in fact, numerous parts of Germany offer rather affordable house prices. An area more comparable to Indiana would be in rural Niedersachsen, house pricess there are very much affordable. Re moving: The classic German concept is that you buy a house once in your lifetime which also explains why Americans are way more obsessed with real estate price developments than Germans. Germans care about the cost of renting and flip their houses at a significantly lower frequency than Americans (or the British)

[@johnpersil84]

Hi extra costs about buying a house ist arround 10% (notary, public tax, fee from the estate agents). There are a few Cities were are the per square meters costs are very high (4749-11547€/m²), like Munich in Bavaria (but there are also far more affordable cities). There are also exceptions to the speculation tax mentioned in the video if, for example, the apartment/house was owner-occupied for 2 years before the sale. After all, speculation tax is only payable on the increase in value of an apartment/house.

[@GreenFart174]

Well, our property prices are a bit due to the fact that we have about 1/3 of the US population in just an area the size of Texas. In addition, the price of the property was in a big city. In Seattle the m² costs $7532

[@fgregerfeaxcwfeffece]

House prices depend on where you wanna buy just like in every other country. Big cities are youtube censoring insane.

[@IceBioshock]

from tornados news here in germany i know that houses, even new ones, can lose their roof and only the old ones, which needed heavy renovations tend to collapse - but even those, most likely keep on standing - however you do lose your roof or it gets heavily damaged - a new roof is expensive - expect to pay about 30k+ for a new roof - if its only damaged, expect around 5-15k

[@IceBioshock]

many people tend to forgo a company and just get some worker without a contract/insurance etc. to do it for em - thats illegal and they can face a fine for that or prison time - however its very hard to prove and if it gets proven, you most likely get a big fine, prisone is the very very rare exception - due to the costs, cause somebody working illegally for you, wants way less than a company would, many people do this however, if the other partey decides to screw you - you got no reprocussion for that, without screwing yourself x) it would be the equivalent to suing your cocaine dealer, cause he took your money and never delivered the product or a defective product to you x)

[@felixklusener5530]

The speculation tax is just on the basis of any profits you make from buying and selling a house. So lets say you buy a house for 500 k, invest 100 k in renovating it and sell it for 700 k, the tax will be applied to 100 k with the rate being your individual income tax rate. Income tax rate in Germany ranges from 0 % to 45 %. 0 % is applied to everyones income up to 10908 € and it gradually rises to 45 % for any euro you earn beyond 277826 €.

[@JMJones-hb1fr]

A relative of mine is currently planning to buy a patch of land and build a house of his own. For the most interesting object he also has to completely flatten an old house which is impossible to upgrade to meet current standarts of insulation etc. He is expecting to need like 700k € all in all. And it's gonna be a "stock"-house, so the company building it has a few standart 0-8-15-layouts and he can choose from those and slightly personalize it by choosing between door styles, stairs etc. However: those customizations can add up to the total costs. Yes, he's building within cityborders of a regional capital, but if you would try to do the same in the areas of Munich, Hamburg or Stuttgart you would have to pay a ton more, probably even way over a million Euro.

[@jamison85]

Just a note - I'm not sure 08-15 exists as an idiom in English. In German, it means "nothing spectacular" / "bog standard" / "mass produced", and stems from the rifle MG08-15, introduced in the first world war.

[@beatekreuzer5025]

The prices for houses really have gone crazy in Germany. I left Germany almost 30 years ago. At the time a friend of mine just bought her first house, a nice, big house for 2 families in a small village. She paid 300.000 DM at the time (150.000 Euro).

[@JMJones-hb1fr]

@@jamison85 Oh, crap, you're right, i forgot about that. :D ty for the reminder and the explanation for all the non-germans reading here.^^

[@eaglevision993]

The best combination regarding a house is German materials, efficiency and craftsmanship and American comfort (AC, laundry chute, large garage and kitchen, suites with own bathroom, walk in/built in cabinets etc.)

[@dzi.]

First of all thanks for your videos. I really enjoy them. I guess one of the factors that increase the overall cost of buying a house also depends on the time you expect to the houses lifetime. If not destroyed in WW2 they can easily be a hundred years old and that also counts for the roof. I myself live in a 3 family home built in 1926 and the roof hasn’t been replaced since then and it’s still in a good shape.

[@dzi.]

And the speculation fee is only on the revenue you might get when selling your house within 10 years from buying it. So as you’ve already said it’s more a regulation kind of thing that helps to level the market

[@eaglevision993]

Many communites also have an additional speculation tax to the federal tax on new contructions. You must stay in the house yourself for a certain period, usually 5 to 10 years or you pay a fine when you sell it before. This is to prevent developers from buying all the lots, build houses and sell them for profit. Especially in new developements. Existing homes usually do not have a local tax on speculation, only the federal tax.

[@airlag]

In Europe, we have tornados too. The damage on the buildings isn't as severe as in the USA. Usually, a part of the roof is ripped off. But the debris that's flying around in a F3 tornado is not enough to bulldoze stone walled buildings. Repairing a house after a tornado is probably more expensive here than building a new house in the USA, so we are glad that Europe is hit by F3 or stronger only once a year on average.

[@yadiracamacho499]

3 ring binders are ok if you're going to use the same paper size. So ok for school or things like that. But for more varied sizes, like receipts, the 2 rings in the middle are better. You'll be able to hold the paper with the 2 rings unless it's really small. I wouldn't be surprised if there are 2 ring binders in use in offices in the US, and you just haven't noticed them.

[@wolfgangheinzhupp7057]

I am living in Brazil and here the Peeple built Houses witch Alvenary( Blocks of Concrete or burned Ceramic) the Houses stand by with a Tornado or samthing similiar. The only thing you maybe must change is the Roof. And you can built a House with low Money ( i have built my House (70m2) with 15000 Dollar).

[@Gaston413]

The two-ring binders shown in Uyen's video are designed for the C6 (=A4 with 1/3 of the height) to A4 format. Many bank statements are printed in C6 format on the bank printer. This is the standard folder in German offices.

[@atdynax]

What happens if you build a house in German fashion in the US? Like everything's bricks and solid roof tiles? Is it allowed or would it be super expensive?

[@Zaju]

I think it would be considered a completely useless European extravagance that would make you look like an unpatriotic fool, like demanding a bidet or universal healthcare.

[@leDespicable]

My guess is that it would probably be possible, but very expensive

[@andreasoundso8453]

The Speculation is a big thing here in Germany. My houses worth is gaining up to 400% in the last 20 years

[@hernerweisenberg7052]

The roof on my house was build during my grandparents time. About 65 years old now. no leaks, never repaired.

[@colanitower]

Both 2-ring and 4-ring binders actually. The middle two rings of 4-ring binders are positioned the same as the two of 2-ring binders so two-ring binders can take documents that are already punched for 4-ring binders

[@wewillmakeit3615]

That "specualtion fee" is the normal income tax. If you sell a house with a profit, that profit is added to your income and is then taxed. So you do not pay the tax on the whole sale price. Only the difference between buying and selling price. If you live in that house, the waiting period is about 3 years, else it's 10 years. After the waiting period that profit is no longer seen as such. Also about the affordability: We have lower rates. Usually 2 to 3 percent less than in the US.

[@j.m.seifert]

In my region in Germany it's usually 3000€ - 6000€ per meter squared to buy or 10 - 30€ per meter squared and month to rent. So unless you plan to stay at one place for at least 10 years, you most likely just rent. When we moved in January we looked at prices around 400 000€ for 120 meter squared (not including fees) and decided to rent for 780€ (plus 300€ for water and heating) for 110 meter squared.

[@asmodon]

„You forgot the plastic siding!“ 😆

[@Mikepet]

In Austria the Roof is a really big thing to consider .... How much snow can it withstand. We sometimes have 5 or more meters of snow and if your house and roof are not up to take the pure weight of it ... dont even try,

[@kalle5548]

3:48 it's not that its cleaning but that he is sorting and systemising everything, they probably share laundry but I'm sure there are like 4 different laundry baskets with different purposes, each with an assigned combination of detergents and fabric softener

[@tonchrysoprase8654]

Something like he speculation thing also exists here in the US. Taxation of home appreciation depends on whether the property is considered for own use and you have to live in the place 5 out of the last 8 years or something like that to qualify for certain exemptions

[@amyleefan85]

Idk how much a renovation costs in the US, but if you are considering to buy a house here in Germany, the roof IS a factor. Depending on how big the roof is and what has to be done (maybe new insulation etc.), it can cost you like 30-50k.

[@HaurakiVet]

A very positive law change for home buyers in NZ was when it was made incumbent upon land agents (realtors) to inform the potential purchaser of any negative aspects of the property, or, more accurately to not conceal them. For example if the property had a "paper road" running throgh it ie; a right to put a road through at some time in the future, or unstable ground on the propery or alterations to buildings that are not approved the sales person doing so is liable legally and can lose their right to operate.

[@alwynemcintyre2184]

Sadly in Australia what houses are available are crazy expensive, renting is very expensive good luck finding a place. Couch surfing and buying a tent are like it

[@riccardocoletta2398]

Consider also that in Italy we're perfectly fine leaving in an 80-90 square meter apartment with a 2 parents and 2 children. We consider it confortable. We don't need a parking place for the car for example

[@biloaffe]

We built our house in the village in the country. The property cost 49€ / m², 1200 x 49€ = 58,800€ + 900€ property transfer tax 900€ notary costs. My wife, my brother and I built the house, sometimes 1 or 3 friends helped. The house and land cost us €320,000, today it is worth almost €500,000.

[@reinhard8053]

You don't sell and buy a new home all the time because even without speculation tax you generally pay about 10% for fees and taxes with every buy and still some money for selling. My parents switched homes (mostly houses) 3 times after they go married. Once into their first own house after having rented an appartment. Then to an appartment when they moved to a different country. Then to a house because my father had problems with the stairs to the appartment. My mother even died in her house. Good friends of us still live in their house near my parents first house since nearly 60 years. After 30 years in my appartment I moved to a house and don't intend to move another time, at least not for some decades. Roofs will mostly hold 40-60 years or more. Mine is 60 years and I will need to exchange a few of the tiles in the next time but otherwise it's fine.

[@biloaffe]

3:22 The folder we use today was invented in 1886 by Friedrich Soennecken from Bonn, who also invented the associated hole punch. The folder was developed into its current form by Louis Leitz in his company of the same name in Stuttgart-Feuerbach.

[@cooler_boi_patrick3989]

In my German home we have these Clay stuff on the roof. The House was made in the 1950s and we havn't changed them till now and they will probably hold another 50 years xD

[@Felix-st2ue]

Its peobably also down to population density. This makes the ground more expensive. So you have more multi story houses. And those typically contain flats to rent.

[@TheMarilith]

Bricks and concrete for building houses are not only common in germany but widely used in most european countries.

[@ellenhofrath]

House flipping is not such a common thing in Germany. Our houses don't great down that much as your's and we put much more work in keeping them. In good shape. And when it comes to older builing it's not that cheap to renovate, as the laws about energy efficiency and environment got updated a lot. So you really need big bucks to do so. And then comes the "Denkmalschutz" for really old buildings. Removating a protected builing is insanely difficult.

[@mandarinomaracuja9112]

Speculation Tax only goes on the additionl profit, if you sell the house, not on the full value of the house. The 4-6.5% "Grunderberssteuer" (= Buying-Tax) is on the full price, and makes every house each time a little bit more expensive. It does not have to be paid, if a company is buying the house, only by private people. Basicly buying a house to live in is made extra hard in Germany.

[@BigDaddyXD]

To clear up one thing: If you LIVE yourself in house/flat that you bought, you only have to live there for 1 year to avoid the specutation fee. The 3+ years only apply if you don't live there yourself. Like rent it out, or just leave it empty to make the prices go brrrrr.

[@Condor-Toni]

Why Germans Don't Buy Houses | Feli from Germany watch this video. She explains why we much prefer renting to buying or building a house. Costs are just one reason of many.

[@D4BASCHT]

I guess the second one is a play a) on “my coffee table is magic and all the trash on it vanishes” despite the girlfriend doing all the cleaning and b) Ordnungswahn (obsession with order). And the device isn’t a stapler, it’s a ISO 838 hole puncher for papers of the size A7 (1/8th A4) and bigger. Grunderwerbssteuer is real estate transfer tax. Not to be confused with Grundsteuer (real estate tax), which you also have to pay after you own it. And well, you could rent out your house instead of selling it, but why do you buy a house in the first place if you plan to relocate for new jobs. And Stuttgart is a city, property prices in cities are high. It’s actually the second most expensive city in Germany. The percentage of renters is way higher in cities, most home owners probably live in villages, but even there renting flats or houses is often possible, we have at least 7 buildings with 4-9 flats each in my village and some multi-generation houses with partially being rented out after people died or moved away. We also don't build enough new stuff to satisfy the demand, especially in cities where building land is sparse it makes way more sense to build apartment complexes instead of single-family homes. Buying flats is also a thing. One thing that was said in the last clip is quite important, but you kinda skipped over it: after WWII a lot of apartment complexes were built to give people a place to lived, because a) buildings got destroyed during the war and b) 17% of the population being displaced persons from former east Germany, who basically lost everything they had.

[@joeaverage3444]

Speculation tax only applies to a house or apartment you didn't buy to live in yourself. Your home that you bought for yourself is speculation tax exempt no matter when you sell it. And even if you sell a real estate property you bought as an investment within the taxable speculation period, you only pay tax on the profit you make compared to the price you bought it for. That profit then counts as taxable income for the fiscal year during which you sell it, and gets lumped together with all your other income, on which you then pay income tax. As an average earner, if you sell an investment property like that, and say you make €100K of profit by selling it within ten years since you bought it, you can expect to pay around €35,000 of speculation tax as part of your income that year. Which sounds harsh, but you do get to keep the remaining €65,000 as your take-home profit. I'm actually a real estate agent here in Germany and this question comes up with many clients, but most of the time I can tell them they don't have to worry.

[@markuseberlein3394]

renting here is mostly without furniture including the kitchen , washer... A bunch of buildings in bigger cities are owned by foreigners, that also makes things expensive.

[@wullivieh]

The speculation tax fee is only on your profit (not on the whole price) and there are exceptions if you used the house yourself. It's to encourage private home ownership over big companies speculating on rising house prices for profit. But nonetheless even as a normal family the fees for buying property ARE pretty high in Germany. They usually say you should calculate 10-15% on top of the listed price just for additional fees and as houses aren't particularly cheap, that can be quite a lot. So for a lot of people it's still very much a "once in a lifetime" investment and most people only buy property once they are pretty sure they'll stay in the area for a longer time. It's not like it's impossible to sell and move, but it's a lot rarer than in other countries. And it certainly is uncommon enough to be a big talking point ("but they JUST bought a house" while 'JUST' might've been 5+ years ago). That also means people tend to overthink quite a bit because they want to cover all eventualities. E.g. when my husband and I were starting to look at houses and talking with friends about a particular house, someone commented "but it only has two extra rooms for kids! what if you get a third child?!" while mind you we currently have NO kids at all. (They are aware that we are not opposed to kids but are also like "if it doesn't happen that's also fine".) I just had to laugh and was like "if that happens it will be fine for a while and if we really find it too small we can sell it and find something else" and the mere suggestion that we'd be willing to sell a house after a few years blew their mind and got me some funny looks (because it's seen as a acting kinda irresponsibly or not particularly financially wise). For a lot of people in Germany a house is seen as something you'd keep for 20+ years and preferably for the rest of your lifetime. It SO commonly perceived that way that sometimes when people in their twenties or thirties buy or build a home they try to include accessibility for elderly people and by that I mean not for their parents or grand parents (who might or might not move in with them eventually) but very much for themselves "once they are older".

[@d.m.3951]

There is no speculation tax on owner-occupied residential property in Germany. This only applies to rented properties and the tax only applies to profits, i.e. only if the house is sold at a higher price.

[@TallisKeeton]

as to the hurricanes - I m sure in Europe we dont have such disastrous hurricanes as they can be in USA but still when that happens there can be like 20 or more houses with ruined roofs, or roofs in need some of repair but its very rare event that a building - even such one as over 100 years old - got totaly destroyed by a hurricane or snowstorm. I usualy watch such weather forcasts about where these big storms can hit and I actualy dont remember a storm or hurricane or snowstorm in central Europe to destroy many buildings totaly way. I dont remember it from Poland so I guess - as we have similar weather - it is similar situation in Germany :) Buildings are destroyed but AFAIR mostly roofs and some sheds or warehouses around. Floods are most disastrous for buildings - from raining or from flooded rivers - but wind rather not as much.

[@martingerlitz1162]

Our house in Germany is not made of bricks. It was fabricated wall per wall in a factory and fixed together in place. The roof has proper and heavy, long lasting shingles being placed on a carpenter made wooden skeleton. The walls are about 20cm "thin" (only) and have various insulation layers against heat or cold. Our house keeps the temperature pretty long, so in summer no AC is needed for the couple days of heat we have, aerating the rooms every day in the morning and evening is sufficient to keep it cool. But - yes, knocking against the wall sounds American 😂 even in our house... The best still are the windows, insulated, tilt or wide opening, which is common in central Europe. But: ground and houses are extremely expensive. You pay about 500 kEur.

[@gigibenea3529]

This ""German "" houses are the way we are building in Europe...so if the winds blows at 200km/h ..dont warry the houses will resist..

[@IloveGERMANYtoo.]

As an (also) American I like the 3-ring-binders more because the hold the documents in a better position. Next time when I'm in the US I've gotta buy some and take them over to Germany. (I'm taking the profits from both countries 😂) Gruß Sebastian

[@arnodobler1096]

In Germany they are also available with 4 rings and 4 holes.

[@habi0187]

Remember that US Letter format paper size is different to DIN A4. If you use A4 paper in an American binder some part is always standing out on the top or bottom. I suggest you buy 4 ring binders and a 4 hole puncher instead (both are available in good shops).

[@christianliesche5917]

We have aso 4 ring binders as a possibility ;)

[@Koen030NL]

We have 23 ring binders here in the netherlands ^^

[@arnodobler1096]

@@habi0187 You can also use a 2-hole punch to make the 4 holes.

[@Kristina_S-O]

Haven't read all the comments, but this goes out to the Germans, in case nobody else has stated it: That 10 year "speculation period" only applies to houses that are rented out. It does NOT apply to houses you have lived in yourself for at least 2 consecutive years before selling it.

[@Adi-kf6bq]

Also if your house is a certain age they might fall under the historical building code wich prevent a lot of stuff from being done to them. It's insane. We have one building where i live that costs like 1million€ and stands empty for years because it's an old water tower wich means living there sucks and having a commercial setting in it would mean external modification wich is prohibited by the code for historical buildings

[@cellevangiel5973]

Ryan from the diagram shown, we Belgians are the champion owners. We dream of owning a house so we do. My house is 70 years old. 25 years ago I had it redone, so new windows and doors insulation, sanitary and utilities renewed. That was far cheaper than building a new one and it is up to modern standard. I had to loan for it, but my monthly payment was comparable to a rend. So why shouldn't I buy. That is our common thinking so according the graphic shown, more then 90 % of us are are owners. And our communities provide building area's with roads and utilities. So it is not in the hands of a company but our communities. Americans, please, think, think, think. And look outside the USA, there is the whole world that does things differently.

[@Chara_Lar]

4:41 FunFact: Those are Roman numbers in Zac's name. ZacXCVIII = Zac98

[@clivethewritermadenglishma4042]

European roofs are designed to last at least 100 years. Might get the occasional tile needs replacing but that's so easy to do.

[@KicKandRoll666]

The density of people per km² is 35 for the US and 233 for germany. We have a big lack of space open for building and also most people want to build in west or south germany, because there is most of the industry and good jobs. This makes land prices in west and south germany insane. Then we have all the diffrent fees like mentioned in the video. Then we have more rules how to build a really strong and efficient house together with uncountable almost useless rules, that also make it harder and more expensive to build a house. I could only afford my propery in south west germany, because i looked for a cheap one for years and i found it in the middle of a forest in a village so small it has nothing, not even a supermarkted, school or anything else. But the good thing is i am a full time engineer and my wife, too. So with getting debt until our rent, we can mange to pay for all that. Without inheritance or big jobs, it is basicly impossible to build or buy a house with the expection of buying a century old one and then getting forced into renovating it for almost the same cost of building a new one. And one more execption are the people who know every kind of craftsman, so the costs are reduced a lot.

[@steffenjonda8283]

You missed a critical point. Stuttgart is VERY expensive. It is like you would speak about Downtown New York or Los Angeles, so you are not on the top path. If you live in the rural area of Sachsen or Brandenburg, you get a house with 200 sqm for 150-200k EUR, or less. Still solid build. For sure you have to invest some money, but it isn´t that expensive. I live north of stuttgart, my house - as build in 2009 costed new inclusive everything 470k, but has 210+130 sqm, 210 living space and 130 useful space. A cellar, a two-car garage and air conditioning in 4 rooms (3 sleeping rooms and home office). Modern heating system (Air-heat-pump)... well build, solid. But now it is around 800k worth. Prices had raised and to build such a house now you have to pay 600-700k EUR for it. Even wasting some space (i should have doug out another level (as cellar), i live at a hill side) i got 1600 EUR a sqm for a new build house. If i only look for living space, it was around 2400 EUR a sqm. So it was cheap. You have to look about the size of a flat - a smaller one is way more expensive then a big one.

[@gabbymcclymont3563]

If you have a hart condition or suffer from stress don' t think of buying in Scotland, it is quick but the house may be up for sale for £350 BUT it will sell for £426 its a total mere.

[@MichaEl-rh1kv]

Career-oriented young Germans will usually rent some apartment to stay mobile = to be able to move to another city for job opportunities. They will only buy or build a house after they got a family (including children) and plan to stay in that city or region for at least the next 10 years. If they have to move before that time, they will usually try to rent out their house before selling it. But in spite of speculation tax there is still some speculation - investors (or wannabe investors) buying apartments in some (alleged) boom region to rent them out and get at the same time tax exemptions in form of write-offs. (But since now house prices are at an all-time peak, people doing this now will lose a lot of money as soon as the bubble bursts.) Covid caused house prices peak for different reasons like damaged supply chains and rising commodity prices; at the same time there is a labour shortage, rising interest rates, harder conditions for getting public subsidies, and less available building plots. Rents are also on the rise, especially in actual boom regions, mainly due to gentrification schemes by the big housing corporations - but as said, it is a bubble that will burst soon.

[@Lancelot2000Lps]

I am that german guy too i get crazy when only a bit dirt is in the house everybody needs too be clean and everything needs too be catalogt.

[@buttersky4451]

The speculation tax does not apply if you live in the house or flat. Only if you rent out. Most people don't seem to know that.

[@germanjake1288]

Yes in gerneal in Germany as i beileve in America the Housing market is Expensive. 1 personal Example. I could sell my old but perfectly renovated house for roundabout 400.000€ it has 120 squaremeters + Garden etc. But then i have to pay 475.000€for a n ew 70 square meter apartment (not even house) with no own garden etc.. The problem is my house is generally speaking old from 1930 or post WW2. And as such even the renovated exterior + triple glass windows + added modern insulation doesnt count and i get mostly only money for the plot but not the house itself. But all in all the prices at least in cities is absurd high. Cause this 475.000€ apartment would cost only 125.000€ outside the city (comparably speaking i was checking houses outside the city and not apartments after realising a house is even more obviously and on "the land" there are less apartmentbuildings and more houses) As i scoured the market as I was looking to sell. But with those options...no thank you.

[@BlackWater_49]

5:33 It's actually a little over 10.7 ft² per m² but yeah, don't think you can buy houses or even flats at the cheap in major city centers here. I don't know how realistic 7.000€/m² is but yeah, cities like Berlin, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Munich etc. are hella expensive so you're better off just buying/renting property in the outskirts or in the city's "bacon/fat belt" (i.e. exurbs) than in the city centers and use public transport whenever you actually need to go to the city. That's cheaper, the air cleaner and the view out your window prettier...

[@hypatian9093]

When I first saw pictures of devastations after hurricanes and noticed only the chimneys standing I wondered what the reason was - until I learnt that literally they were the only thing made out of bricks etc. and thus the only really "storm resistant" parts of a lot of US houses.

[@matejturk]

In Europe, if a tornado or a big storm hits, the house stays put. The only part that is at a high risk is the roof. You might lose the roof and have some water damage. But that is fixable.