Anna has been living in Germany for more than 10 years, and recently bought her own house in this country. Read in our article how much time it took for this whole process and what difficulties it had to face.
About life and work in Germany
— My name is Anna, I am 32 years old. I moved to Germany from the Belarusian city of Bobruisk in 2012. She settled in the small town of Goslar. Now I work as a German language teacher, I teach courses for migrants.
To obtain citizenship* of this country, it is necessary to have a permanent place of work, as well as a good command of the German language.
* To obtain German citizenship, as a rule, continuous legal residence in this country for 8 years is required. However, in 2023, a new law was passed that reduces this period to 5 years, and in some cases up to 3 years.
Also from the requirements:
- be able to support yourself and your family members without social assistance or unemployment benefits;
- confirm German language proficiency at level B1 (when applying after 5 years) or C1 (when applying after 3 years);
- take a test of knowledge of German culture and society
- have no criminal convictions.
Children born in Germany will receive citizenship if at least one of the foreign parents has been legally residing in this country for more than 5 years.
About prices and comfortable earnings
— The main advantage of living in Germany for me is the safety and tranquility of life. But there is also a disadvantage — solving any issues, even household ones, takes a very long time (most often, we are talking about several weeks or even months).
The Germans themselves are very pedantic, punctual, correct and a little economical, they try not to waste money. Many people are interested in sports, especially football.
— Prices in Germany are completely different depending on the category of goods and their quality. Milk can cost from 1.30 to 3 euros, bread from 0.99 euros to 4 euros and so on. The same goes for clothes: you can buy a T—shirt for 1 euro, or you can buy it for 50 euros. Plus, some people in Germany do not work and live off social benefits from the state.
The country as a whole is very social — people who need help get it here. There are also many private organizations that support the needy and refugees.
I think that 2,000 euros per month will be enough for one person to live (without renting a house). Plus, machine maintenance costs (if any), Internet, telecommunications may be added.
If you live with a child, the amount increases significantly: there are sections, clothes, and lunches at school (60-80 euros per month).
About choosing and buying your own home
— Real estate prices vary greatly — from 100,000 euros for a small house in a small town to 300,000+ euros for housing in large cities.
“In 2023, there was the sharpest drop in German property prices in the last 23 years.” A great interview with a German market expert
Rent also varies: before buying my home, I paid 400 euros + 350 euros for communal services in a house located in the center of my small town (there were 2 floors and a small garden).
I’ve been looking for my own place for about 2 years — I needed it to be a small house not far from work. As a result, I found a great well-maintained house for 105,000 euros on a private classifieds site. Immediately after viewing, the seller agreed to sell it to me (due to the huge demand, here the sellers themselves most often choose the buyer, and not vice versa).
The cost of repairing my new house is not required. I bought it on credit for 30 years at 3.4% per annum: this is a fixed percentage for 10 years, and then the rate will be calculated again, that is, it can either rise or fall.
As for related expenses, I paid about 5,000 euros of purchase tax for a house worth 105,000 euros, about 900 euros to a notary, and about 1,000 euros more as various duties and fees. In total, in addition to the cost of the house, about 8000 euros were spent.
— So, how the process of buying a house in Germany works: first you need to go to the bank and provide documents stating that you have a permanent job. They also pay attention to the following points: the number of family members, earnings and, in general, financial viability.
Then you need to find a notary who will also cooperate with the bank. At these stages, you will need to present a huge package of documents.
The longest we waited for a response from the notary and the subsequent entry of me into the register of owners — Grundbuch.
The whole process took about 6 months, but in fact it could have been three — the seller was just away for three months. We did not work with realtors — we negotiated directly.
In general, if you want to buy a house in Germany, the most important thing is to have a permanent job with a good income. You also need to get insurance — I did it for 4,000 euros. And the main thing is to be patient, because you will have to wait.
Author
Yulia Yanukovych Editor-in-Chief
I am responsible for the work of the editorial office. I write expert interviews and guides.
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