4 ms·

Germans always rented to larger degrees than others, which explains the difference in certain wealth statistics. As a German, I have no idea why that is, that w

by hef19898 3y ago

Germans always rented to larger degrees than others, which explains the difference in certain wealth statistics. As a German, I have no idea why that is, that we tend to rent. That being said, until your 50s, either you are debt, debt offset by property with a certain value, or you pay rent. Either way, you do not live for free. Difference is, once you retire in your 60s, with owned property your living costs actually go down a lot, while rent only keeps coming. Of course, one can do all kind of corporate accounting tricks to explain that even after your mortgae is repaid, you don't live for almost nothing in your house, but that wouod only show a serious lack of financial understanding.

flohofwoe 3y ago
Living alone as an old person in the house you built for a whole family when you were young isn't cheap either though, especially now when it's time to upgrade the heating away from gas, isolate the walls and maybe it's also about time to finally fix the roof, it's much easier to complain about all this to your landlord ;)
- hef19898 3y ago
  All of those costs are factored into your rent so. In fact, those rennovation works are a reason for a landlord to increase rent on existing leases. So you pay for those, always. What you don't pay so, ia rent for property you own. And ince the mortgage is repaid, ideally begore you retire, your monthly costs are the same as if you rented without the rent.
  - flohofwoe 3y ago
    I would think that in a larger multi-family house those costs are quite a bit cheaper 'per-capita' than in a single family house. It evens out for an owned flat in a large house of course, but I guess that's even rarer in Germany than elsewhere (especially outside cities).
- bluGill 3y ago
  Sure, but if you want to you can sell and move to a smaller place. Most people have emotional attachment to their house - they look at a room and remember that is where their kids took the first step. While this costs them money, emotions like that are valuable.
  - flohofwoe 3y ago
    In some of the more "rural" areas in Germany it's actually not simple to sell a house short of giving it away for free (and even then..), especially when it needs a lot of upgrading to latest energy standards.

flohofwoe 3y ago

Living alone as an old person in the house you built for a whole family when you were young isn't cheap either though, especially now when it's time to upgrade the heating away from gas, isolate the walls and maybe it's also about time to finally fix the roof, it's much easier to complain about all this to your landlord ;)

hef19898 3y ago
All of those costs are factored into your rent so. In fact, those rennovation works are a reason for a landlord to increase rent on existing leases. So you pay for those, always. What you don't pay so, ia rent for property you own. And ince the mortgage is repaid, ideally begore you retire, your monthly costs are the same as if you rented without the rent.
- flohofwoe 3y ago
  I would think that in a larger multi-family house those costs are quite a bit cheaper 'per-capita' than in a single family house. It evens out for an owned flat in a large house of course, but I guess that's even rarer in Germany than elsewhere (especially outside cities).
bluGill 3y ago
Sure, but if you want to you can sell and move to a smaller place. Most people have emotional attachment to their house - they look at a room and remember that is where their kids took the first step. While this costs them money, emotions like that are valuable.
- flohofwoe 3y ago
  In some of the more "rural" areas in Germany it's actually not simple to sell a house short of giving it away for free (and even then..), especially when it needs a lot of upgrading to latest energy standards.