Tag Archives: house hunting

Uncategorized

Wiesbaden, take two… the dog friendly housing quest continues. Part six

Sunday morning, we got up, had breakfast, and started loading up the car.  Bill was sidelined for about twenty minutes because he misplaced his car keys.  I had to laugh at that, because one Christmas, he got me “Tiles”, which are little things you can put on your stuff that make them easier to find when you misplace them.  They beep when you clap your hands or something.  However, I notice that I’m a lot less likely to misplace things than Bill is.  I don’t think I’ve ever bothered putting the Tiles on my stuff because my stuff is always in my gargantuan sized purse.  Bill, on the other hand, is constantly losing shit.  Incidentally, I found the keys under a dish towel by the sink.  Bill had put them there while he was washing the dishes.

I kind of shooed Bill to the car and he complained that we were going to be early for our 11:30 appointment.  I told him I didn’t care and we could drive around the area if we were too early.  Off we went to a town called Breckenheim, which is a borough of Wiesbaden.  Sounds fancy, right?  Well, it appeared to be kind of fancy, although it was very congested, just like most of the other towns we looked at.  Even the ultra modern house was on a busy corner with a lot of traffic, although at least the street wasn’t packed with cars.

We found the little private drive where the house was located.  It was crowded with parked cars.  It appeared that there were a bunch of people at the little school on the road, so this might not be a constant condition of the street.  On the other hand, it probably is always that crowded.  It seems to be a familiar state in the areas near Wiesbaden.

We were about twenty minutes early, so Bill parked the car.  We were just going to wait, but the prospective landlord spotted us and welcomed us to tour the house.  We left the dogs in the car and they were very good, for once.  They didn’t make a peep.  I almost went to the landlords’ house, which is located next door.  Ordinarily, having the landlords next door would be a huge red flag, but we were running out of time and options.  Neither of us has any desire to go back up to Wiesbaden for more house hunting.

We walked inside and I noticed that the layout was very normal.  The house was clean and has no carpeting or nightmarish tiles on the floors or walls.  It has a really cute kitchen that is at least twice as big as the tiny one we’ve been enduring for four years.  There is no dorm sized refrigerator in the kitchen that doubles for counter space.  Instead, there’s a normal sized fridge with a small freezer.  We already have a standing freezer and a small fridge, so that’s no problem.  I’ll probably finally get my “fridge of sin” back for beer and wine.

There’s a living room with a charming fireplace.  The bottom floor appears to be a mother-in-law apartment/hobby room.  The house has a nice laundry room with a vent for my dryer.  Most of the other places we saw would require condensation dryers, which I’ve heard are a real pain in the ass and take forever to get the job done.

The floors were just redone and look nice and, most importantly, the house can accommodate our furniture.  There’s a dining room for my Eckbank Gruppe and the two bedrooms on the second floor have a shared balcony and sloped ceilings, but they’re big enough to take the king sized beds, or we can put one bed in the downstairs area, where there’s another shower, and use one of the bedrooms for office space.  There’s also another room that has a balcony and can be used as an office.  I noticed the house has curtain rods, so I can easily hang my drapes.

The bathroom has a rainfall shower and a tub… and most importantly to me, the toilet was recently replaced with a modern version that will probably be able to handle any toilet paper I throw at it.

The backyard is small, but it has a high, secure fence.  Finally, we can sit outside with the dogs and not have to worry about them escaping.  Also… there was no awning to be found or broken.  Instead, it appears that the terrace has a roof.  There’s a garage and small parking spot for my Mini and another parking spot right in front of the house.  Tanja, the real estate lady showed up on time, just as we were finishing our walk through of the house.

When I asked the real estate lady about the landlords living next door, she immediately realized my angst.  But she said they’re laid back… and I did notice that not only did they allow the previous tenant to put up a fence and remove some of the doors from downstairs, but the previous person lived there for seven years.  That tells me he or she must have been relatively happy there.  I don’t love the idea of living next to the landlords, but who knows?  They might turn out to be people who can appreciate or at least tolerate my odd sense of humor and lack of cleaning related OCD.  I did notice that the husband has a sense of humor, which is always a good thing.  Like our very first German landlord, the owner of this house also worked at IBM in Böblingen at one time.  He understood why Bill and I are being forced to move, because the same thing had happened to him.

Bill was fretting about the price of the house, which is by far more than we’ve ever paid for housing anywhere.  It’s 3100 euros plus “other costs”.  It comes out to over $4000 a month.  But… Bill is going to get a small bump in his housing allowance, and we’re mostly debt free now.  Bill heard a rumor that pretty soon, the company he works for will only offer the money for actual rent instead of a lump sum, which would defeat the purpose of finding a house that costs less than what he’s paid.  And while I would have liked to have found something less expensive in a less busy neighborhood, Bill will get to enjoy a very short commute of less than ten minutes.  That has never happened in our sixteen years of marriage.  He’s always had to sit in traffic.  Maybe he’ll save money on gas.

Speaking of traffic, there was slightly less of it as we made our way home.  We did encounter one traffic accident, so we detoured through some cute towns near Pforzheim and Karlsruhe.  I was thinking about how much I am going to miss BW.  As pretty as Mainz and Wiesbaden are, I enjoy Baden-Württemberg’s country charm.  I won’t be surprised if we wind up living here again at some point.

Anyway, after a few hours of hemming, hawing, adding and subtracting, Bill finally realized that we can afford the house.  He didn’t need to tell me that, since I knew we could.  He just didn’t want to spend so much, for which I really can’t blame him.  He sent a note to Tanja, the real estate agent, who immediately got back to the owners.  They said they’d love to have us, so now we have a home right next to theirs.  Wish us luck.

The simple fact is, free standing houses are apparently in short supply in Wiesbaden.  Most people are paying a lot for apartments and duplexes.  I saw more than one apartment offered at over 3000 euros a month and plenty of duplexes were going for at least 2500 euros or more.  The house we toured yesterday had almost everything we needed and a lot of what we wanted.  Although I will definitely miss living in dog heaven and the beautiful views we’ve enjoyed in Unterjettingen, I think this house in Breckenheim will be alright.  I don’t know how long we’ll live in Wiesbaden, but it’s good to know we’ve found a place to hang our hats.  And a bonus is that the new house is within walking distance of a grocery store, bar, bus stop, and bakery.  So if I get depressed, it’ll be easy to drown my sorrows.

But I will admit, I’m going to miss the best part of living in Unterjettingen, pictured below…

Sigh…  I will truly miss this.

 

I will also add that in spite of all my bitching about this house in Unterjettingen, this process of looking for a new house in Germany has taught me that we were lucky to find our current place.  Not only was it very reasonably priced, it also accommodated our bulky American furniture without too much trouble.  Although we were also lucky during our first Germany tour, I am now realizing that finding German houses that work with American tastes can be difficult.  And finding really affordable houses that also work with American furniture can be almost impossible.  So thanks very much to our current landlords for that.

We should be getting the contract sometime today.  If everything checks out, we’ll officially have our new home and will probably already be in residence as soon as a month from today.

Standard
advice, Germany

The quest for housing in Stuttgart…

One hopes to find decent housing upon arrival in Germany… Stairwell living is like going to the dogs… (just kidding!)

 

I always get tickled when I see newcomers posting in our local Facebook groups, looking for housing ahead of time.  I definitely understand why they do what they do.  The prospect of looking for housing in a foreign country is daunting.  No one wants to live in a hotel for weeks on end, especially if there are kids or pets in the mix.  Bill and I have now moved to Germany twice and, both times, we spent weeks living in temporary quarters with two beagles (different ones each time).  I know how much that can suck.

In the fall of 2007, we lived at the Vaihinger Hof for about six weeks.  I’m not sure if the Vaihinger Hof is still operating.  The one thing it had going for it, besides extreme pet friendliness and tolerance, was that it was very close to Patch.  I also liked the people who were running it, although it was a very no frills hotel and not very clean.

The reason we were at the Vaihinger Hof, and not a military hotel, is that the military hotels were all booked solid.  This was before the Panzer Hotel existed; it was being built as we were leaving.  There were three smaller hotels on Robinson, Patch, and Kelley, and all three were full.  We might have preferred the Marriott in Sindelfingen and, in fact, we spent our first night there.  But all they had available were the executive rooms, which were way more expensive than what we could afford.

In 2007, many of the housing units on the four installations in Stuttgart were being renovated.  There was absolutely no prayer that we would be living in a “stairwell apartment”.  So we started looking for a home to rent.  We put our faith in the housing office, which at the time, had a rather bad reputation.  I will stress that we were helped by the housing office and did find our first home in Germany through them– actually very quickly, if I recall correctly.  What kept us in the hotel for weeks was waiting for the landlord to get it ready for us.  He and his ex wife had gotten divorced, so he had many years of memories to sort through and relocate.  He also had to repaint the house before we could move in.  So we lived in the hotel, and tried many of the restaurants in downtown Vaihingen, because we had no kitchen facilities to speak of at the Vaihinger Hof.

Still, the Vaihinger Hof was a lot better than this place…

 

When we finally did move into our home in Pfäffingen, it was pretty far away from all the installations.  It turned out to be great for us, though, because we don’t have kids, and my husband doesn’t mind commuting.  I’m sure for other people who come to the Stuttgart area, the prospect of trying to find affordable housing close to work and school and with all the things Americans love in housing seems very difficult.  So they try to get a jump on it before they get here.

I won’t lie.  Finding a good house within your budget can be difficult and worrisome.  It’s a rite of passage we all go through.

I just want to say “I get it” to those in America who are stressing over housing in Germany, and trying to house hunt from the States.  I did the same thing both times.  Both times, we ended up living in rather obscure towns well outside of the American hot spots.  The first time, my husband ended up paying slightly more than the housing allowance he got from the Army.  The second time, in 2014, we found a less expensive place.  What we pay is well under what his company gives him for housing.  But again, we don’t have kids, and we don’t live close to the American action.  Actually, I kind of like it that way.

When we moved back here in 2014, we spent one week in a German hotel and then found a temporary apartment, where we stayed for three weeks until we could move into our current home.  We found both our house in Jettingen and the temporary apartment on Stuttgart Bookoo.  But, once you get here, you find that houses can be found in a variety of places.  In some ways, it’s a lot easier finding a home now than it was in 2007.  Facebook is a huge help.

When newcomers post in the local Facebook groups about finding housing, there’s often a tinge of eagerness, nervousness, and/or even a little bit of panic.  Although I know this advice is hard to hear and even harder to heed, I would NOT recommend trying to find a house before you get here.  The reason for that is that most decent houses get scarfed up very quickly.  This is a place where people are constantly coming and going, so rental housing availability varies on a daily basis.  There’s no sense in whetting your appetite for food you may never get to taste, right?  Also, if you’re military, there is a very real chance that you won’t get to live on the economy anyway, although again, the availability of government housing changes daily.

The most I would do is look for neighborhoods and communities you would be interested in seeing.  Don’t look at specific houses with a mind to rent them, though you might check out what they look like as a means of deciding what to bring with you.  Study the area and decide what you must have in order to be happy.  But, even as you do that, realize that you may very well end up somewhere else.  We did both times, and both times it turned out better than fine.

Don’t worry… your new home, whether on base or on the economy, will look better than this.

 

When people tell you that you might not be able to live off the installations, understand that they really are telling the truth.  If you are here with the military and housing is available, you’ll have to take it, make a very convincing case for why you can’t take it, or pay out of pocket for your housing off base.  Of course, some of the people telling you about this requirement may simply be slightly embittered because they live in stairwell housing and don’t like it.  On the other hand, other people actually seek housing in stairwells or move there against their will and end up loving it anyway.

Really, our community is mostly very friendly!  The people telling you not to get your hopes up about living on the economy are not “crushing your head” by telling you that you might have to live in a stairwell!

There are some advantages to stairwell living.  It’s close and convenient to all things American.  The commute is fairly easy.  It may be easier to make local friends.  You don’t have to worry about idiosyncrasies of German life, like dealing with landlords and neighbors who don’t speak English.  Of course, living in stairwells also means sharing walls, losing privacy, and communal living among people who may not share your sense of community pride.  But you can take heart in remembering that nothing is forever.  Even if your housing situation sucks, it’s only temporary.

The advice I would give to newcomers is to try not to stress too much about housing.  You really can’t control it too much from afar.  German landlords are usually fairly choosy, and they will want to meet you and your family before they rent to you.  Also, even if you look from afar, as we tend to do in the United States, you won’t get the best idea of what the neighborhood is like.  Bill and I made the mistake of looking from afar when we moved from Fort Bragg to Fort Sam Houston.  We visited the neighborhood, but weren’t able to see inside the house ahead of time and, instead, relied on pictures.  We were too eager to get out of the hotel and spent a year in a house we hated.  Fortunately, it was only for a year.  I will not make that mistake again (and hopefully I won’t have to, now that Bill is retired).

Instead of focusing on the house hunt, focus more on what you’ll be bringing and leaving behind.  Consider that German houses often lack closets and do not have open floor plans.  Kitchens tend to be small and the electric current is 220 rather than 110.  I would recommend stocking up on dual voltage electronics and consider leaving 110 appliances in the States.  Ditto to bulky furniture.  Rooms in German homes are usually smaller and may not accommodate your big couch or television.  We do have two king sized beds in our house.  In fact, king beds may even be easier than queens, since they have split box springs.  Bear in mind that your staircase may be spiral and your doorways could be narrow.  And don’t forget to bring your seasonal stuff if that’s important to you.  The first time we lived here, we forgot our Christmas decorations.  I now have two trees and decorations for both.  When we leave, I suspect one or both of our fake trees will be left behind.

Well, that’s about it for my take on looking for a home in Germany.  Don’t worry.  You’ll find somewhere to live, and chances are good that it’ll end up being just great.  Or, at least it will be habitable for as long as you’re enjoying STAUgart!  Welcome to the community and enjoy Germany!

*The photos above were taken when I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Republic of Armenia from 1995-97.  The buildings pictured were in the city of Gyumri, which was hit by a terrible earthquake on December 7, 1988.  As you can see, the buildings were still in a shambles in 1996 and ’97, when those photos were taken.  I have not been back to Armenia yet, but I’m thinking it’s looking better now.  

Standard