Germany is Not America

Hard though it may be to believe, we've been in Germany for almost a week now.  The days have blown by, and we are still in the whirlwind of attempting to settle in to our new life.  The good news is that we're making good progress and for the most part we've had a lot of fun doing so.

The househunting part was stressful.  We have a 30 day limit in the temporary living facilities, and the number of available housing that fit our criteria was daunting.  With the pups, it needed to be a pet friendly house and we really felt strongly about a fenced yard.  We wanted at least four bedrooms since we've got two babies coming as well as an onslaught of family for visits, and we wanted to be within 10 miles of the base.  After scouring my various house hunting sites for a few months now, I knew that was going to be a tough bill to fill.  I had hoped that by the time we arrived, more houses would be opening up, unfortunately that just didn't seem to be the case.

Saturday morning, I got up and started calling landlords and property managers to schedule viewings.  I was shocked that in many cases, the first showing I could get was four or five days away.  With our buying, selling and renting experiences in the States, we had always found that if you called a realtor they were getting you into houses that same day or the next.  On the flip side, if someone wanted to look at our house we might get a days notice if we were lucky, more likely a few hours to vacate for an hour or two and have the house in tip top condition.  This just isn't the case in Germany.

Similarly, we've been looking to buy a second car, used but with fairly low mileage and built within the last 5-10 years.  This is almost as difficult as finding a house.  If you swing a cat, you'll hit a used BMW for sale, but chances are good that it's closer to 15 or 20 years old than 5 and has more miles on it than the space shuttle.  There are tons of used car lots, but the prices are pretty inflated and certainly more than we're looking to spend on a second hand car.  But then those that meet our criteria on the base for-sale-by-owner lot are few and far between.  We test drove a Mercedes sedan on Sunday, and it rode like a dream, but is still a little more than we're looking to spend, so we've been trying, with very little success, to arrange appointments to look at the other two cars that we're eyeing.  When we went out to the used car lots, we wandered through all of the cars and were never once approached by a sales person and oftentimes, the prices aren't even listed on the vehicles.  It's hard to really complain about not being swarmed by slick dealers, but if you have a question it is awfully hard to get an answer.

Perhaps it's just because Germany isn't such a capitalistic society as what we're used to dealing with.  Of course, they want to make a sale, but they'd just as soon do it tomorrow as today from what we could tell.  Or even next week, for that matter!  I had really hoped that we would have a vehicle by the end of this week, but it looks like we'll be renting for a while yet.

Happily, we did find a wonderful house in a picturesque German village, right across the street from a cow pasture.  It meets all of our criteria and is a perfect layout and size for our needs.  It even has a pantry in the kitchen, and I can't tell you how much that made my day!  We were the first ones in for the open house on Saturday, and the realtor was kind enough to give us a little time to think about what we wanted to do since it was our very first viewing.  On Sunday, I managed to strong arm a different realtor into giving us a showing of the only other house we were considering, and though it was also a wonderful option, we decided our country house was a better fit.

We've been trying to sign the contract all week.  We met with the realtor yesterday, but it was just for him to give us a copy of the contract signed by the landlords, and we made a follow-up appointment to meet at the housing office today as they'll be giving the final approval on the deal.  Unfortunately, when we showed up, the housing office was randomly closed for the day.  So, we're trying again tomorrow, and hopefully things will be official.  I don't want to get too excited or share too much before we know the deal is sealed, but here's a little teaser of what our view would be from our back balcony.

Comments

[Jass]

I love that view! I hope you guys get it soon. Good luck with everything!

[Molly]

It's so picturesque! Hope all the loose ends get tied up quickly.

[Brooke]

Good luck! I remember being super stressed when trying to lock down the rental apartment we loved in the Czech Republic, and then realizing afterward that I should have just tried to be as chill as the leasing company was. They weren't rushing b/c, unlike trying to nail down a place in the States, there just wasn't a concern with us potentially not getting the flat. We said we wanted to rent it, so they just assumed it was ours while I was losing my mind over making sure we got all the papers signed ASAP. Anyway, long rambling story short, I'm sure all will go smoothly with your German cottage! Now good luck on the car! :)

[Julie]

Amazing! I can't wait to see more. Looks like an absolute fantasy! :) Glad you guys are settling in...what an adventure. (*jealous*)

[Solange]

Oh, that would be so frustrating to me! I really hope the house works out :) That is such a cool view!!!

[Anne]

Wow, stunning! I have all the fingers and toes crossed that all works out!! :)

[A Super Girl]

Lovely! I want more pics...now!!!

[Caro]

Such an incredible view! :) Here's hoping everything comes together with signing that contract...cannot wait to see more pics!

[katelin]

oh man, hope everything comes together soon for you guys! in the meantime, yay that view and yay germany!

[Kristina]

That is a gorgeous view! I know I said it before, but I seriously cannot wait to hear all about your adventures in Germany. I don't think I'll ever get an opportunity to live abroad so if you don't mind, I'm just going to sit here in the boring old Midwest and live vicariously through you :)

[erin - heart in ireland]

What a wonderful view! Can't wait to hear the good news!

And I know it took forever to get used to the slower Euro lifestyle living in Ireland.

[Stephanie]

I feel your pain sister. House hunting in a new city is stressful. We had the Army also having their hand in the mess which was NOT fun. But when it all boils down to it you find your 'home' :) Best wishes on the rest of your transition being smooth and finding the car that meets your needs :)

[Samantha Yates]

We moved to Germany in December & that was rough around the holidays! Germans are very laid back & do things on their own time! Getting a cell phone, turning on our Internet, hooking up our AFN decoder, it all took about 3 months! Prepare yourself! For your Internet which ever company you choose will mail you the router which takes a couple weeks, then you have to call back & schedule an appointment for a technician to come to your house to check the connection to make sure it can be hooked up & if so they plug in the box & tell you it should be working within the week! It is as if there is absolutely no sense of urgency! Not us what part of Germany you are stationed but if you are near Ramstein let me know. We just bought a slightly used car from a great company I would recommend! Oh & that process is pretty ridiculous too! Be prepared now not to bring your car home the same day you purchase it! Best of luck!

[Brittany]

Ack!!! What an adorable house!! I'm so glad you found one so quickly! :) Can't wait to see it in person!

[Kate P]

Hoping it all works out! (Moooooooo. . .)

[Lynn Daue]

Oh my gosh, that's gorgeous! Nice job! Does this one have any fun stained-glass doors?