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Most Germans don’t buy their homes, they rent

qz.com

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Re: Most Germans don’t buy their homes, they rent

#21

Post by 0xcde4c3db »

premium-concern wrote: post #6
buro9 wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yup. Germany has one of the lowest adoption rates of credit products such as the humble credit card out of nearly all Western nations. Debt is not liked. Edit: From the same site, the linked article at the bottom has the answer: http://qz.com/262595/why-germans-pay-cash-for-almost-everyth... A better link: http://www.businessinsider.com/you-have-to-understand-german...

Yep. "Don't buy things if you can't pay for then." sounds reasonable, but some other countries seem to disagree. Not surprised that those countries suffer from government shutdowns over how much the debt ceiling is raised.

In the US, at least, the shutdowns don't have much to do with our actual spending/borrowing habits. It's a structural quirk of government operation that provides a handy perennial disaster to use for political brinkmanship and finger-pointing. Basically "if you don't start being reasonable by caving to my demands, then you're going to cause a government shutdown".

Re: Most Germans don’t buy their homes, they rent

#22

Post by tksap »

wil421 wrote: post #10
DocTomoe wrote: post #2

Being German I want to pPoint out that the article leaves out one cruicial detail: Building your own home puts you into debt for quite literally the rest of your life. We do not like debt.

What about cars? Are Germans more likely to buy or lease a new car? Or do more people buy used cars with cash?

You buy the car you can afford. I would only take a credit if I wanted to buy or build a house.

Re: Most Germans don’t buy their homes, they rent

#23

Post by webkike »

premium-concern wrote: post #6
buro9 wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yup. Germany has one of the lowest adoption rates of credit products such as the humble credit card out of nearly all Western nations. Debt is not liked. Edit: From the same site, the linked article at the bottom has the answer: http://qz.com/262595/why-germans-pay-cash-for-almost-everyth... A better link: http://www.businessinsider.com/you-have-to-understand-german...

Yep. "Don't buy things if you can't pay for then." sounds reasonable, but some other countries seem to disagree. Not surprised that those countries suffer from government shutdowns over how much the debt ceiling is raised.

Using credit cards does not preclude being able to afford the thing you are paying for. I regularly use my credit card for every day purchases despite having ample money in my checking account. The regular payments allow me to develop a good credit history without much worry.

Re: Most Germans don’t buy their homes, they rent

#24

Post by ghaff »

thatfrenchguy wrote: post #18
buro9 wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yup. Germany has one of the lowest adoption rates of credit products such as the humble credit card out of nearly all Western nations. Debt is not liked. Edit: From the same site, the linked article at the bottom has the answer: http://qz.com/262595/why-germans-pay-cash-for-almost-everyth... A better link: http://www.businessinsider.com/you-have-to-understand-german...

Never seen credit cards outside of the US/UK/Canada...

I use them in continental Europe and Asia all the time. Maybe they're not as common but they certainly aren't anything like unheard of even if they're not as universal as in the US.

Re: Most Germans don’t buy their homes, they rent

#25

Post by adrianratnapala »

I agree it is a good thing for Germany to have so much renting. Indeed I think home-ownership will be the #1 driver of inequality in other contries over the next generation or two.

Those countries will have policies that lcaim help poor people buy houses, but the effect is to just inflate prices and increase financial risk -- as the world has already seen. The one thing that would really help -- increased supply is blocked by a powerful home-owners lobby damanding zoning rules and other restrictions.

In Germany the bloc is powerful, and probably gets more goodies than it should. But at least here they are constant building new housing.

Re: Most Germans don’t buy their homes, they rent

#26

Post by Noseshine »

thesimon wrote: post #11
buro9 wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yup. Germany has one of the lowest adoption rates of credit products such as the humble credit card out of nearly all Western nations. Debt is not liked. Edit: From the same site, the linked article at the bottom has the answer: http://qz.com/262595/why-germans-pay-cash-for-almost-everyth... A better link: http://www.businessinsider.com/you-have-to-understand-german...

>such as the humble credit card out of nearly all Western nations Of course using your overdraft is totally fine, but using the evil credit cards even when paying in full is just like declaring bankruptcy. Doesn't help payment services in Germany that Visa/MasterCard is always considered an evil credit card and debit brands aren't too common.

From the PoV of someone who once co-owned a small business in Germany that accepted card payments:

The reason they are "evil" is that they charge the dealer the by far largest fees. Cache: no fee. EC card: small fee. Credit card: large fee. And of course I can't ask the customer to pay for it, I must have one price for all. It was something like 1% vs. 3% (approximately(!), just to give an idea of magnitude).

It's not even any more convenient. Except for a few places like car rentals, where the credit card serves an insurance function (the rental deposit), there is exactly zero reason to point to convenience. Just use an EC card or a bank card that's attached to the major payment processing networks, everybody has one.

On the other hand, most credit cards cost a yearly fee of 20-70 Euros or so. The only reason I grudgingly pay for one is because I rent a car occasionally.

Re: Most Germans don’t buy their homes, they rent

#27

Post by nailuj »

thesimon wrote: post #13
premium-concern wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep. "Don't buy things if you can't pay for then." sounds reasonable, but some other countries seem to disagree. Not surprised that those countries suffer from government shutdowns over how much the debt ceiling is raised.

>suffer from government shutdowns over how much the debt ceiling is raised On the other hand: The government shutdown because of the debt ceiling seems just like "Stop hitting yourself" on the playground. And Germany's budget is far from balanced.

> And Germany's budget is far from balanced.

Hmm?

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-17/germany-pl...

Re: Most Germans don’t buy their homes, they rent

#28

Post by Normal_gaussian »

The only liberty that renting provides is the protection from the whims of the housing market.

Aside from that it takes liberties right left and centre. I cannot structure my house and life as I want from painting and shelving through pets and kitchen appliances.

I cannot fix something without causing a hassle and days off work.

I cannot register a business here.

I am at the whim of my landlord.

Renting in the UK is a pain in the arse. I do to see renting as particularly positive for the individual.

Re: Most Germans don’t buy their homes, they rent

#29

Post by LeanderK »

I am a German CS-Student and currently renting in a shared flat with 4 other students. We call it WG (living-community) and its really popular not only with students, but i know a lot of young professionals and even middle aged ones that share an apartment (it gained popularity in the 60s, so i think its more of an culture thing that older do not share a flat). If you are in a partnership, you can move out and share a smaller one with your partner, but if your not in a partnership (or not that close yet) i wouldn't want to miss living in a shared apartment. You come home, talk about your day, cook together and on the weekend you can go out together. There is always something going on. I can't imagine living in my own apartment all by myself. Working long and then coming home into an empty, dead, dark apartment with no one to talk to.

Serious question: Why is it not very popular in other countries?

Re: Most Germans don’t buy their homes, they rent

#30

Post by adrianratnapala »

pyb wrote: post #16

Who owns most of the homes then ? Institutional investors ?

The home ownership percentage is still 43%, so not that low. Landlords seem to be the usual mix of older, upper-middle proffessionals that you see in other countries. It's just a bit more concentrated.

Also there are many houses which have two or three appartments. The owner will live in one appartment, and either have a different generation of their family in the other ones, or else rent it for money.

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