Friday, July 12, 2013

Relocating to Berlin: House Hunting

Hello, and welcome to our House Hunt in Berlin.  My wife and I had one week in Berlin to look for a place to live after our relocation at the end of July.  We had a list of priorities:

1)  Walking distance to our daughter's school in Prenzlauer Berg;
2)  Three bedrooms (Master bedroom, bedroom for our daughter, and a spare bedroom/home office);
3)  Balcony, deck, or other outdoor space;
4)  Fitted kitchen;
5)  At least two bathrooms;
6)  Pet friendly.

And our budget was capped at €2,500/month utilities included, although the lower the better. 

The Choices:

House 1:  "Leafy Luxury"
Our first stop was to a building on a quiet tree-lined cobble-stoned side street in the Prenzlauer Berg neighborhood.  From the street, the building is beautiful and fresh looking.  As an interior building, we have to be buzzed through the street facing building into an interior courtyard, where we then walk to the building where the apartment is located, where we are buzzed in again.  The apartment is on the 5th story of a 5-story building, has three bedrooms, two full bathrooms, two large balconies, and a roof deck with a spectacular view of downtown Berlin.  The building was originally constructed in 1897, but was completely renovated and refurbished in 2007.  The fitted kitchen is small but modern.  The bedrooms and balconies are spacious.  But the ultimate moment in visiting this apartment is the walk up the private stairway to the private roof deck.  This massive outdoor area has breathtaking views of downtown Berlin, including my personal favorite part of the Berlin skyline: the Fernsehturm.

House 1 is two blocks from our daughter's school, and has two wine shops, half a dozen restaurants, and a grocery store within steps of our front door.  Other great features of House 1 are an elevator, bright skylights, air conditioning (!!!!!), and underground parking.  As we will not have a car, we have the option of sub-leasing this parking space to help to mitigate the rent.  The trick is that the current occupants have a lease that extends through August 31, over one month after we arrive in Berlin.

Size:  1,654 sq. ft.
Price:  €2,228/month all-inclusive


House 2:  "Gated Glamor"

Our second stop was to a very unique "English Townhouse" development in the space left by the former turn of the previous century Schneider Brewery.  This small gated community, built in 2007, consists of a number of loft-style apartments and three-level townhouses.  House 2 was one of these townhouses, and consists of three bedrooms on the top two levels, including a beautiful but cramped master bedroom that includes a fireplace, steam shower for two (or more), and massive bathtub.  Behind the house is a small but pretty yard with grass and a tiny fish pond.  On top of the house - up a terrifying exterior spiral staircase - is a roof deck that has an even more spectacular view than that at House 1.  With heated floors, air conditioning, pre-wired surround sound, centrally controlled lighting, and a fitted kitchen with premium appliances, House 2 is a luxurious dream home in a central Berlin area.

House 2 is also two blocks from our daughter's school, although she would have to cross busy Greifswalder Straße to get there.  The development has a private playground and a water fountain in which the many kids in the neighborhood can play.  However, the development is somewhat controversial in that it is a gated community consisting primarily of expatriates that is both physically and socially segregated from the surrounding neighborhood.  The house also has both garage and on-street parking, which we can use for overflow storage.  The trick is that the owner - who currently lives in Munich - will be returning to Berlin in 2016, so this would be a 3 year lease at the most.

Size:   1,518 sq. ft.
Price:  €2,450/month all-inclusive


House 3:  "Gritty Greifswalder"
Our third stop was a work in progress.  By this point, we were used to the transitional nature of Prenzlauer Berg, where old bullet-scarred, leaky, working-class tenements are being renovated to become luxury flats for Berlin's new entrepreneurial class.  But when we walked up to House 3 on the still fairly rough looking Greifswalder Straße, we felt more than a little underwhelmed.  The building is covered from top to bottom in scaffolding and tarpaulins, while legions of tradesmen are everywhere hammering, plastering, painting, and sanding.  With considerable caution, we picked our way through the construction debris, up the dusty stairs in an interior building, toward the 3rd story apartment in a 6-story building.  What we saw when we finally opened the door was jaw-dropping.  This former industrial "altbau" (old construction) building has been converted into beautiful flats.  High ceilings, beautifully restored original hardwood floors, and vaulted windows are matched with an ultra-modern kitchen, sunny balconies, and three spacious bedrooms.

House 3 is just around the corner from our daughter's school, and while it is on busy Greifswalder Straße, she would not have to cross it to get to school.  Construction on the front building and the common areas is expected to continue until the end of 2013, during which time rent would be reduced by 20% to compensate for the dust and inconvenience.  Unlike House 1, House 3 is available almost immediately (following some final painting touch-ups).  Unlike House 2, House 3 has an open ended lease term.  While House 3 is the smallest of the three options, it is also by far the least expensive.

Size:  1,393 sq. ft.
Price:  €1,596/month all-inclusive, not including temporary 20% reduction


The Decision:

As is customary in the House Hunt, one choice of the three has to be eliminated.  Despite its appeal on paper, my wife and I looked at each other and immediately crossed House 2 off of our list.  The rooms seemed small or poorly laid out.  The master bathroom and the master bedroom were combined into one big room - although the toilet was mercifully placed in its own room.  The climb to the roof deck was terrifying, even when sober.  However, what really disqualified House 2 was the fact that it is in a gated community.  The whole purpose of our move to Berlin is to live like Berliners and to be a part of the urban community.  We could never feel that way if there is a gate separating us from our new neighbors.

The choice between Houses 1 and 3 was slightly more difficult, but only slightly.  House 1 is on a beautiful quiet street, has a stunning view, has loads of outdoor space, and has large well laid out rooms.  House 3 is spacious, is well laid out, and is significantly less expensive.  But House 3 is also on a very busy street without much personality, and as a mid-story apartment, it has no view to speak of.  Perhaps just as important to consider, House 3 is available immediately upon our arrival in Berlin, while House 1 is potentially not available until over a month after we arrive.  However, while I could settle for House 3, House 1 is everything that I always wanted when moving to Berlin.


The Aftermath:

My wife and I applied for both House 1 and House 3 in order to ensure that we got at least one of our choices, but we told our relocation agent that House 1 was our first choice.  After providing extensive proof of income and financial history, House 1 agreed verbally to our offer to sign a lease.  A week after reaching this verbal agreement, we are still waiting to sign the official lease.  We are assured that this delay is primarily due to it being summer vacation time in Berlin - a time when forward progress on any business slows to a crawl, if it doesn't come to a complete stop.  In the end, it turns out that the timing of our move may not be as big an issue as we had first feared.  The current tenants of House 1 already have a lease on their new residence, and they want to get out as soon as possible so that they do not have to pay rent for two homes.  If they had their choice, we could move in now.  The question is whether the landlord will let us move in early, as it is traditional for the outgoing tenant to re-paint and repair any damage to walls or appliances they caused, and the landlord may want to ensure that the apartment doesn't degrade too much if that work isn't done in-between tenants.

As far as I am concerned, the game is over but for the shouting.  Our furniture was moved out of our Washington, DC house yesterday, and is on its way to House 1 to arrive on August 3, whether we are there or not to receive it.  As with many things in this relocation, we cope with issues as they arise.  But at least we have made the most difficult and consequential choice of this relocation process so far.  That feels pretty good!

3 comments:

  1. It's good to hear that house hunting went so smoothly. Everything fell perfectly into place. Though there is little issue with the exact moving date, at least you already have a sure house to live in. May you family enjoy your new life in Berlin. :)
    Avril Copperfield @ Churchill Mortgage

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  2. In zentral ruhiger Lage befinden sich in unserem Haus sechs individuelle Ferienwohnungen. Diese stilvoll gestalteten Wohnungen in verschiedenen Größen sind komplett ausgestattet, sehr gemütlich und mit viel Liebe zum Detail eingerichtet. Von unseren südlich ausgerichteten Terrassen und Balkonen blicken Sie in einen wunderschönen Garten der zum Verweilen und Erholen einlädt.

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