housing in gutersloh, germany

zoemeakin

Hi there,
My husband and i are being posted to gutersloh, germany in aug, i was wondering what the housing market is like over there ie buying a house and living in it or buying land and having house built rather than living in army quater. Is it expensive?

CINDNSTEVE

hello, don't know too much about that area but my friend bought a house over here and seemed pretty straight forward though if you are not fluent in German, you will need a legal translation service. On the whole Germans tend to rent rather than buy so there is not the amount of houses for sale as there is in the UK. The little bit I do know about buying a house over here is that you have to be careful as you have to buy both the plot of land for the house and then the garden. The HIVE in Gutersloh would be a good start to get some information about who to talk to over here. Sorry I don't know their web address but you can google them.
regards

MoneyHoney

I lived close to Gutersloh some years back but in quarters. As the last post states, it is more popular to rent in Germany than to buy. Housing over there about 10 years ago was much more expensive than in UK, but things may have changed. Many people either live in flats or in larger family homes, often housing 3 generations.

The forces families who had a German partner still seemed to favor living in quarters (which are much better than those in UK), even those families with children attending German schools. This could in part be due to heating bills/services etc, it gets cold out there.

This may be of use:
http://www.howtogermany.com/pages/housebuying.html