FrenchguyinMunich

  Always tough comparing salaries across borders as not comparing like for like. On the one hand in Germany the job probably includes great benefits like 30+ days of vacation, and healthcare costs are usually much lower than in the US, but given higher tax rate what you have in your pocket at the end of the day might be slightly lower than in NYC. However, if you then take cost of living in comparison, you are far better off in a small town.    To be honest 90K doesn't seem too unreasonable to me, but strongly depending on experience and what the definition of "senior" is (i.e. how many years of experience are required for the job). 

They are more environmentally friendly over their lifecycle. More carbon emissions during production stage than traditional ICE vehicles, but after a few years on the road their carbon footprint is much lower (to what extent depends on the country's electricity mix of course).   Another advantage of EVs is that they can load on electricity during off-peak hours or when wind and sun are good, thus making it easier for the electricity grid to deal with fluctuations from renewable energies.    But the biggest advantage of EVs is that they don't poison your lungs as ICE do. Poor air quality resulting from roads clogged with ICE vehicles is one of the leading causes of death and sickness in modern Europe. Even if EV's were as polluting as ICE vehicles (which they are not) at least it's far away from population centers.   Their braking system is also better than the one from ICE vehicles and generates less toxic fine particulates.    To my mind, we can't be moving fast enough away from ICEs... 

  Historic rate of saving is thankfully different from current rate of saving , thank god salaries do increase with age/responsibilities, plus lifestyle changes (used to live between Paris and Munich before choosing to permanently relocate to Munich, which was creating lots of added costs).    Yes it's a big bet for us, but nothing unreasonable (mortage to income ratio <30%). When buying highly leveraged, as people who don't inherit do, we are actually more sensitive to interest rates ticking up from 2% to 3% before we buy rather than prices dropping by 10% after we bought. Thus the need to lock-in now the good interest rates for 27 years.  And if in the meantime the market hits bumps on the road (which I'm sure it will), honestly we don't really care. Even if in 27 years values are down by 10% (which I highly doubt just because of simple inflation and Munich growing so fast), in the meantime we will have saved on rent and still come out on top. And now we're certain we will be living in a nice place, and we already now the cost , whereas as a renter we have no visibility on our future cost to maintain same standard of living.   The main gamble is the part about not losing our jobs! And that's why I wouldn't have bought half of that alone. As a couple, we spread the risk.       

  We just bought a place for 900k€, by putting just 115k€upfront (which covers Notar/taxes + a little bit of the actual price). We're a typical DINKY household in our mid-30's and the banks are currently very happy to lend with very little upfront cash as long as you are far enough from retirement and can demonstrate stable employment. Even with no other assets (as is our case) which can serve as collateral.

  I would say around 20%-40%, at least, for similar quality (which is normal, central and attractive neighborhoods always attract a significant price premium). Plus very few properties are up for sale in Schwabing.     

Thanks for the very helpful answer! We don't have children yet, but school quality is definitely something that would be of importance to us for the future. Our Grundschule would be the Führichstr. 53 one (http://www.gsfuehrich.musin.de/) and the Gymnasium the Michaeligymnasium (https://www.michaeli-gymnasium.de/). Any specific insights on these two schools?       

Hi All,  reviving this thread as my wife and I are considering buying an apartment in a small Neubau near Ostpark / Michaelibad (Amselweg, near Hechtseestr. to be precise) and we are wondering whether any TT contributors live in the area and could give us their impressions. Do you like the area? Does the open air swimming pool become very lound in summer? Is it a safe neighbourhood? We're currently living in Schwabing but prices there are much too crazy to envision buying and we found this Ostpark area a good compromise, with lots of small houses, good transport connection (U5 Michaelibad right next door and U2 Innsbrucker Ring 10min walk) and close to a green area. Any thoughts more than welcome!