Long, boring rant/whine

[Lt. Killer M]

This topic was supposed to be named 'A Killer move'. The occasion being our move into our new little house in Karlsruhe next month. Right now, Rita is busy packing stuff, I am busy demounting the large built-in cupboards the former owner left, an electrician is busy turning the kitchen and most of the staircase into chaos and ruin (the power supply is coming in on the roof, and we need a new cable for the stove - me no like little kind and gas stove. This occasioned a total rewiring of the entire kitchen), and tomorrow morning the painter will show up for a complete overhaul: new wallpapers, painting the doors and their frames as well as fixing the plaster in the staircase and painting it.

The move is made necessary by the fact that Rita's employer, Pfizer Pharma Inc., has its offices for the European Brand Team in Karlsruhe, where Pfizer Germany is also located. Rita can't drive 90 minutes to and from work every day when we have a little baby, especially not when she is working half time. Since my follow-on project is in Berlin (meaning I have to commute a long way independent of whether we stay or move to KA), we decided to make working for Rita possible by moving.

Sounds swell, hu? Bright future in a green, quiet Karlsruhe neighbourhood?






Last Friday, Pfizer Inc. announced that it will move the EBT to Walton Oaks near London this fall.
Pfizer Germany announced that it will move in toto to Berlin in the course of the next year.



[aargh][aargh][aargh][aargh][aargh]

So we bleed through our noses to buy a house, we pay all the fees (including a realtor - bunch of cut-throat thiefs, they all are), just so that Rita is close enough to Pfizer so she can continue to work - and the suckers move to the other end of Germany! That end that would have been ideal for me - but NOW, not in 18 months time (my job in berlin runs out in 26 months), and they announce it AFTER we bought the house!

[aargh][aargh][aargh]

[Shabbaman]

That's a big load of crap they're pulling there...

[romeothemonk]

It depends what rank Rita is but most companies in the US offer a relocation package when a plant is moved for salaried employees.
It might be worth talking to the Human resources person at Pfizer about.

[Lt. Killer M]

quote:Originally posted by romeothemonk

It depends what rank Rita is but most companies in the US offer a relocation package when a plant is moved for salaried employees.
It might be worth talking to the Human resources person at Pfizer about.



Indeed, and they will pay the Karlsruhe --> Berlin move, no sweat. But that means we just wasted the money for the real estate agent and the real estate acquisition tax and the notary - all in all some 15000 Euros.

[grahamiam]

I feel for you. All that blood and sweat and it feels like its for nothing.

Is there any chance that with the renovations that you can make most of that 15k back? Also, since the company is relocating your wife, can you take the charges as a loss to write off on your income taxes? Maybe you guys need to see a tax/investment specialist to see what your options are (and Pfizer probably has one you guys can talk to for free).

[Beam]

That's shitty news Killer specially when making this move. Typical greasy big corporation stuff.

[barbu1977]

Bad news indeed.

I wish you better luck for the next move.

[Kemal]

I really feel for the two of you, this really sucks. :(

[Darkness]

Damn that sucks! I really hope you have better luck with the next move!

[Lt. Killer M]

grahamian,

the worst news is that if we sell the house for a profit within the next ten years we will pay 30% 'speculation tax' - so we need to make a huge profit when selling it just to come out even. Yes, cle3aing it up will up the price, and I hope we can sell for about 20k more than what we paid, but it will in the end be a lot of effort for an overall loss. AARGH! And we will not be able to write much off, except for the cost of moving - since Pfizer never in writing told her to move or else, it was not an 'enforced move'. SO buying the house is not deductible. Ba<yd luck for us....

Rita will talk to the HR gal at Pfizer tomorrow. If they move to Berlin soon (e.g. April) we may simply stay here, at least saving the cost of the move to KA. But whatever happenes - in the end we will have wasted the money for a nice little car at the least.

[romeothemonk]

German tax law must be much different from American law. I am actively looking for situations like you ended up in Killer. In the U.S. we have a 24 of 60 rule, where if a residence is your primary residence for 24 out of 60 months you are tax free up to 250k for singles and 500k for marrieds. That makes it really nice for me to move every 2-3 years.
I happen to own a good chunk of tools for renovating, so that helps me out in the moving/fixing process. The downside is that the wife is not as happy with it.
Another good option is renting the house out. You may be able to rent the house out at a price that will cover the mortgage for a couple of months/years, letting the place appreciate, and dodging the 30% spec fee. In the US, I would make an LLC with myself as the only shareholder, tranfer the house to the LLC at ~$400 transfer fee and have the LLC rent the house. I could then sell it and disburse the profit any way I wanted to, via dividend, etc, all while writing off any expenses on the house.
A tax advisor with a specialty in real estate could be useful, so can a trip to your public library.

[grahamiam]

While they are not responsible for your current move, they will be responsible for your future one, and, therefore, responsible for you guys selling the new house. At least, that's what common sense tells me. However, I do realize common sense and tax laws are two very different things...

edit: and these things are very complicated, with loops holes, etc that only specialist know about. Even if her company doesn't pay for it, I'd recommend you spring 200 euros or so for a tax/investment specialist to see what your best options are. If it's too big of a hit, maybe you just become an unintentional landlord. I hear renting is a very big part of the German market, at least around Munich.

[BCLG100]

That sucks killer, hope everything sorts itself out for you :)

[Lt. Killer M]

We'll see what we can do tax-wise. Sadly, in Germany there is no 24/60 rule, and renting the house out is risky - we will be far away! I'd rather rent the flat, since my Dad lives right there and even rents out a second flat in the same building. Looking after mine, too, would not be a bother for him. Also, there will be a tunnel built closeby that removes most of the traffic from our aera - I'd love to cash in on the resulting price rise :)

But for the S-KA move, nothing can be done. Obviously, we will keep all bills and add them to the buying price, to make the sum for the spec tax lower. But we must be careful, too: if we put ALL the mortage on the house or the flat the interest goes up, if we split it, then interest is lower - but also tax deduction. And we may pay an interest fine to the bank for cashing out part of the laon early - nothing is ever easy with Geerman banks, and certainly nothing is ever free.


The only good news is that Rita's ex-top-boss wants her back in the German organsation! Maybe not in Novermber, but certainly soon, and definately in Berlin. PHEW!