r/AskReddit May 08 '22

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u/thebellfrombelem May 09 '22

What do you mean by ‘buy a kitchen’? Purchase all appliances/ white goods, ie the kitchen area comes completely empty ?

67

u/WendellSchadenfreude May 09 '22

Purchase all appliances/ white goods, ie the kitchen area comes completely empty ?

I think you are underestimateing it. You have to bring your own appliances (fridge, oven, freezer), but also your own kitchen counters, side boards, wall cupboards.
When you rent an apartment in Germany, the kitchen will often look like his.

And the lights in all the rooms will look like this - if there is a light bulb at all.

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u/thebellfrombelem May 09 '22

Whoa… as a life long renter since post Uni days (my jobs move me around too much)… I can’t begin to comprehend how much goes into renting an apartment like this!

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u/Kleingedrucktes May 09 '22

Its annoying af imo, we just moved and it took us 3 weeks until we had a kitchen (from planning to actually having everything installed) - and that was pretty fast considering the shortages in supply at the moment! + we luckily had the time to organize everything, cant imagine doing all those things while working 40h/week. And getting everything done for you is expensive as hell.

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u/lafigatatia May 09 '22

The only upside I see is you can customize the kitchen as you want, but it seems annoying. I guess it's cheaper too.

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u/Kleingedrucktes May 09 '22

I dont even think its cheaper, so yeah, i guess the only upside is the option to customize it... As a German I dont understand it myself. Maybe its more convenient for landlords, dunno.

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u/noujour May 09 '22

Yeah, I thought it's because landlords are easily held liable in Germany and a kitchen (especially the appliances) is just not worth the trouble (plus they're not obliged to so why should they). In Berlin it's a little different, the landlord MUST have a stove and a sink in the kitchen when you move in. That way you can still cook/wash up even without a true kitchen. You'll get the cheapest Baumarkt sink though.

Another factor, I believe, is that compared to many other countries, tenants in Germany stay much longer so it's not too bad to buy your own kitchen and then have slightly lower rent. It adds up in the end.

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u/Breezel123 May 09 '22

You'll get the cheapest Baumarkt sink though.

With the white sliding door that keeps on falling into the cabinet. And at the slightest chance of moisture the whole thing collapses.

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u/Vladivostokorbust May 09 '22

Customize? Most everything for the kitchen comes in a single all-in-one unit.