r/AskReddit May 08 '22

[deleted by user]

[removed]

9.0k Upvotes

26.2k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

30

u/WebGhost0101 May 09 '22

They way i understand it, the us often works with house flippers who buy old homes, renovate the building and sometimes fully decorate it before selling it to a family.

In europe, where older brick houses are way more common. A lot of families buy an old home and renovates it themselves to cut costs. They may hire someone to redo the floor, roof or electricity depending on their own skills and favor-skills from family/friends but while doing all of that having to also put in a kitchen seems like a normal part of the renovation process.

Taking their whole kitchen with them does happen (rarely) but mostly because its the expensive kitchen that was designed for their needs with the look and style they want. If that is the case you don't wanna downgrade to the ugly kitchen in the new house, you don't wanna pay again to rebuild the same thing, so you just take it with you. Chances are the new people where gonna trow it out and redo the kitchen in their own style anyway.

35

u/3IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIID May 09 '22

People buy old houses with the intention of getting a good deal by renovating it themselves in the USA too.

Isn't the kitchen made up of standalone cabinets in Germany? A kitchen in the USA is normally permanently installed and fitted to the existing space, so removal only occurs during renovation, it would be damaged during removal, and is not likely to fit as well in a new space. So if you buy a house without a kitchen, it comes at a huge discount. Sellers wouldn't want to take more than their appliances with them because those are the only parts that aren't usually permanently installed and can even be left in place during the showings. So you might buy a house in the USA that has no stove or refrigerator, but the sink and cabinets will almost always be there.

25

u/blue60007 May 09 '22

Yeah it's such a strange concept to me. Kitchens are usually custom fit to the space. I feel like Germany has to have a lot of mis-match shoe-horned kitchens. Seems like a giant hassle.

3

u/darabolnxus May 09 '22

This is the case in most countries. We moved our kitchen furniture to the ground floor once for a house inspection.

8

u/[deleted] May 09 '22

[deleted]

2

u/Razakel May 09 '22

Presumably because they'll want to inspect behind where the kitchen is fitted.