Yesterday, a client of mine asked me for help selling his mother’s house…….in Germany.

I think he was joking, but I’m always interested to see what is selling (or not selling) overseas, and what the process is like.

I truly have some of the best clients in the world.

I called a former client named Werner yesterday afternoon to ask if he knew anybody looking to buy or sell real estate in the next couple months and he replied, “As a matter of fact, I do!  My mother is in desperate need of help selling her home in Bargteheide, Germany.  Know anybody looking?”

Well, I walked right into that one, didn’t I?

As Germany is about to be served with the unenviable task of bailing out the tzatziki-eating, 20-hour-work-week inhabitants of a neighbourhing Euro-zone nation, one might question the strength of their economy, from everything to their real estate to the value of a mint condition deutsche mark on Ebay.

Werner told me, “Look to the small towns to see how real estate is really moving, or not, if that’s the case.”

Bargteheide is home to about 16,000 people, and although their Wikipedia page says almost nothing other than what the population was in 2001, it’s an old-school town with old-school flavour, and that makes selling real estate somewhat difficult.

There are currently 37 properties for sale in Bargteheide, which is one for every 432 people.

For comparison’s sake, there are usually around 12,500 active properties for sale in the GTA around this time of year, and with 5.5 Million people, that’s one property for every 440 people.  That means our market is slightly thinner than theirs, but I’m sure they don’t have thousands of crappy pre-construction condos to pad their stats.

It’s tough to get a sense of the property, when I don’t speak any German, and of course when I can’t decipher whether “Heintz Gerberash” is a name of a person, or the type of flashing used on the roof.

But I can tell you that the property, priced at 228,000 Euros, is a 3-bedroom, 2-storey, red-brick townhouse with a very pretty terrace as seen here:

While there are some massive estates for sale in Bargteheide for upwards of 1,000,000 Euros, this home is the lowest-priced home on the market, which is helping bring people through the door.

On the market since November, there have been 15 showings – which is a lot in that time frame, and ironically, 8 of the potential buyers were young, pregnant couples.  I guess you could say that this property appeals to the first-time-buyer looking to move their growing family!  Either that, or the municipal officials in Bargteheide are putting fertility drugs in the water…

Now, I alluded to the fact that this is the lowest-priced house for sale in Bargteheide, and you’d be surprised to see what you get when you start to climb the ladder on price.

The second-cheapest house in the area, priced at 252,900 Euros, is a bit concerning.  The profile photo for the listing is seen here:

I’m no expert, but that looks like two teddy-bears hanging by their necks.

It’s not quite the same “noose” that Professor Plum used to strangle Evette with in the movie “Clue,” (sidebar: if you were only aware of the Clue board game, then I’ve just helped you plan your Saturday night viewing…), but it’s still a little strange that two teddy bears are being choked to death and beyond on the railing of this home’s second storey.  You can’t argue that those teddy bears aren’t being hung – look at the angle of their necks!  They’re slumped over, and the one on the left is white as a ghost because all the blood has been drained out of his face!  Egad!

Well, those Germans have some strange pastimes, I tell ya!  But who am I to tell the residents of Bargteheide how to stage their homes, let alone sell them?

Interestingly enough, the market works a little differently over there.  The listing agents represent buyers and sellers, as there is no such thing as a cooperating agent or buyer’s agent, which makes conflicts of interest ever-present.  And when you consider that the commission rate is 6% over there and not 5%, you start to wonder what you’re getting for your money.

As Werner so eloquently puts it:

“In Germany, agents represent the buyer and seller at the same time and don’t have a terrible lot of incentive to try very hard, but still take a 6% cut.”

When I asked him how long it takes to sell a property under this method, he added:

“I haven’t a damn clue, and neither does the agent. Like I mentioned, the agent seems relatively uninterested in actively pushing the house, and given that they’re the ones that effectively set the price, they don’t have much confidence in it. That said, things are a little different over there. Generally, the price is the price. There aren’t multiple offer scenarios, and you definitely don’t (maybe even can’t) reject an offer at the asking price. Sure, sometimes a buyer will offer less and then you negotiate, but the asking price is effectively a ceiling, not a starting point. The whole structure of having one agent representing both parties and only actively marketing to their own clients definitely doesn’t help the seller’s agenda.”

Hey, I’m the first one to admit that this often isn’t the best approach to selling real estate!  We have “multiple representation” here in Toronto, but it’s often carried out with very stringent rules by the more ethical brokerages (and often not so much – as evidenced by the agent who double-ended his listing with forty competing offers…).

But it seems that the German agents in Bargteheide are fully content to just sign a listing and wait for an offer…..not unlike what the discount brokers do here in Toronto.  ZING!

Werner has moved his mother into a more comfortable apartment nearby, so the house sits empty for the first time in twenty-two years since the Blazargsheftsenstein family first moved to Bargteheide.  (okay, I made that surname up…)

One last point of interest – something I found to be very unique, and that reminded me of that awful blue house on stilts I talked about last week – Werner says that this house has no closets, and very few houses in Germany do.

“They like massive wood furniture,” Werner says.  “Built-ins confuse them.”

Oh, how different Germans are from their neighbours to the north in Sweeden!  IKEA fans would balk at the massive wood furniture, and probably send over complimentary cheap shelving that needs to be assembled with non-sensical, made-up tools that have no other practical uses.

But these are the cultural differences that make me want to visit 150 countries before I die.

I might not make it to Bargteheide, but at least I now have a good feel for the real estate market over there.

If anybody knows of a friend or family member looking for a quaint townhouse – please pass this along!