Day 66: Finalizing the details.

We had an appointment with the housing office this morning to review the apartment lease. I didn't think it was necessary since the lease was so straight forward. However, I recognize the wisdom of having the contract reviewed by the housing office in the event that there are issues down the road.

The Germans have a standard procedure whereby they require three months notice when moving out. Since we know when our contract is up we didn't think this requirement was an issue. The housing office, however, didn't agree but I convinced the clerk that we don't have the same issues as military who are rotated to another location quickly. It doesn't apply to us but he seemed to think so. At any rate, we finally were able to sign it along with the housing office (even though they are not a party to the lease, they sign it and even though we are not considered military, because Ted works for a company that contracts with the military, they keep records for us because of the issues that have arisen in the past. I am thankful for that.

It's interesting. He explained some nuances of living in a German apartment. He told us we need to air out the house for at least 10 minutes every day to combat mold...even in the winter time. He said to turn the heaters down, bundle up and open up the windows! It reminds me of when I was a child and my mother slept with the windows open, even in the wintertime!

He also explained that we needed to ensure that the meters were read and that we completed the "walk-through" form upon taking possession and upon termination. He wanted to be there but I thought it was unnecessary. He did say he wanted to be there when we terminate. OK. I'll buy that, just in case there are any issues at that time.

We talked about the windows. He said they open two ways (which neither of us knew)! If you turn the handle 90 degrees the top opens in and the bottom is attached. If you turn the handle 45 degrees it opens like a casement window. I found these windows fascinating. Silly little thing but it will sure make cleaning the windows a breeze!!

He also recommended that we join the tenants association. It's about 150 EURO the first year and decreases every year thereafter. By doing so we would have access to German lawyers in the event that there is a dispute. It appears German law protects tenants.

With the documents in had, we were ready to leave. We didn't anticipate that this meeting would take over two hours! He went line by line by line and there were twelve pages. He took a copy for himself and gave us a copy.

We now have a copy to give to the landlord and can make arrangements to pay the security deposit and the rent for June.

We decided to have some lunch before heading over to Panzer to get a new fuel card for the VW Golf that we now have. That also took some time. By this time it was after 3 and by the time my husband would take me home and get back to work, it would be time to come home. So he called his boss and told him he would not be coming in. We went home but we have an 8pm appointment with the previous tenant to buy the kitchen and the lights.

We met with him, signed off on the document of sale and he explained some nuances of the house and told us he would be leaving the shelving in the basement storage area (if we wanted it - of course I wanted it - are you kidding?) And he wanted to know if we wanted the medicine cabinet in the main bath. We do. I don't want to have to buy one as they are somewhat expensive (almost 200 EURO) and this has already been installed. We will take it for 50 EURO!

Frank, the old tenant, tells us which service he has for his Internet connection. and explains that the Dentist who parks next to us may try to bamboozle us into thinking she has a contract with the landlord to use our side of the garage. He said, don't let her do that. I asked if she was German. He said she was. I told him that I was surprised. That I didn't think that any German would do that! He said he tries not to talk to her too much. She had her name on the wall in front of the car. I will be placing our name in front of OUR space as well.

It's been a long day and I'm ready to go home, relax and go to bed.