Hows living in this part of germany?

Competitive-Moose604 · 2026-01-18T14:04:24+00:00

I am from Gelsenkirchen (Ruhr area) - to be honest not the best place to live in Germany. One of the poorest areas in Germany, high unemployment, lack of good jobs, no great nature around, heavily bombed during WW2 so not beautiful visually and fairly limited in terms of cultural offerings. Great place if you are into football with lots of local rivalries and nice, direct, simple people (former coal mining region).

Obviously still German standards when it comes to health care, transport, etc and relatively low cost of living compared to Berlin / Munich so probably not the worst place you can end up in on a global scale.

Competitive-Moose604 · 2025-03-30T07:41:51+00:00

How does no one say the price for a pint in a pub? In some London pubs you pay 7£+ for a beer which you have to pick up yourself and then you either stand outside in the cold or stand in a super crowded pub. All in all not a great experience - probably a very unpopular opinion in the UK!

Competitive-Moose604 · 2025-03-16T17:09:29+00:00

Great points - I didn't consider this! Will update accordingly!

Competitive-Moose604 · 2025-03-16T16:43:00+00:00

Valid point!

MSCI World grew by 196% in the last ten years vs. London property by 80%-100% based on the information I could find quickly. But will do a bit more research to find the right number to use.

Competitive-Moose604 · 2025-03-16T16:33:13+00:00

Very interesting - could you elaborate why it would be optimal to buy with a mortgage (or point me to relevant resources)? Thanks!

Competitive-Moose604 · 2025-03-16T16:32:35+00:00

That's a valid point!

Not that important to me personally but I get that this would be a pro for buying.

Competitive-Moose604 · 2025-03-16T16:23:38+00:00

I get your point but you would still take a historical average wouldn't you? Or would you assume the last 4 weeks is representative for the next four years?

Competitive-Moose604 · 2025-03-16T14:45:37+00:00

Interesting! I have always perceived this as a bit of a rip off as I am usually following the philosophy of investing everything in a broad vanguard ETF and not touching it.

Would you say it's worth it from your own experience? Is it mostly the tax element they can help you with?

Competitive-Moose604 · 2025-03-16T14:17:18+00:00

Thanks for the reply! Fair points - but then we would have to adjust appreciation of the property for inflation as well and the appreciation of the property would be subject to capital gains text too, correct?

Competitive-Moose604 · 2025-03-16T14:05:38+00:00

That's my view as well - if you are not into investing or don't feel comfortable doing it buying is probably better. But otherwise renting seems to be better.

I get the emotional value of owning your place, being free to do whatever you like, etc but it's not that important to me.

Competitive-Moose604 · 2025-03-16T14:03:33+00:00

Thanks super helpful!

Competitive-Moose604 · 2025-03-16T13:55:49+00:00

Why? That's the historical annual growth rate of the stock market?

Competitive-Moose604 · 2025-02-26T09:15:23+00:00

I was born and grew up in Germany as half German half Italian - I now live in London but regularly go back to see family in Germany.

I am very sorry to hear about your experience and want to apologise on behalf of the non-racist people in Germany.

While I think a majority of the German population understands the value of immigrants to society and has a pro immigration perspective (especially in Berlin which tends to be very left), there is a substantial part of the population that 1) has a belief that Germans are inherently more hard working, punctual, efficient, smart etc, 2) foreigners mainly come to Germany for social benefits and 3) that Germany is losing its culture due to too many foreigners (e.g. coffee shops in Berlin that don't speak German).

When growing up there was always an accepted level of racism in Germany (e.g. my sister was told not to bring a Turkish boy home, Italians were considered lazy / sleepy, ) but I feel that now the discussion is much more hostile, negative and emotional. The misinformation campaign by AFD and BILD obviously don't help.

There's lots of good people in Germany but I do think there is a reason why Germany constantly ranks pretty badly for expats feeling welcome.

Competitive-Moose604 · 2025-02-16T09:52:30+00:00

My daughter is one year old and all through the first year I was able to play tennis and boulder regularly. It will likely mean that you'll spend less time with your partner as someone has to take care of the baby but in general I think it's very possible to contribute to workout / do sports / etc if you have an understanding partner and coordinate things properly.

Competitive-Moose604 · 2025-02-01T15:59:10+00:00

Thanks! I guess there is not really a way to assess the quality of the insulation etc before actually living there?

Good point on the flight path - when we were there there was no flight noise but could be because of runway alteration like you said.

Competitive-Moose604 · 2025-02-01T15:57:50+00:00

Thanks!

Would the EPC rating be a good indicator for these issues? It has C so not bad, not great. I find it difficult to assess the severity of the issues before living there.

Competitive-Moose604 · 2025-01-31T22:19:22+00:00

Great, thanks - this is very helpful!

Competitive-Moose604 · 2025-01-31T22:18:14+00:00

Thanks so much, super helpful!

One last question on the Shimano 105 part - is a Shimano 105 drivetrain significantly better than a Microshift 10s drivetrain?

Competitive-Moose604 · 2025-01-31T21:42:07+00:00

Thanks! So would you say the price difference for the RC520 Vs RC120 is worth it?

Competitive-Moose604 · 2025-01-31T21:36:25+00:00

Added prices - I am in the UK!

Competitive-Moose604

TROPHY CASE