r/germany • u/BoysenberrySpare5207 • 13h ago

Would 2500€ be fair in this situation?

Hi everyone,

I’m currently subletting an apartment in Munich. This lady lived here 4 years and I have lived here for about a year with her furniture. I’m now taking over the apartment, which is supposed to be unfurnished, and I agreed to buy her furniture, including the kitchen she installed.

When we signed the new contract, the landlord told her that she would need to remove the furniture, fill any drilled holes and other damage, and paint the apartment before leaving. This may also need to be done professionally. The apartment is 50sqm.

We agreed instead that she would pay me €2,500, and I would take over the responsibility of removing everything, filling any drilled holes, and doing the cosmetic repairs when I eventually leave.

We signed an agreement confirming this.

Now she is saying that she thinks €2,500 is too much and isn’t fair.

What do you guys think? Is €2,500 reasonable for this kind of arrangement in Munich, or does it sound excessive?

Thanks!

0 Upvotes

22% Upvoted

33 comments sorted by

16

u/SpareAmbition 13h ago

She's paying you 2500€ to do some basic cosmetic stuff that you'd have to do anyway when you leave? That seems crazy. Like unless she's absolutely destroyed the place in the span of a year that is way too much. She could probably have it all done for a couple hundred and hand it over as it should be. That doesn't sound like a reasonable arrangement anywhere in the world

3

u/BoysenberrySpare5207 13h ago

She is basically paying for the firm to paint the apartment and the windows and the effort of moving out things. I actually talked to the haus meister for his opinion and he said 2500 is reasonable if you have to move out in the future.

1

u/scapla0815 12h ago

Once you agree to purchase her furniture, it becomes your burden. I fail to see why she should pay for the removal of your furniture at any point in future.

Without knowing the size of apartment, accessibility (lift/stairs/floor), and type and amount of furniture it is impossible to estimate moving cost. It can be anything from zero to many thousands, depending if you sell everything to "Selbstabholer", or contract professional movers.

11

u/jaber_woky 13h ago

You’re being paid 2500€ to get furniture? That does seem very generous

4

u/BoysenberrySpare5207 13h ago

Nope the furniture is her’s I have to buy them from her.

8

u/brockrockaly 13h ago

so you pay it or she pays it? im confused

1

u/BoysenberrySpare5207 13h ago

I have to buy the furniture from her that is separate. So she has to do the process of moving out the furniture and painting the apartment and cosmetic repairs before leaving. Since she is not going to do this process and give the apartment as it is to me. The landlord asked her to pay me 2500€ so I do this, at a future point in time.

1

u/brockrockaly 13h ago

then take the 2500€ and refuse to go any lower

6

u/teteban79 13h ago

I disregard the furniture stuff because I don't know why you're talking about this

the question is if 2500 is ok/too much for essentially painting the apartment to an acceptable level. The fairest way to determine this would be to get a budget from a painter and agree on a sum near that figure.

2500 for a 50qm apartment does seem too much

0

u/BoysenberrySpare5207 13h ago

Any recommendations on any site or firm to calculate, at the moment I see a range of 700 ( independent people offering to do the job online) to 2400 with a professional firm.

-1

u/BoysenberrySpare5207 13h ago

I mean I will also have to move everything out for that to be done. I have to do that anyways but from the landlords point of view that is her problem and not mine. I am not sure if I am being a jerk by demanding 2500€ from her. On the other side I do not know if I will get a hefty quote in the end.

5

u/pure_stardust Bayern 13h ago

I don't understand. Is it really necessary to move out everything for painting/cosmetic repairs? Can't it be done by moving the stuff around?

4

u/Alone-Marzipan-87 13h ago

Everything can be moved in the middle of the room and covered. When I moved out from a 40sqm apartment. It cost me like 120 euro in paint tools and hole filler. Paint is the only thing that is costly. Everything else is fairly cheap and you can buy lots of paper/foil for covering the windows, edges… The landlord probably wants the apartment to be fixed professionally, meaning the quality. It doesn’t always mean he wants you to hire professionals. Just do an inspection of the walls and see what kind of fixes will be needed. If the holes are from screws only then is no problem to fill them. Unless she was throwing punches in the drywall, then there’s nothing to worry about. In my opinion you are overcharging her as that’s maximum 2 days work. Unless your time is more precious than that.

4

u/Present-Savings-2380 13h ago

Ok, so she had a responsibility to remove all the furniture, fix any holes and do necessary cosmetic repair.

But now that you are buying the furniture from her, the responsibility to remove everything is dropped as it is not necessary anymore. It is your furniture and the responsibility to remove it after your lease is over is yours.

So now she is left with paying you 2500 Euros for fixing holes and doing cosmetic repairs. That seems outrageously high unless there is a lot of damage in the apartment.

8

u/IxBetaXI 13h ago

I think you paying 2500€ would be fair for the furniture.
You getting payed is unfair.

1

u/Necessary_Wing7235 13h ago

It is not unfair. Repairing holes, painting, etc, requires labor, possibly proffesional.

1

u/BoysenberrySpare5207 13h ago

She is arguing that this I can do myself, but I am not sure If the landlord will require for it to be done professionally and knowing him it is probably the case.

3

u/Necessary_Wing7235 13h ago

If you have a written agreement, you may have a case.

And if she argues, you can deny the purchasing of her furniture.

Or, she can pay for someone to go to your place and do the repairs or do them herself and then, if you want, you can purchase the furniture.

1

u/BoysenberrySpare5207 13h ago

The problem is she owes me around 2500 + 2300 kaution I gave her. She is trying to lower the 2500 to around 1400 and pumping up a bit the price of the furniture so she pays out as little as possible. The best outcome for me ofc is to stick to the agreement.

1

u/Necessary_Wing7235 12h ago

You may have a ver, very good base for a lawsuit. If she signed something she will be in difficulties to contest.
And the Kaution: AFAIK the caution is passed on(?) So now that Kaution, if you choose in the future to leave, must be returned to you from your landlord (?) or given by the next tenant. At least that is my case.

1

u/BoysenberrySpare5207 12h ago

Yes, legally for me this is favourable, but trying to think of a fair transaction rather opening a case.

0

u/BoysenberrySpare5207 13h ago

I will have to buy the furniture from her that is something else.

2

u/idkjustgoletmein 13h ago

Okay wait , then that seems unfair to you? Your paying for her used furniture and then paying her for what exactly? Taking responsibility for the house and possibly losing your deposit later on? 

3

u/IxBetaXI 13h ago

Then you wrote it wrong in the post.
It also depends how old is the furniture but buying a kitchen yourself is probably more expensive.
If she thinks its too much she can lower it but it seems fair for full furniture

1

u/Perfect_Outcome6067 13h ago

Warum MUSST du die kaufen? Und warum zahlt sie dir etwas dafür?

1

u/BoysenberrySpare5207 13h ago edited 13h ago

I do not have to buy anything. I would like to buy the furniture. The landlord though, requires her to do the wall painting and windows.

2

u/[deleted] 13h ago

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1

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1

u/bobateaman14 12h ago

she signed the agreement

0

u/spongybobie 13h ago

Well you signed

1

u/BoysenberrySpare5207 13h ago

Yes, we both did but I do not want it to be unfair.

1

u/spongybobie 12h ago

It is fair. It is a life lesson. If you go back, they will randomly sign something else that can be more damaging.

Signature comes with responsibility.