Becoming self-employed: What does that mean?

Becoming a self-employed designer in the high fashion sector means that you are the founder of a start-up. This requires not only money, but also an inventory lead time, which means you have to buy and store clothes. Compared to other industries, such as an advertising agency, there are additional costs for the development of your fashion, production and storage.

Why am I telling you this?

With my social media agency, the model agency, the fashion magazine and other brands, I was able to accompany many fashion labels, including high fashion streetwear, in an advisory and development capacity. What are the 3 most important learnings for your fashion startup?

Perseverance is everything! Motivation & financing

Most businesses fail because of money, the so-called “runway”. Let’s assume you have a start-up capital of 150,000. 50,000 of this goes into production, while you use the remaining 100,000 for yourself and marketing, divided into 5,000 per month. This means you can bridge about 20 months in which you have to continuously earn new money.

Believe me, everything costs money:

• Rent, furnishings, cables, lights, stationery, …
• Internet access, web space, domain, software, …
• Much more and yes, you and your employees too

Golden rule: If you can do X, you can also do X2

In entrepreneurship, conventional wisdom says that if you survive 2 years in the market, you can make it another 2 years. If you survive 5 years in the market, you have a good chance of surviving the following 5 years. Start-up capital is therefore essential, especially in the high fashion sector.

Statistically speaking, 90% of all start-ups fail after 5 years. So your goal should be to overcome this critical mark and survive for 5 years! Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither was your new fashion label. It all starts with careful planning and preparation.

There are two options: Either you have sufficient motivation and capital or you don’t.

Here are some tips:

Runway: Sufficient capital (and turnover) – Risk #1

When founding a company, one thing counts above all:

Runway: Make sure you have enough capital to avoid going bankrupt straight away.

But how do you reach this point without your own capital?

3 alternatives to get money

You have three options:

1. You can work hard and save money, but this can take a lot of time.
2. Alternatively, you could ask your parents for a private loan.
3. Or you can opt for a loan.

When taking out a loan, it is important to get good conditions, primarily low interest rates. This means you can also take out a loan on good terms as a self-employed person. Choose a term that is long enough so that you don’t have to pay everything back after just 6 months, and make sure that the monthly installments are reasonable.

The reality is harsh, as a company no one will shed a tear for you. When your company goes bust, the daily business of others continues the next day.

Production, manufacturer and supply chain – risk #2

Supply chain: Make sure you have reliable production.

What do you need to look out for?

You need efficient development, high-quality fabrics, precise workmanship – all of this is crucial in the high-fashion streetwear sector. Customers attach particular importance to quality when it comes to high-priced products. Allow sufficient time.

Many founders fail because of production. With small quantities (MOQs = Minimum Order Quantities), you are often placed at the bottom of the manufacturers’ priority list. Make sure you have a reliable production line. If you sell more, you won’t have any problems with replenishment. Many high-fashion start-ups have already failed here, so be warned.

Marketing: Half the battle

Another important aspect is fashion marketing. Henry Ford once said:

Marketing: “For every dollar you invest in your product, you need another to make it known.”

That’s right!

What can you do? Avoid expensive experiments.

1. Work with small micro-influencers who are already recognized in the high fashion scene. Growth often comes from joint efforts.
2. Use advertisements, especially retargeting. If a user has visited your store but has not bought anything and has left, remind them of your offer again with targeted advertising.
3. Be active! Show behind-the-scenes insights, the design process, material selection, the store, promotions and repost posts from micro-influencers.

These are our three key tips for your high fashion startup 2026!

Loss of rent: yield effect

Vacancies, rent arrears or even re-letting and tenant selection. There is a lot for you to consider when buying real estate. Even if you have found a profitable property in the real estate acquisition process with a good property yield, 2 or 3 months of vacancy per year can make your investment suddenly unprofitable. Why and why is the choice of location / property type so important? You can find out more here in the Real estate purchase risk guide.

This guide is therefore about raising awareness of the topic of location selection and property type. When buying a property, in most cases you are taking over the current tenant. It is therefore important to always check the seller’s tenant history!

Loss of rent = you pay the costs instead of your tenant

Let’s start with the topic of vacancies.

Reasons for vacancies and rent losses

Tenants who don’t want to pay quickly make an investment unprofitable. But it doesn’t always have to be the worst-case scenario – rental nomads are rare – rent defaults can also occur because your tenant has financial difficulties and can no longer pay the rent on time. Or a change of tenant when you move and your new “ideal” tenant only moves in a month or two later.

In addition, there are structural changes, long-term vacancies, when the location becomes unattractive for tenants.

There are therefore many reasons for rent losses:

• Rent not paid – tenant has financial problems
• Vacancy, e.g. for new tenants – “desired” tenant arrives later
• Vacancies due to structural changes – in 5, 10, 15 years

Location + property + tenant selection

In addition to the choice of location and type of property, you, as the future landlord of a capital investment, also need to select tenants.

Let’s take a worst-case scenario as an example. Your tenant refuses to pay the rent, regardless of whether for personal reasons or financial reasons, and it takes 9 months to file an eviction suit. If the tenant himself is not sufficiently solvent, you will never see your money (costs of the eviction action) again.

Central, think about:

• Choice of location – structural vacancy? Less housing in the future
• Real estate type – How do you live? Micro apartment, instead of loft apartment
• Tenant selection – Who is a tenant? Creditworthiness (and trust)

The better you prepare for this when buying your first property, the better.

• Choice of location: A, B and C location
• Property type: Houses or apartments

Vacancy or not: loan installment must be paid

The vast majority of people finance their property. This means that you give about 15% equity and a bank gives you the rest (85%) as a loan. You repay the loan. The monthly installment of repayment and interest is called the loan installment. The bank doesn’t care if your tenant gets into trouble. You have to pay the monthly installment.

No matter what happens:

All costs continue to run!

Vacancies: influence on real estate yields

When buying real estate as a capital investment, the main focus is on returns. Simply put, the rental yield indicates how much rental income you achieve in relation to the investment (purchase price of the property, ancillary costs, maintenance). The result is a percentage. The higher, the better.

Example (simple):

• Investment in real estate: 100,000 euros
• Rental income / year: 3,000 euros
• Yield = 3%

3% would be relatively low, as you have to expect around 6% for interest/repayment and maintenance (currently). This means that your property must yield at least 6% to cover the costs.

As soon as you slip below ~ 6% yield, you pay more

Assuming you have calculated extremely tightly when buying real estate. So that you just achieve a 6% return, which covers the management / loan installment (interest and repayment). Now you have only 2 months of rent loss – the calculation is no longer correct and the yield drops to 5%. At 5%, the “missing” percent has to be paid out of your own pocket.

• Calculate real estate yield

Calculation: Return effect 2 months default

Let’s now calculate with the extremely tightly calculated 6% yield property. The big goal in all our guides:

Your tenant pays for your property = good return

Example 6% yield with full rental payment:

• Investment in real estate: 100,000 euros
• Rental income / month: 500 euros x 12
• Rental income / year: 6,000 euros
• Yield = 6%

Example effect of loss of rent (2 months):

• Investment in real estate: 100,000 euros
• Rental income / month: 500 euros x 10
• Rental income / year: 5,000 euros
• Yield = 5%

That means 1,000 euros out of your own pocket this year.

– 1,000 euros instead of “Tenant pays for your property”

Financial freedom? That’s why preparation is so important!

Tenants should therefore always be closely scrutinized. You should do a really thorough check.

• Self-disclosure
• Previous landlords speak
• Schufa information
• …

Rent arrears and reserves

It doesn’t always have to be a complete loss of rent. In practice, there are many reasons, for example, your tenant may not accept a rent adjustment following modernization measures. In other words, you modernize and adjust the rent and your tenant refuses to accept the rent increase.

Here, too, you are faced with the problem that you have made your investments and suddenly the tenant refuses. A dispute like this can go on for a long time and, in the worst case scenario, it can take 6 – 12 months before an eviction action is brought.

So that you can go into your first property without any worries, remember this:

Build up reserves!

What does that mean?

Building up reserves: security for the first property

Ideally, protect yourself financially against two possibilities:

1. Reserve for maintenance
2. Reserve for rent losses
3. Reserve for all eventualities

Reserves do not have to be set aside. However, they protect you from costs that you may not know how to cover spontaneously. Because, as you have learned, it doesn’t matter whether it’s rent arrears, loss of rent or vacancy:

All your costs continue to run

Reserve for maintenance

One cost factor that you will always have to bear is maintenance. More or less, of course, depending on the year of construction and condition of the property. In general, however, you already calculate 2% reserves for maintenance in the first yield calculation.

Part of the yield calculation, 2% maintenance reserve:

2% reserve for maintenance

Property for 100,000 euros (investment) = 2,000 euros reserve / year

Reserve for rent losses

In addition, a 6% rent reserve is recommended for possible rent losses:

+ 6% reserve for rent losses

Property for 100,000 euros = 6,000 euros reserve

6% would also correspond to a return of 6% = 1 annual rent.

Reserve: Extra, for all eventualities

Especially for the first property, without large assets of your own (as a rule), you should think about an additional reserve. Why? So that you never run out of money and miss a payment to the bank.

Ideally for the first property, not a must but security:

+ 10% extra reserve

Property for 100,000 euros = 10,000 euros reserve

Follow-up financing: risks and interest rate changes

Vacancies not only have a negative effect on yields. Most property loans have a fixed interest rate with a fixed term. At the end of the term, the conditions are renegotiated, known as follow-up financing.

This is where the 2 central aspects come into play again:

• Choice of location – structural vacancy? Less housing in the future
• Real estate type – How do you live? Micro apartment, instead of loft apartment

Lending: Factors

The bank also follows a clear path for follow-up financing. Let’s say you fixed the interest rate for 10 years for your first real estate financing. After 10 years, with 25 normal repayments, the remaining debt is around 76%. This must now be financed.

For follow-up financing, go back to your bank or to another one. If you are offered better conditions, it is worth obtaining alternative offers for the follow-up financing. Bank A, B, but also C will take another focused look at your property and you:

• Real estate
• Creditworthiness

Structural change: lower property valuation

Factor 1: Structural change – Because everyone is reassessed for the follow-up financing. Let’s say your fixed interest rate expires after 10 years and the bank says the property is now worth 20% less, for example because many people have moved out of the region in the last decade, property prices are falling and so on.

Banks want security, if the property is then worth less, the bank would have lost money in the worst-case scenario (loan installment defaults, forced sale/auction). So the interest rate rises.

Interest rate change: interest rate development in 10, 15, 20 years

Factor 2: Interest rate changes – Interest rates are currently lower than ever. It is impossible to make a serious forecast of what interest rates will be in 10, 15 or even 20 years’ time. However, a look back shows that interest rates in this country were still above 8% until 1990, 4-6% until 2000 and currently only 1-2% for real estate loans. If interest rates fall, it’s great for your follow-up financing. However, if interest rates rise, it’s bad, because then you pay more and the return calculation no longer works.

What to do? Tips for good returns

First of all: keep your eyes open when buying real estate!

Don’t buy yourself any problems!

Don’t buy yourself any problems, learn here with us step by step how to buy your first property, from the preparation, to the acquisition (finding profitable properties), to the purchase contract. By the time you’ve read our guide to buying your first property, you’ll know how important it is to find profitable properties in the real estate acquisition process.

Read here again:

• Choice of location: Buying an A, B or C location?
• Property type: Houses or apartments?

3 tips: Low interest rates

You now know that it is very unfavorable if the property suddenly costs money instead of bringing in money. What can you do? Here are 3 simple tips:

Tip 1: Buy cheaply – It sounds simple, but “the profit is in the purchase”. A piece of business wisdom that is also true when buying real estate. Buying cheaply means finding a property that is sold below market value, or that you, as the buyer, buy below market value. We have more on this topic here: Buying real estate.

Tip 2: Fixed interest rate – If you fix your interest rate for 10 years, you will have to take care of follow-up financing in 10 years. The longer the fixed interest rate, the longer you don’t have to worry about interest rate changes. To maintain the current low interest rates, you can agree a longer fixed interest rate, for example 15 years or 20 years. In case of doubt, until the end of the loan.

Tip 3: Higher repayments – If interest rates explode and ruin many yield calculations, higher repayment installments are an option to reduce interest rates. Interest is always calculated on the basis of the debt or, from the first payment, on the basis of the remaining debt. The lower the remaining debt, the lower the interest. With the current low interest rates, however, it is worthwhile financing real estate over a long period of time, as inflation ensures that your loan installment is always “smaller” in terms of purchasing power.

You can also start financing with more equity right at the beginning. This means that the loan amount is smaller and so is the repayment. This means that the loan is repaid more quickly and long-term interest rate changes no longer affect your financing.

Let’s summarize the 3 tips once again:

1. Purchase price – Buy cheaply (below market value)
2. Fixed interest rates – agree longer fixed interest rates (15 years, 20 years)
3. Repayment rate – Repay more or start with higher equity

Here are 2 practical tips for finding “problem-free” properties:

2 tips: Real estate viewing

Here are 2 practical tips for your real estate search.

Tip 1: Pay attention to the property management company – Is the property management company doing a good job from your perspective? In other words, do you have the feeling that the property management company knows what it is doing?

Tip 2: Owner-occupiers in the house – When you view properties, you also make sure that there are a few owner-occupiers living in the house. You tend to make sure that the property remains “well-maintained” in terms of its condition and the tenants.

In short, you pay attention to:

1. Property management and trust
2. Owner-occupier in the house

5 mistakes! What to look out for when investing?

Your goal is financial freedom? Anyone can build wealth with real estate. Investments allow you to build up money over the long term. By investing, you can make your real estate work for you and benefit from interest, dividends and price gains over time. However, investing in real estate without any knowledge is too risky. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Every real estate professional has already made mistakes that you can benefit from. Stick to this checklist, avoid the 5 mistakes and minimize your risk of failure. Let’s go!

Risk checklist: What you should avoid

Stick to these points and nothing will stand in the way of your successful investment:

1. Don’t invest in real estate with too low a return
2. Designing financing for the long term instead of the short term
3. Bring in enough equity
4. Financing compared
5. Calculate net return not just gross return

Find out now what the 5 biggest mistakes are that you can make when investing.

Buying a house: High cost, high risk

The dream of owning your own home – for many, this is a life goal that needs to be achieved. Besides many positive aspects, owning your own home also has its downsides. When you buy a family home, whether for your own use or as an investment, you are always 100% responsible for the costs incurred. Read more about the risk of buying a house here.

(Alb) – Dream: The pitfall of home ownership

For many, the former dream of owning their own home often quickly becomes a nightmare. Many use a building savings contract to pay off a house until retirement age, with the intention of living rent-free. However, the assumption is usually deceptive and you still get into debt, as you are responsible for 100% of the costs incurred. So one is never completely rent-free.

• 100% investment costs
• 100% self-responsibility for costs
• Even after paying off the loan not quite rent-free

3 mistakes when buying a house

There is a lot to consider when buying a house. What many people forget are the mistakes that can be made when buying a house. Here we have the most important points for you, why we advise against a house as a first property.

Error 1

The costs incurred for the house always remain, for which you yourself are 100% responsible. You are never really rent-free with a property for pure personal use.

• Management and maintenance costs of the house remain forever

Solution – For a truly carefree life, it is advisable to maintain a second and third property that you rent out. With the proceeds from these properties you can pay the management and maintenance costs of your own property and, depending on the return, pocket the rest as profit.

Error 2

The property you bought when you were young is not suitable for your old age later on. Sooner or later, the property will have to be remodeled to meet the needs of the elderly, which will incur additional costs.

• Property is not suitable for old age later
• Costs for age-appropriate conversion
• Property sooner or later becomes too big

Error 3

Your credit rating at the bank is reduced by a property with owner-occupancy and without an additional capital investment. Through the self-use of the property, you suddenly have more current expenses than income, the running costs are also always 100% your responsibility. In the event of a job loss, the bank of you additionally has no coverage, because this means loss of income and rent for you and thus a higher risk for you and the bank.

• More running costs, less spending
• Costs 100% personal responsibility
• Job loss means loss of income and rent – risk

Source: Real Estate Types/ Real Estate Experience.com

Multi-family house: high equity, high costs

So owner-occupancy is the most expensive way to live. The situation is different with investment property. Here the tenant and the tax office more or less pay off your debts. Therefore, we now come to a multi-family / multi-party house. But real estate beginners are warned! This area is more for experienced people.

So when should you think about buying an apartment building? When you have enough equity to cover the purchase price, management costs, maintenance costs and modernization costs. Despite the ongoing rental income, here, as with owner-occupation, they are 100% responsible for all costs incurred.

Here again in brief summarizes the disadvantages of a multi-family house:

• High equity required to cover costs
• 100% of the costs must be borne by the owner himself as the owner

Residential and commercial buildings (WGH)

WHGs behave similarly to multi-family houses, but are nevertheless much riskier to invest in. Since they are equipped with commercial space in addition to residential units, they are vacant more often than residential units. The area must be maintained nevertheless, whereby additional costs result. This in turn means that you have to raise more equity.

• High risk due to vacancy
• Even higher equity required
• Vacancy must be kept in operation – More costs

Condominium: High yield & cost sharing

The solution for your first property? A condominium! The big advantage? When you buy a condominium, you are part of a community of owners, so you don’t have to bear the costs of a house all by yourself. The costs for maintenance, repair and modernization are shared among all owners. Regardless of whether it is for your own use or an investment property, the running costs are always lower than in a house where you are the sole owner.

• Part of a community of owners
• All costs incurred are divided by the number of owners

A short example: Let’s say we are talking about a heating system for 16,000 euros. You are part of an 8-part apartment building, with 1 condominium. The costs are divided by 8, so you pay -14,000 less and only 2,000 euros for the new, modern heating system.

Commercial, special real estate and monument protection

You should take a closer look at properties with commercial use, listed buildings or properties for a special purpose before buying. Why, you will learn here in a short overview!

Commercial property

• Nothing for beginners
• Subject to different legal framework than residential
• More frequent vacancies than for residential space (fluctuation)

Special real estate

Villa, farm, winery or even workshop and shopping center, all these are special real estate.

• More difficult financing due to high risk for banks
• Rather buy in A- and B- locations, as a rural location carries too high a risk

Real estate under monument protection

Real estate with historical value and special status (rights, obligations, taxes and subsidies).

• Tax incentives
• Higher costs for repair
• Restrictions on structural changes

Conclusion: What should I invest in at the beginning?

If you look at our comparison, you can clearly see that every property, except condominium, has disadvantages. Therefore, our conclusion is: condominiums are the easiest way to get started in real estate. Here again briefly our most important points at a glance:

• Self-use is the most expensive way to live – you are responsible for 100% of the costs yourself
• Ideal case for entry: condominium, for rent (investment), with good return!
• If it is to be owner-occupied, then directly with 2nd or 3rd property as an investment.

The next step: how to build your assets?

Are you interested in real estate to secure and build up your assets? Then read on here: Everything on the subject of investment, value investment and inflation.

Tax advice simply explained: 7 areas

The tasks of the tax advisor differ depending on which tasks you take on yourself. The main tasks of the tax advisor are bookkeeping, financial accounting, accounting of wages and salaries, the annual financial statements and of course the general advice on the subject of taxes and tax optimization.

If you are interested in the processes, the individual areas of responsibility, then you are in the right place. Learn about the risks of hiring a tax advisor, as well as 3 tips to find a good, really good tax advisor. After that, we will give you deep insights into the daily cooperation with your tax advisor.

7 typical tasks of tax consultants in companies:

1. Advice on tax preparation and structuring
2. Bookkeeping and financial accounting
3. Payroll accounting and payroll
4. Profit and Loss Account (EÜR)
5. Tax returns (much more on this later)
6. Audits of tax assessments
7. Representation vis-à-vis tax office and court

Source: Lukinski.de, tax consultant for companies

Why is it so important to find a good, reputable tax accountant?

Every euro that is not spent on taxes can be reinvested and generates further returns (profits)

That means if you pay too much tax, your money is gone. You can’t use it for new ideas and projects, which in turn bring you more profits and wealth. That’s why a good tax advisor is so important for your wealth creation.

Tasks of the tax consultant: tax returns, wages & Co.

According to Lukinski, the 4 central tasks consist of these areas in simplified form:

1. Tax returns (monthly filings and annual evaluations)
2. Wages for employees
3. Balance sheets (annual financial statements)
4. Tax structuring (set-up and optimisation)

Consulting: foundation, day-to-day business and development

The most important, especially for founders, is the tax advice and design. Taxes are not only a topic for large companies and corporations. It already starts with the managing director’s salary and tax allowances. In the growth process there are also changes in the legal form of the company (list external). If you look at a possible process, this could include, for example, the following stages that you go through step by step as a self-employed person.

Evolution a company (exemplary):

• Sole proprietorship
• Entrepreneurial company (UG haftungsbeschränkt)
• Limited liability company (GmbH)
• Stock corporation (AG)
• Holding (with subsidiaries)

Tax advice therefore begins even before the company is founded. It continues with simple, initial aspects such as your managing director’s salary and goes on to the change of the individual legal forms of companies.

Processing of tax matters

Consultations on tax structuring, concept creation for tax avoidance, that is of course not the daily routine in the cooperation. The daily cooperation with your tax advisor is mainly about the processing of tax matters, from payroll accounting, bookkeeping and preparation of tax returns, to special requests. A list of key points is worth a thousand words, so here is a summary of what the “day-to-day work” is about, the tasks of the tax advisor.

Tax consultant tasks in detail:

• Bookkeeping; this includes setting up bookkeeping, creating a chart of accounts, bookkeeping itself, account assignment of documents).
• Payroll accounting
• Tax returns; this includes wage tax, capital gains tax and turnover tax advance returns
• Preparation of tax returns; these include income, corporate, trade, sales, gift and inheritance tax returns.
• Preparation of financial statements; this includes the income statement (EÜR), opening balance sheet, annual financial statements, interim financial statements, liquidation balance sheet and explanatory reports
• … and special requests

For the sake of completeness, tax advisors naturally help not only in setting up or setting up the business, but also in winding it up, i.e. insolvency, should something go wrong.

Do I need to hire a tax advisor?

As a company and self-employed person, you are not obliged to hire a tax advisor.

However, if you do not have a sound education yourself or the risks are too great, for example because you are not a small business (with “only” 5,000, 7,000 or 10,000 turnover per year), then you should definitely rely on the support of a tax consultant. The higher the turnover, the greater the risk of making mistakes. After all, in your company you are not only responsible for yourself personally, but also for your employees. They rely on you, as well as on regular salary payments.

The perfect segue to your duties!

Even if you have hired a tax advisor, it is worthwhile to take over certain tasks yourself. Depending on how many tasks you take over in your company yourself (or through employees), you save costs with the tax advisor.

Whose work costs you more per hour: employees or accountants?

Some founders collect all receipts, then give them collected, but unsorted in the office. Already the first mistake, because so happens the assignment, to the individual account movements, by the tax adviser. With 100 receipts quickly a few extra hours, with all the queries.

Your tasks: Work with tax consultants = save money

Every hour that your tax consultant works for you, apart from the regular tasks, costs extra. If you send your documents (incoming invoices and outgoing invoices) unsorted, the tax advisor or an employee has to do virtually everything. Conversely: If you deliver everything sorted, allocated (document = account movement) and assigned, it minimizes the workload extremely.

If you write invoices in which, for example, your tax number is missing, your tax advisor has to point this out, you have to change everything, send it again. If you don’t collect your invoices sorted and chronologically, your tax advisor has to do the job, some receipts are unclear, again queries, time and costs. If you don’t use digital accounting yet, through tax software, receipts still have to be entered by hand. These are all factors that drive up the cost of your accountant.

So, in quick summary, what are your responsibilities when working with an accountant? Because:

Work with the tax consultant = save money

Very basically, there are 4 areas that you should work through cleanly.

Wages, registration, health insurance, etc.

Theoretically, the tax comes first, determined by the monthly accounting. But for us one thing is most important, your employees! Because only through good teamwork, you can achieve good results with your company. Therefore, for us first of all wages, health insurance and other liabilities that provide for a good and effective team.

PS: Good teamwork always means that you are a good motivator for your employees.

Central is the submission of wage data, always on the 15th of the month. In the middle of the month? Yes, exactly, because the payroll data must first be processed, often by external payroll offices, which in turn are commissioned by your tax advisor. This happens especially in smaller tax offices when the necessary personnel resources are not yet available.

This means that halfway through the month you send wages, fixed hours and probable hours to the tax advisor. If you have employees who do not have fixed monthly working hours, you must extrapolate the probable working time. These estimated times will then be offset against the actual working times (of the previous month) in the following month.

Caution, unaware cost trap! Health insurance

Health insurances are not part of the wages and especially company founders often only (!) calculate with the sum for wages and salaries instead of seeing the total costs that arise for employees.

Here’s a small example:

• Salary (transfer): 1.500 €
• Health insurance: 700 €
• Costs for payroll accounting: 15 €
• Central wage costs: € 2,225
• Unconscious costs: + 32,6 %.

The gap between the €1,500 calculated in the mind and the €2,225 actually paid is a whole €725, or +32.6 per cent. Therefore, always remember that the cost of wages and salaries ultimately includes not only the actual payment to the employee, but also the health insurance and payroll costs, which are additional for each individual employee.

This calculation error increases with each individual employee. So, for example, if you hire 5 employees directly at the start of the company through an investment or a loan and do not keep an eye on the costs for health insurance and payroll accounting, you will have a monthly deficit of 3,575 euros in the calculation example. If you have a loan of 50,000 euros or an investment, hire 5 employees, it has consequences quickly. After a period of 6 months, the sudden, supposed loss is already 21,450 euros. Finances are the number 1 reason for the failure of companies.

This is where another statistic comes right into play, 9 out of 10 businesses fail in the first 5 years. The most common reason is lack of funding and capitalization. Supposedly, because maybe it’s just the wrong calculation.

That’s why it’s always important: You have to take an interest in taxes and duties yourself.

Don’t leave the work (only) to your tax advisor!

Let’s recap wages, employees, and health insurance:

• Submission of wage data by the 15th of the month
• Submission of actual and estimated working times (depending on employee type)

Monthly taxes: sales tax, trade tax, etc.

From our long look at employees now to the point at hand, monthly taxes! As a business (except small business) you are obliged to charge VAT if the invoice recipient is in the country (business) and always if the customer is a private person.

The very most important thing for accounting and for accountants:

Each posting (transaction) gets an assignment (document)

Or in other words, for every receipt and withdrawal on your account, there is a receipt that provides proof of what the money was used for.

This monthly evaluation determines the amount of sales tax you have to pay to the tax office.

If your turnover is high enough, the tax office will ask you to pay business tax for the first time. The sales tax is a transitory item. The trade tax reduces your profit, the sales tax does not. Read more about the types of taxes in Germany here.

Once again summarized the most important tasks for you, in the preparation of accounting:

• Each posting a document
• Accounting almost 1 month together
• Submission no later than the 10th of the following month (tax office, previously to tax advisor)

Annual taxes: annual accounts

At the end of the year, depending on the legal form and company structure, financial statements are sent to the tax office.

If you do not file your tax return yourself, the annual accounts will be prepared in full by your tax adviser.

Your annual accounts provide information about the financial situation of your company. The annual financial statement is mandatory for all types of companies and is also sent to the Federal Gazette. In this way, company balance sheets can be viewed by the public. This facilitates credit checks for other companies and gives the tax office an insight into the current situation.

At the end of the year, there are various declarations that need to be filed, depending on the legal form(s) and company construct. For the self-employed, this includes the income tax return or, in general, the VAT return. As I said, all these aspects are taken care of by your tax advisor.

The annual accounts must be submitted by 31 July at the latest. Unless you are assisted by a tax advisor, then the submission can be extended to 28/29 February of the following year.

Now before we get to the 3 tips to find a good tax accountant, first the risks and dangers of hiring the wrong tax accountant.

Compare tax accountants: Risk when hiring

You want to find a good accountant! Because you want to avoid risks and dangers, after all, it will cost you money if you hire the wrong firm for your accounting. Ultimately, also a reason why startups fail. Cost of additional processing, advice and service and of course losses, for example if tax benefits are not taken (quote above). In the article on Lukinski, 3 specific risk factors are described that usually only become apparent after years of working together. The 3 risks first at a glance.

Assign risks to the tax advisor:

1. Intensive, regular cooperation; means commitment and time for tax consultant changes
2. Amount of monthly and additional costs; money missing for reinvestment
3. In the long term: lose money (pay too much tax, plus costs for tax advisor, lack of reinvestment) due to lack of qualitative / quantitative advice

Learn even more about 3 big risks in contracting here:

• Hiring a tax advisor: 3 mistakes

Find a tax advisor: 3 tips

In order to find a good tax advisor, there are in the article on Lukinski directly 3 practical tips with to the hand, for your search, for a good tax advisor in the proximity.

These 3 tips will help you find a tax accountant:

1. Don’t click on the ad in the search results (go directly to page 2)
2. Rating on online portals (more than 5 opinions)
3. Experiences and recommendations from successful entrepreneurs

Avoid advertisements in search results and portals

For one, never click on the ads, because these search results do not come from quality. The ads are here solely because money is paid for it. Money that is spent on advertising, of course, must be taken again. Already the costs for the tax adviser rise, because marketing is expensive. Maybe it is also not the best tax office, after all, customers still need to be recruited. Word of mouth is not enough to acquire new customers through recommendations, that is, through satisfied customers.

Ratings with quality and quantity

Tip number 2 deals with the evaluation in online portals. Here you should pay particular attention to the fact that there are a relatively large number of opinions. Buy reviews is quite simple. For as little as $19, there are real reviews in search engines and on social networks. Therefore, you should on the one hand compare the number of reviews with other offices, on the other hand read the opinions or even read through. A simple “very good” could possibly be bought.

Tax consultant experiences of other successful entrepreneurs

Tip number 3 is the safest way, you ask experienced and successful entrepreneurs in your area who can give you good recommendations. Another advantage, you have a door opener to the firm. Because good tax accountants don’t wait for new clients, they have enough inquiries through referrals.

Here again, briefly summarized, the 3 tips from practice to find a good tax advisor:

1. Don’t click on the ad in the search results (go directly to page 2)
2. Rating on online portals (more than 5 opinions)
3. Experiences and recommendations from successful entrepreneurs

Conclusion: Find and hire a tax consultant

That was our insight into the topic of finding and hiring a tax advisor. So remember, don’t leave the work (only) to your tax accountant! The more you understand and do, the less you pay for the tax advisor and the more money or profit you have left to reinvest.

You’ve learned a lot about working together, from monthly bookkeeping and wages, to your company’s financial statements. Also the 3 biggest risks and 3 tips so that you do not make mistakes when choosing a tax advisor.

You can find more on this topic in the source of the article on Luinski.de: Steuerberater.

Costs and billing

How much does a tax consultant cost per hour? How are the fees of the tax advisor calculated? How much should a tax accountant cost? And how much does a small business tax accountant cost? If you haven’t experienced tax accountants yet, here are official costs and rates for you, from the federal Chamber of Tax Advisors. Tip. Under the explanation of value fee you will find the cost table for 100.000, 200.000 and 500.000 Euro – that’s how much your tax advisor costs / earns!

• Tax consultant costs

Mistakes: 3 risks for your company

Hiring a tax accountant / mistakes – You want to find a good tax accountant! Because, you want to avoid risks and dangers, after all it will cost you cash if you hire the wrong firm for your accounting. Costs for additional processing, advice and service and of course losses, for example, if tax benefits are not taken (quote above). In the article on Lukinski, 3 specific risk factors are described that usually only become apparent after years of working together. The 3 risks first at a glance.

• Hiring a tax advisor: mistakes

Tax consultant in the vicinity

Nearby Tax Accountants – Find a good tax accountant near you? We have searched the internet for you for days to find the best recommendations for tax consultants in your area: Hamburg, Berlin, Cologne, Dusseldorf, Munich, Stuttgart & Co. for your private tax return or income tax return or more complex accounting for companies, from monthly financial accounting to annual financial statements. Including adresses, telephone numbers and website.

• Tax consultant in the vicinity

Hiring a tax advisor: 3 mistakes

In our great overview on the subject of tax advisors, the recommendations for many cities, for good tax advisors in the area, the tax advisor costs everything on the subject of starting a company and possible legal forms; taxes are so important for entrepreneurs that today we once again focus on the tax advisor choice. Because, especially the selection of the tax advisor is a central factor, for the success of your company. Before we look at the 3 mistakes in detail, here is an overview for you.

Assign risks to the tax advisor:

1. Intensive, regular cooperation; means commitment and time for tax consultant changes
2. Amount of monthly and additional costs; money missing for reinvestment
3. In the long term: lose money (pay too much tax, plus costs for tax advisor, lack of reinvestment) due to lack of qualitative / quantitative advice

Source: Lukinski.de, article tax consultant for enterprises

Let’s look at each of the commissioning risk factors.

Communication and bonding – risk number 1

First of all, a risk factor that is not directly related to the topic of “losing money” or “costs for the tax advisor”. It’s the regular, intensive relationship you have with your tax advisor. While most business relationships are relatively irregular, you’ll need to talk to your own tax advisor for many, recurring transactions in the. Whether it’s levies, consultations or queries.

If you don’t feel absolutely comfortable during the first meeting, or if you are not on the same wavelength, then you should refrain from working together. That is why it is so important to compare tax advisors, through recommendations from experienced entrepreneur friends or through initial discussions with different tax advisors. Also important so you have different quotes in front of you. How often you will communicate, you can already see by the weekly to annual meetings, even if only digitally.

Deadlines for submission of accounts, wages and annual financial statements

Regular communication includes, for example:

• Monthly submission of the accounts, by the 10th of the following month (deadline at the tax office)
• Wages and salaries, as of the 15th of the month
• …
• Financial statements

As an entrepreneurial person, you are in constant contact with the tax office. Therefore, you should also look for people with whom you, as described, are on the same wavelength. If it quickly comes to disagreements and disputes, the share of communication decreases and so you come to risk number 3: The lack of tax advice.

At the same time, you’re just as reluctant to make contact and won’t ask some questions you would have asked an accountant you trust.

So in addition to all the facts and figures, the personal level also plays a role.

Change of tax advisor: When mistakes add up

Already by the above points you have seen how in your company is connected with the tax adviser. Accordingly, a change is not possible overnight, it must be well prepared. You need to find a new firm that will take you on as a client. Especially good law firms check if they want to work with a client. The new tax advisor must then, as immediately start working for a smooth transition, for example, if you have a dispute with your old tax advisor.

So the commitment is relatively long-term, until you notice mistakes (we’ll get to that in a moment) and find time to change tax advisors in addition to the day-to-day business of your company. But don’t worry, if you find someone who accepts you as a client, the change is made relatively quickly, from the first conversation to the start is maybe 7 to 14 days.

Thanks to digital accounting, the change of tax advisor is possible within 24 hours if the mandate is accepted by a law firm.

Monthly, too high cost burden – risk number 2

Of course, tax consultants don’t work for free. When you look at the costs of a tax consultant, you also look at two values.

Cost factors: 1) Regular and 2) Additional services

Cost factor 1: Regular services – The basics, i.e. your bookkeeping and financial accounting, are usually calculated according to the value in use. Value in use means that the monthly amount of the costs is based on the amount of your turnover. The more turnover you make, the more you pay. The fees are calculated according to an official scale of fees. In addition, tax consultants have a small margin, up and down.

This means you pay a fixed value depending on how much revenue you make. Nevertheless, offers from different tax advisors can differ, as they have a percentage margin.

Cost factor 2: Additional services – In addition to your monthly basic costs, there are also additional services, for example consulting, but also the annual financial statement is charged extra. Here lies the risk factor, how much consulting is good, how much is bad for you and your company? There is no general answer to this question. Because, depending on how much previous commercial knowledge and also interest you bring yourself, ideally only 1 or 2 hours a month. Consultation means already inquiries here. Just about every minute is billed. If your tax advisor talks to you on the phone for 10 minutes, then an employee has to be informed (5 minutes), another 20 minutes of documents are procured, a decision is made and a call is made back – already 1 hour of additional effort has arisen, for one question. At 120 euros / hour, quickly a relevant topic for young companies.

So you have two cost factors and especially the additional services can quickly add up. If you use a lot of consulting, which many founders do, then every minute is charged. If you take an hourly rate of 120 Euros as a basis and only 1 additional hour per week, 4 hours of additional consulting (one appointment or distributed) will cost you 600 Euros. As a large limited liability company, this may not be a problem, but especially at the beginning, in the start-up phase, this is a lot of money.

Example calculation: Extra costs due to consulting

Here again in quick and simple summary, the calculation of the additional costs, by consulting service.

• Hourly rate tax consultant: 120 Euro
• Additional effort / week: 1 hour
• Monthly extra costs: + 600 Euro
• Annual extra costs: + 7.200 Euro

If a GmbH was founded with 25,000 Euro starting capital, an item of 28.8% of the equity capital, in addition to the costs for regular accounting.

Advice is important, but pay attention to dotted questions and be prepared, for example by doing your own research, this saves time

Dubious tax consultants? Too much advice

If you have a less reputable tax advisor and regularly 10, 12 or even 15 hours extra per month, which at first doesn’t sound like much, over the whole month, the risk quickly becomes a danger. This brings us to risk 3, the consequence: losing money due to too much overhead and taxes.

Losing money through bad / no advice – Risk 3

Through lack of communication (risk 1), too high fees for too much advice (risk 2) or even lack of knowledge, you lose money to reinvest and further tax benefits.

Too much paid money, tax benefits, you can no longer claim afterwards / partly costly, that’s why it is so important to have a good advisor at his side.

The tax advisor training is relatively simple, it is not a long, state training or a study, the training to the tax advisor makes one in a course, with subsequent examination. By and large, it is about the administration of taxes, not about the design of taxes.

Full-time training lasts (only) 2 months

No one learns the intricacies in the tax system in 2 months, it’s more about filing monthly and yearly correctly.

Many tax consultants also pass on their work to employees who then show little interest in the individual clients, for example because these employees are overloaded with tasks. Accordingly, the work is processed, that is, managed again, not designed. If you hire a tax advisor who does not attach much importance to communication, especially in terms of tax advice, you will quickly lose a lot of money, starting with tax allowances and ending with tax structuring for different legal forms.

Hiring a tax advisor: mistakes + 3 tips

Let’s summarize the four key risks again:

1. Intensive, regular cooperation; means commitment and time for tax consultant changes
2. Amount of monthly and additional costs; money missing for reinvestment
3. In the long term: lose money (pay too much tax, plus costs for tax advisor, lack of reinvestment) due to lack of qualitative / quantitative advice

Source: Lukinski.de, tax consultant for companies

This leads to the following question, how do you find a good tax accountant?

Find a tax advisor: 3 tips

Do I have to hire a tax consultant? What tasks does a tax consultant perform? How much does a tax consultant cost? Here you will find the answers to your questions and much more information on the subject of tax consultants in the area, finding tax consultants, costs, tasks, financial accounting, annual financial statements and taxes in general – but let’s start at the beginning.

• Find a tax advisor: 3 tips

Tax consultant in the vicinity

Nearby Tax Accountants – Find a good tax accountant near you? We have searched the internet for you for days to find the best recommendations for tax consultants in your area: Hamburg, Berlin, Cologne, Dusseldorf, Munich, Stuttgart & Co. for your private tax return or income tax return or more complex accounting for companies, from monthly financial accounting to annual financial statements. Including adresses, telephone numbers and website.

• Tax consultant in the vicinity

Selling Real Estate: 15 Mistakes When Selling Condo & House

This list goes further than all other guides on the Internet, which usually only deal with six, seven or eight errors. Here it goes much deeper; also critical of too high valuations by real estate agents.

Example: No sale due to too high valuation

Here is a small example that we will discuss in more detail later:

You’re smart, of course, and ask several real estate agents for an offer on your condo or house! Actually, that’s exactly right. But there may be a mistake here, because you will probably end up choosing the real estate agent who gives you the highest valuation. But a too high offer price (not purchase price) can scare away interested parties and thus your property, whether condo or house, will quickly become a slow seller and it will not be sold, at least not in the period of time you would have wished. If it is to be sold then nevertheless fast, you must accept substantial losses with the purchase price. After all, you are under pressure! But let’s start with the typical mistakes.

First, a look at the full checklist.

Checklist: Mistakes when selling an apartment or house

These 15 typical sources of error were identified by Lukinski (List: 15 Mistakes in Real Estate Sales; external).

1. Time pressure! Too little time for the sale
2. Timing! Wrong time to sell
3. Inaccurate object description! Exposé written unprofessionally
4. Unflattering photos! Interested parties do not click
5. Wrong target group! Newspaper for students apartment with 50m²
6. Too high a valuation! Too expensive, no buyers
7. Lack of documentation and evidence
8. Viewings unprepared! Does not convince interested parties on site
9. Underestimated effort! Back to time pressure (error 1)
10. Negotiation are easy! Purchase price losses with professionals
11. Private, sell alone! Sales phase without experience
12. Waiting time! Prospective customers stall too long
13. Creditworthiness! Proof of financing (buyer)
14. Sales contract! Defects in the purchase contract are overlooked
15. Burn property! Large or exclusive properties in mass portals

Condominium as an investment in the city centre: Apartment sales are not only interesting for private individuals, real estate investors also have a look at the coveted A-locations. That’s why real estate portals are not always the best idea, especially properties in A-locations are usually sold through renowned brokers who are not only regionally positioned, but have an international network of buyers.

Loft on 2 floors, such properties sell well! Even if they are in need of renovation. After a make-over, such a loft apartment with modern, free-standing staircase shines in all new splendour.

Now let’s take a look at some of the risks:

Time pressure! Too little time for the sale

One of the biggest sources of error that can ultimately cause you to get a much lower sale price than you would have liked is too little time. If you don’t have enough time to sell your condo or house, or even land or apartment building, then you will most likely be under pressure. Of course, if you are under pressure, skilled traders can take advantage of it and they will!

• Time pressure – sales process underestimated
• Option A – Accept lower purchase price
• Option B – Accept longer selling time

The problem: Option B only works if you don’t need the money from the sale of the apartment or house! For example, because you have already bought a new property.

As a recommendation, at least 2 months of preparation time are mentioned here. After all, as you will learn in the other sources of error, it is not just about making a small advertisement, you have to collect documents and records, you have to collect the object data, make meaningful real estate photos, accept the first inquiries, conduct conversations, arrange viewings, then follows the entire negotiations, the purchase contract and notary appointment.

At least 2 months preparation time; sales time often up to 6 months

You see how complex and extensive the process of selling real estate is. That is why it is so important that you take enough time.

Inaccurate object description / Unprofessionally written

What puts off many prospective buyers, especially if you have a lot of listings on property portals, is an inaccurate property description. No one wants to ask for extra information if it is not already provided by the seller. Why should they, when there are a multitude of other offers just a few clicks away.

There are many factors that go into an accurate property description, in the article a complete list(mistakes in selling real estate) is given, with details that must be given at least in the real estate listing.

An object description should at least contain this information:

• Meaningful title
• Address, or location and district
• Living space
• Footprint
• Apartment type / House type
• Available from when
• Number of rooms
• Bedroom
• Bathroom
• Garage / Parking space
• Internet

Features and Extras:

• Building fabric & energy certificate
• Year of manufacture
• Modernisation/refurbishment
• Object state
• Equipment
• Heating type
• Energy source
• Energy certificate

Documents in the first step:

• Floor plan

The result is then an online advertisement or a nice, clear brochure, as shown here in the example:

Unfavourable photos in the exposé – Just like exposé, hardly any demand

Photos say more than 1,000 words! As a magazine, we know very well from our practical work how important photos are; from the online edition to the printed magazines, the choice of picture is one of the most important criteria for attracting the attention of prospective buyers. It’s the same with house sales and apartment sales.

What you have to pay attention to is the quality of the camera. If you use a new smartphone or a modern digital camera, you won’t have any problems. But sometimes the lens is dirty, sometimes the phone model is no longer the latest. When the photo shoot comes up, check what camera options are available to you beforehand. Tip. Smartphones today take very good photos, usually it is quite enough.

Apartment: Before / After example

Here is a practical before / after example of good and bad photos. A simple example: daylight and camera setting.

Before (with bad light):

After (with good light):

With simple tips for photography beginners and the most important camera settings, you can quickly achieve a lot, from outdoor to indoor, even with backlighting.

Order, cleanliness and daylight

What the camera can not solve is order and cleanliness in the premises and, of course, on the outdoor areas. Not only at the viewing, already when real estate photos are created, should always be paid attention to order and cleanliness. Because so the rooms seem high-quality, accordingly more prospective customers on your offer will jump. A good tip is also to remove objects. For example, if there are too many picture frames on the cabinet, clothes hanging visibly in the room, and so on. The tidier the rooms, the higher the chance of a profitable sale.

When the rooms are prepared, it is still a matter of the right timing of the photo shoots. Here you should make sure that you shoot in daylight. This way you have the optimal, natural brightness in the rooms – this is much better than unnatural light, as in the example above. In order for buyers to get a good picture of the apartment, house or apartment building, you should also always photograph multiple perspectives. Simply put, don’t just take one photo of the living room, take three.

Quick check for your photos:

1. Camera quality
2. Order and cleanliness
3. Daylight, bright rooms
4. Multiple perspectives

Also for viewing: Preparation of the rooms

For the visit, similar standards apply as for the real estate photos, everything should be well prepared, because the property must convince. Fresh air, daylight, order and cleanliness, in addition also already prepared, drinks and snacks, it should come directly to the first deeper going in discussions, during the inspection.

House and condo priced too high! No one writes

This mistake is relatively fatal:

If the valuation of the property is wrong, you will usually notice it late, namely exactly then, when no or too few inquiries come!

Under exactly this aspect of the late knowledge of the too high offer price, you are quickly back in error 1) the time pressure. Because suddenly there are no prospective buyers and maybe you’ve already confirmed your new home? Maybe the new financing for the house has already been taken out? This is where it gets critical! There are many reasons why a majority want to sell quickly, not after 1 or 2 years when the ideal time + buyer is found.

As described in the introduction, many get comparison quotes. When you look at settlement offers, you’ll probably say “I’ll get the highest rating”, after all, that’s when you get the most money, right?

Real estate agents also compete with each other and accordingly, of course, you know that the real estate agents who give the highest valuation are usually hired. If 2 real estate agents recommend ~ 800,000 for your condo and another one recommends 950,000, who do you think will win?

1. Broker valued at 820,000
2. Broker valued at 800,000
3. Broker values at 950,000 – gets the job

This could be a mistake!

Brokers want the order, high rating are the means for “satisfied” customers

Therefore, when evaluations are made by real estate agents, make sure that they also include critical points in the evaluation and do not only see everything from the optimal point of view for the order confirmation. A well-founded property valuation should definitely always be done by a professional, a real estate agent or even directly a surveyor. You should make sure that your property is not only “nicely calculated”.

Documents and proofs are missing – Documents are not available

If you want to sell your house you need a lot of documents, if you want to sell your condo is a lot of documents and papers! From floor plans to the energy certificate.

To give you an immediate overview, here is a checklist with the important documents for all types of houses and apartments.

Source: Lukinski.de

Documents for real estate

The general documents for the sale of real estate:

• Official cadastral map of the municipality
• Land register entries and documents relating to registered land charges
• Floor plans / construction plans of the property, building description and the building permit certificate
• Living space and usable space calculation
• Open Space Design Plan
• Building specification
• Building permit and building plans
• Property tax assessment notices
• Energy certificate of the object

In addition, there are the photos of the property, as already described above.

Documents for condominiums

For condos, you’ll need to get a few more documents.

• Declaration of division
• Caretaker agreement
• Business plan
• Partition plan (showing special and common property)
• Common rules of the community of owners
• Minutes of the owners’ meetings
• Service charge statements
• Amount of the maintenance reserve

Selling phase is designed alone – selling privately without estate agent and expertise

If you now take another look at the entire list of possible mistakes, you will quickly notice that the private sale of a property is very difficult, from the credit check of the interested parties (proof of capital), through the entire process of communication, initial enquiries, further discussions, to the first viewing, further viewings, the sales negotiations and, of course, the purchase contract and the notary appointment.

Here again at a glance:

1. Time pressure! Too little time for the sale
2. Timing! Wrong time to sell
3. Inaccurate object description! Exposé written unprofessionally
4. Unflattering photos! Interested parties do not click
5. Wrong target group! Newspaper for students apartment with 50m²
6. Too high a valuation! Too expensive, no buyers
7. Lack of documentation and evidence
8. Viewings unprepared! Does not convince interested parties on site
9. Underestimated effort! Back to time pressure (error 1)
10. Negotiation are easy! Purchase price losses with professionals
11. Private, sell alone! Sales phase without experience
12. Waiting time! Prospective customers stall too long
13. Creditworthiness! Proof of financing (buyer)
14. Sales contract! Defects in the purchase contract are overlooked
15. Burn property! Large or exclusive properties in mass portals

When selling a home and homes, working with a professional real estate agent who has the right expertise and experience is worth a lot.

Did you already know? Two thirds of all properties in Germany are sold through estate agents. Why? The time involved is very high, you need to have the right contacts so that his apartment does not appear on 20 real estate portals. You need the right negotiating skills and ultimately…

House & apartment forms at a glance: List

In the real estate market, there are a lot of different types of construction. Both in the field of apartment and houses, there are many forms and types according to which a property is designed. These are divided into different formats. We have clearly listed some of the most common house and apartment types for you here. You can find more information about the respective property type in the corresponding article by clicking on the corresponding link.

Overview of house types: from bungalow to prefabricated house

Here you will find a list with an overview of all common house types. The linked article provides you with more information about the respective house form, introduces you to characteristics and definitions and you also learn which house type is suitable for whom and why. In addition, we introduce you to the advantages and disadvantages of the respective house form in the associated articles.

• Bungalow
• Semi-detached house
• Single-family house
• Half-timbered house
• Holiday home / weekend house
• Beach house
• Prefabricated house
• Country house
• Massive house
• Terraced house
• Villa
• Low-energy house
• Zero-energy house
• Passive House

Apartment types overview: Old building apartment to basement

The housing market is highly competitive and there are many different types of housing that come with certain characteristics. In the corresponding articles you will find definitions and information about the respective type of apartment, as well as a list of potential advantages and disadvantages of the corresponding apartment.

• Old apartment
• Apartment
• Attic apartment
• Granny flat
• Apartment
• Loft
• Maisonette apartment
• Penthouse
• Basement apartment
• Terrace apartment

Real estate agent in the vicinity

Especially if you’ve already moved away for your new love, are planning to move, are changing homes for work reasons, and so on. You can find good tips directly with us:

• Real estate agent in the vicinity

Buy Pomeranian: Dog and cost

The following questions are divided into clear blocks, so you can find the right answers to your question(s) quickly and easily! Everything for your start in life, with the basics for your Pomeranian. At the end of the article you will find more interesting articles on the subject of Pomeranian puppies and buying a dog, in general, as well as the initial equipment and other tips for beginners and your first dog.

Listen along with Zoe:

1. What is the difference between a Miniature Spitz and a Pomeranian?
2. What is the difference between Kleinspitz and Zwergspitz?
3. What do you have to consider with dwarf spitz?
4. How much does a Pomeranian cost?
5. Is a Miniature Spitz a family dog?

First and foremost, the central question for many who have seen Pomeranians downtown or on Instagram and then set out to find them on the internet:

What is the difference between a Miniature Spitz and a Pomeranian?

There is no difference between Pomeranian and Zwergspitz. “Zwergspitz” is the German name. “Pomeranian” is the international or English name for the dog breed. If someone speaks of a Pomeranian, he always speaks of a Zwergspitz at the same time.

There is no difference between Pomeranian and Miniature Spitz.

What do you have to consider with dwarf spitz?

Basically, a Pomeranian is no different from any other puppy. Even though they are extremely small and cute, they are still small dogs. They need a lot of love from you, which means time and attention, regular eating, walking and a safe and warm place to sleep. Then there is the grooming.

In a nutshell:

1. Time and love from you (attention)
2. Regular eating, more on that in a moment.
3. Go walkies
4. Safe, warm place to sleep
5. Coat care

Here’s another tip! Pomeranian puppies are really, really small dogs. Therefore, properly assess your strength and the strength of other dogs!

Evaluate your strength when playing and on the leash correctly

If your dog wears a harness, the danger is less, if he wears a collar, it is greater. Hectic movements from you, can quickly cause damage to the neck, or the cervical vertebrae in the little ones. Why? The neck and all the muscles are so delicate when puppies are Miniature Pointers that you must always be careful when playing and taking the dog out.

Also pay attention when you pull on the leash. Just like when playing, your movements should not be too frantic or forceful. The good thing is, once you have your Pomeranian puppy in hand, you can quickly gauge how much strength you can muster. Much more important then are strange, large dogs.

Beware of big dogs

Miniature spitz puppies are actually so small, you might think they are big guinea pigs. That’s exactly what some big dogs think! Even if they just want to play, their strength can be enough to snap the little puppies’ necks. Just like with frantic movements, you should make sure your puppy is protected even with big dogs.

How much does a Pomeranian cost?

If you want to buy a Pomeranian, you have to calculate with costs of 1.800 to 2.500 Euro.

Price approx. 1.800 Euro to 2.500 Euro

In addition to the purchase price, you will have to pay for basic equipment for your puppy, as well as the first visit to the vet and groomer.

The basic equipment for the little puppy costs about 80 euros. This already includes food, leash, harness, blanket, treats – everything you need for your beds in the first days. At the vet you will pay about 80 to 150 euros, depending on whether you still have to put the chip or give vaccinations. With good breeders everything is already done:

• Deworming, chip and the vaccinations.

At the groomer you pay about 50 to 70 euros for a haircut. During the first visit, you and your puppy will have a taster day at a good dog groomer, not a “full programme”. The first visit is dedicated to getting to know the dog salon.

Cost summary:

• Price for Pomeranian: 1.800 to 2.500 Euro
• First equipment for your puppy: 80 Euro
• Visit to the vet: 80 to 150 euros
• Dog groomer: 50 to 70 Euro

So all in all, the first month will cost you Round About:

Costs (total): 2.010 – 2.800 Euro

Is a Miniature Spitz a family dog?

What are Miniature Spitz like? Dwarf Spitz are absolute family dogs and are good with everyone, children, adults and even older people. They are very sweet, have a play instinct that is not too pronounced, as well as with the urge to move. If you were to rate the characteristics: Exercise, play drive, all 3 out of 5 stars. A super, little mix, not too hyper, not too calm.

Miniature spitzes are absolute family dogs

Also advantageous for children who themselves can not yet walk for miles, but would like to walk themselves. But also for us adults a comfortable advantage, especially if you live in the city and do not have direct access to long posts and meadows.

Life & Everyday Life

1. How long can you leave a Pomeranian alone?
2. How big do Pomeranian puppies grow?

How long can you leave a Pomeranian alone?

Leaving your Pomeranian alone takes practice! Your dog needs to learn and train, just like all other dogs. If you have a Pomeranian puppy, make sure from the beginning that he or she spends time alone, even for short periods of time. This way, your dog will quickly get used to being alone at times. So it’s best to start early after the first day.

As you can read in my article Pomeranian: The first week, I started directly on the third day to leave her alone sometimes. First for a small time window of 20, 30 minutes, after about 10 days I have served this time out for me to an hour.

• Day 1-2: 2-5 minutes alone (for example kitchen)
• Day 3-5: 20-30 minutes alone
• Day 6-9: 20-50 minutes alone
• From day 10: Up to 1 hour alone
• From 2nd month: More flexible

Your Pomeranian is a pack animal like other dogs, but also very independent! My tip at this point, don’t make a drama out of it, when you leave or come back your dog, treat it like a normal situation. This is the fastest way for your dog to get used to being downstairs, so it’s a normal thing.

Don’t make a drama out of leaving and seeing each other again, it’s normal that you’re away sometimes.

How big do Pomeranian puppies grow?

Pomeranian puppies are very small, their shoulder height is usually only 12 to 15 cm. Grown up pomeranians are then about 20 to 30 cm tall. Thus they belong to the minis among the dogs.

• Puppies: 12-15 centimeters
• Adult: 20-30 centimeters

How old do pygmy tips get?

Pomeranians live on average 12 to 16 years. So you should consider well before buying whether a small and later “big” dog fits into your life.

• Age: 12 to 16 years

Care & Hairstyle

1. How do you care for Pomeranians?
2. How much hair Pomeranian?
3. How often does a Pomeranian need a haircut?

How do you care for Pomeranians?

Daily combing – Pomeranians are mainly made of fur, you will notice that very quickly! Therefore, your most important task is coat care. For you, that means daily combing ideally. If you have a puppy, you should make sure that he or she also has a lot of undercoat. You need to comb this out extra carefully. This will prevent the little puppy’s fur from matting.

Clean eyes – Your little puppy is on the move here and sniffs at many things, so sometimes small remnants get stuck in the fine eye hairs. You can remove these either with your hand, or one or two fingers, or with a soft, damp cloth. All this of course gently and carefully! Your dog will not like this at the beginning, but he or she has to get used to it, after all you only want the best for the little puppy!

Popo säubern – Especially for puppy owners the almost daily ritual, the butt to be cleaned! Pomeranians have a lot of fur and accordingly, something always gets stuck. Sitting wrong, a little too much grass under the butt, already your puppy has rest on the fur. The good news, for all those who are buying their first dog, from my experience, the shyness of your dog’s poop goes away quickly – that is, if it’s your own cute little Pomeranian!

Regular bathing – We (Peppa and I) have so far settled our bathing routine that I always take her briefly into the shower with me on Sundays. Every three or four weeks I wash her completely, otherwise I mainly take care of her back part. Quasi the quick cat wash!

Care for your Pomeranian summarized:

1. Comb daily
2. With puppies additionally pay attention to the undercoat
3. Hairdresser every six weeks to two months
4. Butt cleaning
5. Regular bathing

How often do you need a haircut?

If you are buying your very first puppy, you may be asking yourself the question, how often do you need to take a Pomeranian to the groomer? As a general rule, you should go to the groomer every 45 to 60 days. A tip for puppy owners: first comes the taster day! The very first visit to the groomer is a taster day for little ones. This way your little Pomeranian puppy can get to know the groomer and the dog salon, as well as the different tools, for example scissors and hair dryer.

• Dog groomer every 45 to 60 days
• First day: Taster day to get to know each other

Especially if you have a young Pomeranian puppy, it is important that his or her undercoat is regularly removed by you and the groomer. This way, the little puppy will never get too warm and the fur will not mat.

How much hair Pomeranian?

Pomeranians hair fortunately very little, after all, they are also very little dog! In fact, the little hairs are so fine that you can barely see them. And the few hairs that are spread around your apartment or house are hardly worth mentioning. In relation to larger dog breeds and longhaired breeds, you have drawn a really good lot here.

Food and feed for puppies

1. How much can a Pomeranian eat? How much can a Miniature Spitz eat?
2. What can not eat dwarf tip?
3. How heavy can a dwarf spitz be?

How much can a Pomeranian eat? How much can a Miniature Spitz eat?

Give your Pomeranian food to eat 3x a day, this will give you a good spread of meals for your Pomeranian.

Like in the puppy guide, you will learn how to distribute the food quantities for your puppy ideally over the day. In the morning you should give your puppy wet food, at lunchtime dry food mixed with a little water and in the evening there is again wet food for the little Pomeranian puppy. Here is a brief summary:

• Wet food in the morning and evening (chicken, lamb, beef …)
• At noon dry food (mix with 50% water)
• Tip: Fruit and vegetables cut into small pieces as a snack

What can not eat dwarf tip?

This question can not be answered in a general way. Some dogs are allergic to certain types of meat, e.g. beef, chicken or lamb. In general, as for all dog breeds, protect the small stomach from sharp objects, poisonous objects, liquids and plants, as well as the following foods.

Dogs are not allowed to eat that among other things:

• Onions and garlic
• Chocolate and cocoa
• Coffee
• Certain types of nuts
• Raw pork
• Solanaceae
• Stone fruit
• …

How heavy can a dwarf spitz be?

If you feed your Pomeranian regularly, i.e. the correct, species-appropriate food, then you should have no problem with the weight of one of us. If you have given your Pomeranian too much for food and too many treats, then you can roughly stick to these weights. It is important to keep in mind the size of your Pomeranian. Dwarf Pomeranians grow to be between 20 and 30 cm tall when fully grown. Depending on this, the overall build and weight of the little one(s) will differ.

Weight of a Pomeranian (full grown):

• Weight: 1.8 to 3.4 kg

Accessories & Toys

1. What all do you need to buy for a dwarf spitz?
2. What do you need for a dwarf spitz?
3. What do you need for a Pomeranian?

What all do you need to buy for a dwarf spitz?

What do you need for a Pomeranian? The basic equipment for your Pomeranian is relatively simple, this includes briefly summarized:

• 2-4 toys for the start
• Later 5, 6 small toys are enough
• Puppy friendly, easy and chewable

But most important is love and attention from your side! Especially if you have a young puppy at home.

Advantages and disadvantages: Pomeranian (Dwarf Spitz).

Let’s sum it all up again, in super short!

The relatively high purchase price, compared to other dog breeds, many buyers see as a disadvantage, but the dogs save a lot of money in maintenance throughout their lifetime of 12 to 16 years. They eat relatively little, a small can is enough for 4 meals. Accessories are smaller, so they are also cheaper, and veterinary costs are somewhat lower.

If you are looking for a very active dog, the advantage “medium play instinct / urge to move” may also be perceived as a disadvantage of the dog breed. But for the city they are perfect. Alone the apartment with 80 or 120 square meters is already relatively much free space for the small.

Here is an overview of the most important advantages and disadvantages.

Pros:

• Family-friendly
• Medium play instinct / urge to move
• Cheaper to maintain (food, accessories, also vet)

Disadvantages:

• High purchase price compared to other dog breeds
• Somewhat more elaborate coat care

These were the most important questions and answers for young Pomeranian puppies. If you have any other questions, drop us a line! With buying my first dog or puppy? Then maybe check out these free guides from us too!

Puppy moves in! Tips & advice for beginners

Your first puppy? More practical tips and experiences!

Dog as a pet: XXL Guide

Dog moves in! You have decided to get a dog, as a single, with your partner or even the whole family and you are thinking about getting a dog? There are millions of dogs in this country. They are among the most popular pets. Dog breeds like Labrador, French Bulldog, Australian Shepherd, German Shepherd, Golden Retriever, Pomeranian or Chihuahuas. How much does a dog cost? What does a dog like best? How does the dog know that you love him? Many questions, here you will find the answers. From the groomer and the first coat, to dog food (wet and dry), organic alternatives, but also tips on the initial equipment, around the leash, bowl & Co.

• Pet dog

Walk the dog, stay alone & Co.

What accessories do you need for your puppy around leash, bowl, sleeping place and food? Every year millions of little puppies are born and find a new home! We also have one or two little puppies now: Neppa & Peppa. You are thinking about getting a dog? If you have time to spare and love, then a little puppy is something wonderful. But, what do you have to consider?! Learn here about the daily life with a little puppy: My first day with Peppa (Dwarf Spitz, or Pomeranian puppy), my first week and my experiences. If you’re thinking of getting a dog, here are the ultimate tips for the first week with your puppy and a few insider tips, like puppy pads, tips for walking and staying alone – all in the first week!

• Puppy moves in! Going for a walk, staying alone & Co.

Basic equipment for puppies

Buying Puppies: Basic Supplies for Your Dog – No matter what breed of dog or type of mixed breed, there are exactly 6 things you need when buying your first dog or puppy! So to speak, the basic equipment for your puppy and the first days together in the house or apartment. With this checklist, you have everything important! The right food for puppies, two bowls for food and water, a leash with collar and / or harness (safer), toys and very important, especially if you have no garden or live on the first floor: Puppy Pads! Learn all the essentials here, with tips for times to eat and other interesting checklists for beginners and novices. Simply explained and free! Here’s the nuts and bolts for the first trip, from breeder to home, and the first few days with your puppy, from my experience.

• Basic equipment for puppies

Part 2: The first year with Pomeranian (Peppa)

The first year with my little dwarf spitz, she is called Peppa. I have told you about the first days in detail, in the article my first dog. Hard to believe, but true, Pomeranians remain just as cute as they were when they were puppies. Want to prepare for the first few months with your dog? Then learn what to do after the first few weeks here! My experiences and tips on walking, housetraining, food times, low barking, off-leash walking, giving commands – part 2 of the guide for little Pomeranians.

• Pomeranian, the first year – part 2

So small and cute, “Peppa” was as a puppy – Before.

So small and cute, she still is – After.

That’s how fast a Pomeranian grows up, or rather becomes full grown.

Interview with real estate expert Jan Rickel from IHV – Die Immobilien Makler.

Capital investment real estate – You should note this

FIV: Investing money is complex. Especially when it comes to real estate. Condominium, single-family house, land or an entire apartment building. How would you describe your approach to investments in a few sentences for our readers? What do I need to know if I want to invest money in real estate?

Right from the start I work according to the motto “only those who know their goal can achieve it”! Sounds banal, and actually it is. I must have a clear idea of what I want to achieve when it comes to investment – as I do in life. Once I’ve defined the goal, it’s about the strategy to achieve it.

FIV: Okay! I’d like to be a millionaire. It’s a clear target, isn’t it? With which system can I achieve this in the best and safest way?

Since my business is real estate, I can ultimately only speak for this area. But this much is certain: when it comes to long-term prospects for capital accumulation, these can be very well and reliably planned with real estate. Company investments – whether as funds or investments in a single company – are subject to strong fluctuations in their performance. Although these can also be offset over a longer investment period, there is still a higher residual risk than with real estate. In addition, there is another very important aspect with real estate: Under certain circumstances, I can achieve a significantly higher return with my existing equity capital than with any other investment. This is due to the so-called lever effect. This always occurs when I do not use the purchased property myself – i.e. rent it out. The rent is my income with this form of investment. If I compare this return exclusively to my invested equity capital, then yields in the solid double-digit range are generated.

Should you take risks?

FIV: But these are tricks, aren’t they? I have to borrow money from the bank to buy a property. That also costs money in the form of interest and redemption.

I don’t MUST borrow money, but I should do it. And this has nothing to do with the interest rates, which are still favourable at present.
Assuming I had enough equity to finance the property I wanted without a loan. Then I save the interest and repayment, but have a much worse return, because I use a lot of money to earn the rent. If, on the other hand, I borrow the money from the bank, then I only have to deduct the interest from the rental income – if I am serious about it. The repayment of the credit is my over the repayment years stretched additional own capital funds, which I put into the “piggy bank” real estate. Strictly speaking, it does not depend on the return on equity. On the contrary, if I have made the right choice when choosing a flat or apartment building, the flat will continue to gain in value in the coming years. If the speculation period of ten years and best also the financing period has expired, I can sell the apartment again and collect the increase in value as an additional return on my redemption capital.

What do I have to consider?

FIV: Sounds very simple. But what’s the catch?

Only in two places you have to be careful! I had already mentioned one place with the right location of the property. If you want to invest your money in a rented apartment, you have to pay attention to the location. Even if it should not be the top location at the time of purchase, there must be a noticeable improvement in sight within the planned investment period – i.e. as long as one wants to keep the apartment. Otherwise, the increase in value won’t work.

On the other hand, this leverage effect only works if the financing interest for my borrowed capital is not higher than the total return on capital of the property. With the current interest situation, however, this is not an issue for the purchase of a decent apartment today.

I recommend here to simply visit one or the other bank. There you usually get clear statements as to which financing framework the bank is prepared to cover. Conversely, I then know how much own money I need as an investment or in which league I can afford an investment object.

FIV: What’s better then? To buy an apartment or a house for yourself, or rather to rent it out?

When it comes purely to capital investment and returns, a property for rent is the better choice. If I want to occupy the capital investment for “today” and the property itself for the future, then I should make sure when choosing the property that the furnishings and location of the property meet my own living requirements.

FIV: How do you then confidently walk the capital market, especially if the future always remains uncertain? Are there any concrete recommendations from you as an expert for our readers?

Of course I will only be able and willing to talk about the real estate market. Anyone who has invested in the real estate business for a long time already knows how to present themselves in this market segment. But everyone else can learn that well! For beginners in the investment business, I recommend starting small. A small two-room apartment in a city or region whose population has grown steadily in recent years is a good place to start investing safely in real estate. The certainty as to whether there will also be a move in for the following years or decades and thus a need for living space can be obtained from the respective municipal administrations, for example. Often the homepage of the city or region already has some information about the urban development.

Catch up with expert advice

With regard to the property itself, the overall state of construction and equipment is of course important. In case of doubt one can consult an architect, a friendly craftsman or other people with appropriate real estate expertise. What renovations have been made? What’s on the agenda? What is the overall ownership structure of the house like? How high is the fluctuation among the tenants of the other apartments? Is there any information about the apartment I’m about to buy? Of course, this is only possible with existing properties. In the case of new buildings, one takes a look at the houses that the developer has already built elsewhere and, if necessary, talks to the residents who have already bought from this developer.

The “right” purchase price still remains…. The Bank is in demand here, as I explained earlier with regard to the leverage effect. Be sure to have several banks calculate for you how rental income, running costs (reserves, etc.) will relate to the loan conditions and the equity capital for you. In plain language: You will also receive different offers from different banks. This may be worth it for you.

FIV: And now the question of how self-confident should I appear in the conversation:

Self-confidence doesn’t mean I’m performing with the proverbial big arms. On the contrary: the real estate seller and the banker will quickly notice how experienced you are in matters of capital investment. It’s better to be a beginner! After all, bankers are now also strongly liable if they give the wrong advice.

Is the investment worth it?

FIV: We currently hear a lot about real estate returns of 4.5 percent, sometimes 6 percent. In the context of the current development of interest rates on savings balances, this sounds like a sensible investment. Would you agree with me? How much do real estate currently pay off as a capital investment?

These yield data are really serious and covered by my experiences. As far as the pure return on equity is concerned, it often even looks much better, as we have heard above. I can only repeat here that real estate is a good and safe investment in terms of yield as a capital investment – the so-called “concrete gold”. Prerequisite: the location of the property is such that it generates continuous rental income at the normal market level. If longer periods of loss of rent are to be feared, for example because the residential area or the house has a high tenant fluctuation, then the investment does not pay off.

Various types of real estate – Investment opportunities

FIV: Which type of property would therefore pay off for me? Better the small single apartment, the large condominium for families or better a detached house?

If you are a beginner in the real estate business, then start with the small single apartment. The single-family house is rather a problematic thing as a capital investment for letting. If you are then times correctly in it and also have the necessary capital, it is with real estates like with shares: the mixture macht´s! Single-apartments in corresponding regions (e.g. student cities) combined with large housing units makes sense. In concrete terms, houses with apartments between 50 sqm and 110 sqm are ideal, as apartments over 110 sqm are usually more difficult to let.

FIV: Many questions, when is it worth investing? 10,000 euros, 20,000 euros. Are the investment opportunities just discussed suitable only after a certain financial framework or are there perhaps also new alternatives and possibilities, for example in the form of regular instalments?

Here, too, we would like to point out once again that good real estate can be financed even with small investment amounts. The prerequisite is that the bank also recognises that the property is a secure investment. Condition of construction, location, amount of rent, etc. – all this must be right so that you get the credit for the purchase price demanded. Ultimately, the annual net cold rent is the proverbial crux of the matter. Of course, everything also depends on my having a regular income.

FIV: For all those who are thinking about selling or buying. Which region and location do you consider to have the greatest potential in Germany?

Oh, dear… There are so many regions. I myself live in the Rhine-Main area. This is in any case a good region to buy. And I’m not just talking about the big cities of Frankfurt, Wiesbaden and Mainz. The small towns in this region are also doing well in real estate. Hamburg, the Bonn-Cologne-Düsseldorf line, the Munich area, Berlin and Stuttgart are further examples.

Investments in nursing homes or homes for the elderly

FIV: Finally, the question: What do you think of investments in old people’s homes or nursing homes?

Very little! – is my short answer. This is related to the very high risk that this form of housing has as an investment. We’re talking about so-called social real estate here. In view of the aging population and the resulting increase in demand for senior citizens’ and nursing homes, it is suggested that this is a safe investment. However, these properties as management properties – like hotels, for example – have a serious disadvantage: if the operating company works poorly, such a property quickly becomes a bottomless pit. In the meantime, there are numerous examples of nursing homes that were either not used to capacity or lacked the necessary investments to guarantee a high standard of care. Then again the residents are absent, which in turn leads to a lack of investment by the operators. A vicious circle! Not only is there no rental income, you usually also have to inject a lot of capital in order to get the house in shape or to keep it that way.

Private customers are already being taken advantage of when it comes to the purchase prices of nursing home properties! Usually nursing homes are acquired by so-called institutional buyers. Like a hospital company or something. However, they are only prepared to invest a maximum of 14 times the expected net annual rents. This is why the developers of these facilities have in the past switched to approaching private customers – with the corresponding return promises. Often 20 times the net annual rent is charged as the purchase price, because it is supposed to be a great and safe investment. I’m not saying “hands off”, but it takes a lot of experience and advice to get into this business.

Thank you very much for the interview!

Interview with real estate expert Jan Rickel from IHV – Die Immobilien Makler.