Marriage and real estate purchase

Have you recently married? Congratulations! Or are you about to get married? This is the time when many couples think about buying a house in Saxony. There is a lot to be said for it: the tax relief for married couples helps with financing, the planned family needs space. It is therefore appropriate to put the long-cherished plan "house purchase" or "purchase of a condominium" into action.

House purchase or condominium: use tax relief through marriage

Especially the tax relief after marriage is an argument for buying a house in Dresden, Chemnitz, Zwickau or Leipzig. Married couples and families are given special protection by our constitution: this is especially evident in financial matters. In the income tax return, married couples benefit from spousal splitting, and the statutory inheritance law also puts them in a better position. If you are planning to buy a house in Dresden, Chemnitz, Zwickau or Leipzig after your wedding, you know that your partner or wife will be able to buy the property later. your wife will inherit the property later. With the tax savings resulting from spousal splitting, you can more easily finance the purchase of a house or condominium. In order to take advantage of the splitting, you have yourself assessed jointly as a married couple for tax purposes. The tax office then adds up your incomes, applies a tax rate to them and then halves (splits) the amount on which each partner pays income tax. Splitting is worthwhile especially if the difference in income is high. The partner with the somewhat lower income pays slightly more taxes, but the one with the significantly higher earnings will receive much more tax relief. The relief can be so high (several hundred euros per month) that you can finance the purchase of a house in Saxony to a considerable extent with it.

Buying a house or a condominium – only after the wedding or even before?

It is difficult to give advice in this regard, because if there is a higher difference in assets between the two partners, either one or the other constellation is more favorable for each of them. If you are both equally wealthy before the wedding, you do not need to worry too much about this aspect. Just make sure that you both have equal rights in the land register, even if you start buying a house or a condominium before the wedding. The situation is different if one of the two of you has significantly more money and wants to use it as a down payment for buying a house in Dresden, Chemnitz, Zwickau or Leipzig. This partner would be at a disadvantage if he/she purchased the property before marriage in the event of divorce, because he/she would then lose half of the contributed assets in the equalization of gains. Let us illustrate this with the following example.

Isabell and Holger are planning their wedding and house purchase in Dresden, Chemnitz, Zwickau or Leipzig at the same time. Isabell has 50.000 € saved, Holger unfortunately not. The couple buys for 300.000 € a property, whereby Isabell 50.can bring in € 000 for the down payment. The couple finances the remaining sum of 250.000 € and have yourselves entered in the land register as owners with equal rights. Unfortunately, their marriage fails after a few years, in divorce proceedings they undergo the Zugewinnausgleich. In this, the court compares the asset development of both spouses during the marriage period. Since they have at least partially repaid the real estate loan, their joint assets have increased. This is the gain. The partner for whom this is higher must give half of it to their expartner. There are now two scenarios:

1. Isabell and Holger first got married and then decided to buy a house or a condominium. This is favorable for Isabell because her initial assets are reduced by 50 percent.000 € higher, which reduces their gain. Should, for example, a house by increased real estate prices at the time of the divorce proceedings even 400.000 (after the mortgage has been paid off), Holger's gain would be 200.0000 €, but Isabell's only 150.000 €. It can be 50.Deduct € 000 as initial assets. The court decides: Holger must pay her half of the gain difference. That would be 25.000 €.
2. Isabell and Holger bought a house before the wedding. Although Isabell has her 50.000 down payment, nevertheless the couple, which stands together in the land register, goes with a real estate into the marriage, which belongs Isabell and Holger each to the half, which causes after the divorce an equally large beginning and final fortune of both partners. Accordingly, there is no equalization of gains. Isabell has thereby given her husband half of her savings as a gift. Because this gift was made before the marriage, it is not taken into account by the court in the divorce case.

Her parents will advise Isabell to wait until after her wedding before buying a house in Dresden, Chemnitz, Zwickau or Leipzig. Holger's parents will advise him (if they find out about Isabell's financial situation) to buy a house or condominium before the marriage if possible. The decision ultimately rests with the bride and groom, who we do not know how well they understand the situation. They are currently pending in the 7. Heaven and do not like to think about a divorce at all. Nevertheless, a consideration in this regard could be wise.

Buying a house in Saxony: How have prices developed??

Who thinks in Saxonia of a house purchase or a free-hold apartment, must grasp without doubt in the year 2022 deeper into the bag than still some years ago. Prices have risen in the last decade, especially in metropolitan areas. However, with the exception of a few residential areas in Leipzig, they are nowhere near the level of Munich, Hamburg or Berlin. In the surrounding area of the cities mentioned, there are even some bargains to be had.