ᐅ Schedule for Handover and Moving into the New Home

Hello everyone,

We have purchased a condominium from the developer. The construction work on the apartment is almost complete, and the developer is currently preparing for the handover. The schedule is roughly as follows:

• Walkthrough of the apartments by the buyers without the developer (next week)
• Repair of any defects by the developer
• Handover of the outdoor areas (mid to late November)
• Handover of the individual apartments (expected early December)

We are now considering how best to plan our move. If everything goes according to plan, we would take possession of the new apartment in early December, followed by a final cleaning, then kitchen installation, and finally our move-in, ideally before Christmas.

However, we are wondering if this schedule is realistic at all or if it would be better to plan the move for January to allow enough time in case there are any delays. This also concerns the termination of our current rental—end of December or end of January?

How much time did you plan between handover of the house/apartment and moving in? What are your experiences or recommendations?

Thank you very much for your help!

My personal opinion: don’t terminate the lease of your old apartment before the end of January at the earliest.

Unfortunately, I know a couple who already had a written handover date, but then the exterior wasn’t finished after all, and the electricity didn’t go as planned either. They ended up juggling vacation time and staying with family because their old apartment was already terminated...

Regardless of that: we moved in just before Christmas, and if you still want to have the old apartment painted, for example, it could be difficult to find contractors right before or between the holidays. In my opinion, it takes a lot of stress off to keep the old apartment at least through January just in case, even if it’s only for renovation work.

Edit: after reading your post again, you don’t even have an official date yet, so many “expected” dates as you wrote?!?

Honestly, it’s better to pay rent for one or two months longer and only terminate the lease once you have something in writing (which didn’t even help that couple mentioned above—their developer was already in the “compensation period,” meaning past the contractually agreed handover date).

I think January is too tight. You’ll never hit that deadline exactly.
Set a fixed completion/hand-over date. Ideally, include a clause stating that if this date is missed, the builder must cover your additional housing costs.
Cancel your current apartment lease for the end of March. If the deadline isn’t met, the builder must reimburse you for the costs (in the worst case, you may have to take legal action). If the deadline is met, you’ll pay rent twice for a few months but have the security that you and your family won’t be left without housing or forced into a temporary solution.
Moving in December/January is also not enjoyable (weather).

Has the kitchen been ordered and the delivery confirmed?
It often takes up to 3 months (about 12 weeks) for a kitchen to arrive.
If so, aim for the end of January, but only if you have something in writing from the builder.
Otherwise, to be on the safe side, plan for February.

Maria16 schrieb:

Regardless: we ourselves moved in just before Christmas, and if you still want to have the old apartment painted, for example, it can be difficult to find contractors right before or during the holidays. In my opinion, it really reduces stress to be able to stay in the old apartment through January just in case, even if it’s only for the renovation.

Edit: after reading your post again: you don’t even have an official appointment, do you? So many “probably,” as you wrote?!?

We indeed do not have an official appointment yet. However, the official handover date is only given about 2 weeks in advance, meaning if we wanted to be absolutely sure, we would have to pay double rent for three months, which is quite a large amount of money in Munich.

rick2018 schrieb:

I think January is too tight. It will never be a perfect timing.
Agree on a fixed completion/handover date. Preferably with a clause stating that if it is delayed, the builder must cover any additional housing costs.
Terminate the lease for the end of March. If the deadline is not met, the builder must reimburse you (worst case you sue). If it works out, you pay double rent for a few months but at least you have the security that you and your family won’t be homeless or need a temporary solution.
Moving in December/January isn’t much fun either (weather).

This is a standardized builder contract with a guaranteed completion by April 2020. The builder has chosen this date very conservatively, of course. In reality, construction progress is much faster (see my schedule above).

apokolok schrieb:

Has the kitchen been ordered and is delivery scheduled?
It often takes 3 months for a kitchen to arrive.
If yes, then aim for the end of January, but only if you have something in writing from the builder.
Otherwise, to be safe, plan for February.

The kitchen has been ordered long ago and can be installed starting November. We just need to fix the installation date about 4 weeks in advance.

Thanks very much for all your feedback! We have now discarded the December move and will wait until October to decide at the end of that month whether we can confidently give notice to move out by the end of January. As I said, the apartment is basically finish-ready already, and we have been invited next week for a pre-inspection. Everything depends on the handover of the exterior areas...

Show us some nice photos of the apartment.
Although we have built a house, I am still considering the idea of having an apartment again.