Day 9 of 16

Day 9: Selling Half Our Terraced House

At the kitchen table of their terraced house in Nürnberg, Jürgen (A) and Petra (B), a retired couple, go through a company's offer to buy half of the house, which would let them help their grandson with his studies and still live there.

How to study this lesson 3 steps
  1. Read the situation under the title. It says who is talking and how they know each other, which decides how politely they speak.
  2. Read the dialogue line by line with its translation, until every line makes sense. Point at (or tap) a German word to see what it means.
  3. Spend at least 30 minutes listening to native German, for example from the Resources page. It doesn't matter if you don't understand it yet.

Dialogue

Audio recordings are on the way. For now, each lesson is the dialogue with its English translation.

Keys: E hide English · ← → previous / next day · point at a word to see its meaning

  1. A

    „Das von Ihnen bewohnte Reihenhaus bleibt Ihnen durch das lebenslang im Grundbuch eingetragene Wohnrecht erhalten.“ Na bitte, Petra, schwarz auf weiß.

    'Through the lifelong right of residence entered in the land register, the terraced house you occupy remains yours to live in.' There you are, Petra, in black and white.

  2. B

    Ebenfalls schwarz auf weiß, nur im Kleingedruckten: das monatlich zu zahlende Nutzungsentgelt. Bist du bis Seite elf gekommen?

    Also in black and white, just in the small print: the monthly usage fee. Did you get as far as page eleven?

  3. A

    Ein bisschen Miete für die verkaufte Hälfte ist doch nur fair. Dafür muss Leon in Erlangen nicht nachts Pizza ausfahren.

    A bit of rent for the half we'd be selling is only fair. In return, Leon won't have to deliver pizzas at night in Erlangen.

  4. B

    Ein bisschen? Rund 900 Euro im Monat, und infolge der Indexklausel jedes Jahr mehr, bis an unser Lebensende.

    A bit? Around 900 euros a month, and more every year because of the index clause, for the rest of our lives.

  5. A

    Aber dafür kümmert sich die Firma doch um die Reparaturen, oder? Unser Dach hält ja auch nicht ewig.

    But in return the company takes care of the repairs, doesn't it? Our roof won't last for ever, after all.

  6. B

    „Die Instandhaltung obliegt zwecks Werterhaltung der Immobilie allein dem Nutzer.“ Und der Nutzer, Jürgen, das sind wir, auch für die der Firma gehörende Dachhälfte.

    'For the purpose of preserving the property's value, maintenance is the sole responsibility of the user.' And the user, Jürgen, is us, even for the half of the roof that belongs to the company.

  7. A

    Wir flicken also deren Dachhälfte und zahlen ihnen obendrein Miete? Dagegen war ja mein alter Vermieter in Fürth ein Wohltäter.

    So we patch up their half of the roof and pay them rent on top? Compared with that, my old landlord in Fürth was a benefactor.

  8. B

    Und für Leon habe ich eine bessere Idee: Er zieht zu uns unters Dach, solange es noch ganz uns gehört.

    And I've got a better idea for Leon: he moves in with us, under our roof, while it still belongs entirely to us.

  9. A

    Na schön, der Teilverkauf ist gestrichen. Aber ein Nutzungsentgelt verlangen wir auch: einmal die Woche Rasenmähen.

    Fine, the part sale is off. But we'll charge a usage fee too: mowing the lawn once a week.

  10. B

    Jährlich an die Inflation angepasst, versteht sich: Ab dem zweiten Semester kommt die Dachrinne dazu.

    Index-linked every year, naturally: from his second semester, he does the gutters as well.

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