Out on the street!?!?

It all started with a new German word - Makler. It means agent, as in real estate agent. Two weeks ago, our landlord announced that he is selling the property we live in because taxes were too high and that the makler was coming to look at our place. We hoped that somebody would buy the place as an investment and we could stay.

Then Monday night, the hope bubble burst. A prospective buyer, his family, their architect, and a representative from the bank came to view the (our) place. We had planned to be out to dinner during the inspection but due to a mix up in scheduling we arrived right as everybody was showing up. It's a terrible feeling seeing a group of people walking through our home knowing they are looking to buy it and kick us out. The buyer was a nice man moving here from France and said he wanted to move in as soon as he could. I told him we would talk about it after the purchase is complete.

Our arrangement is unique here. Ford leases the apartment from the landlord and we sublet from Ford. This arrangement is meant to shelter us from being stuck in a lease when we move home. Our lease with Ford is for 2 years. Ford leases the apt monthly from the landlord. So once the property changes ownership, we will get a letter saying that we have to leave. We then have three months from the end of the current month to find a new place and move.

Needless to say we are unhappy about this. I understand the landlord's problem with taxes (50% income tax anybody??). Of course Ford will take care of the moving costs and provide help finding a new place. A quick web search netted a number of nice places within our price range. Still, moving is such a big deal and we are quite happy where we are.