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Nick Mulder
Hypofriend - Helping people become homeowners 🇩🇪
Nick Mulder is the Founder & CEO of Hypofriend, where he has assisted tens of thousands of customers in Germany in achieving their dream of finding and financing their ideal homes. Hypofriend distinguishes itself by providing personalized and comprehensive guidance throughout the home-buying process, from initial affordability assessment to mortgage selection and approval. Their cutting-edge platform offers a unique blend of expert advice and advanced technology to streamline the home-buying experience for customers.
Highlights
Is now a good time to buy?
Florian updates us on the interest rates in his latest video (German).
He also interviews Chris on the current interest rate market and his expectations for the rest of the year.
What does it mean for you as a prospective buyer, you can find out here:
𝗚𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀?
When it comes to personal finance most people are taught very few practical tips.
The main difference between investing in real estate and ETFs is the leverage effect.
People who understand this early benefit the most.
Sadly they don’t learn this in Germany.
𝗗𝗲𝗯𝘁 => 𝗟𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲.
Funnily, in German:
Debt = Schulden
The root word is schuld which is guilt or blame.
The same is true in Dutch, but we generally have a better relationship to money.
There is a general mistrust in Germany towards borrowing money due to its turbulent history.
So Germans prefer to save than to invest.
Saving is safe and investing is more risky.
Leverage is a powerful tool, so it should be used with care.
That being said:
The main indirect benefit of being a first-time homebuyer is that you leverage your income at a relatively low cost < 5% (interest rate) and low risk.
1 in 6 Germans have started investing in ETFs - but with the lowest homeownership rate in the world (bar Switzerland):
There is so much wealth that is being destroyed.
ETFs are buying a part of the global economy.
Real Estate is buying a part of a local city.
While I would generally say global > local, you can’t know the global economy as well as the local economy.
Investing locally allows you to leverage your local income.
