Welcome to 2025! Turn Your Housing Allowance Into an Investment Opportunity

[Clarase Mika]

Happy New Year, BiggerPockets community! 🎉 As we kick off 2025, I want to encourage all my fellow Americans stationed in Germany—or preparing to move here—to start thinking differently about your housing allowance.

Did you know that your housing allowance could be more than just a rent payment? With the right strategy, it can become the foundation for building wealth. Instead of paying into someone else’s property, you could be using that allowance to finance your own real estate investment.

In Germany, you have access to a stable market with long-term growth potential, and U.S. service members and government civilians have unique advantages here. With down payments as low as 5-10%, plus low property taxes compared to the U.S., investing in German real estate is more accessible than you might think.

If you’ve ever thought about owning property overseas but felt intimidated, stay tuned. This year, I’ll be sharing tips, insights, and lesser-known strategies to help you turn your housing allowance into an asset. Let’s make 2025 the year you go from renting to owning! You‘re welcome to join my regular meetups in Bad Kreuznach or Wiesbaden. I‘m also happy to travel to speak to groups or provide 1:1 coaching along your purchasing experience. 

What’s your biggest question about buying real estate in Germany? Let me know in the comments—I’d love to help!