Thanks for the explanation Louisa. I've never sold a house in English, so real-estate lingo in English is new for me. Right, I actually meant the condo fees. They are high over here too. What the German's don't have are high real-estate taxes. May I ask you what you pay for yearly taxes? Please, don't answer that question if you don't want to.

Lola, since we have a ranch house, it's sort of hard to rebuild into a duplex. My offices are under the roof, but if changed, they could be at the most a 2-3 room apartment with bath and kitchen. Your house sounds perfect for a duplex.