For an apartment you are initially expected to take on cooperative shares. In conversation this is described as "something of your own". However, you want to know whether this gives you Wohnungseigentum (ownership of an apartment), under which conditions you can live there and what happens to the money paid in when you leave later. These questions belong to different documents and must not be answered from a single advertising term.
Identify the acting legal person
Under §17 GenG the registered cooperative has independent rights and obligations; it can itself acquire ownership of land. [GENOSSENSCHAFT] Your membership must therefore not be treated as your personal acquisition of the specific apartment without further examination.
Ask to be shown specifically which legal position is being offered. Is there a membership, a separate usage offer or additionally an actually intended property purchase? If a later purchase is mentioned, that too requires its own independently examined basis. Mere membership does not provide proof of the claimed Wohnungseigentum (ownership of an apartment).
Link three sets of documents to three questions
Our editorial recommendation: assign the articles of association and membership documents to the participation. Assign documents about the specific apartment to the use. Assign payment information to the actual financial burden. Ask the adviser to explain the connections and dependencies between these packages.
For the use you are particularly interested in which apartment is actually being offered as binding and under which still open conditions. A membership without a correspondingly clarified housing offer must not be mentally treated as an already available owner-occupied flat in your moving plans.
For payments, in particular distinguish the described participation amounts from ongoing charges and other amounts demanded. Which payment legally fulfils which function is evident from the specific documents. This article does not state any general contribution levels or any yield.
Do not calculate a later exit as if it were a property sale
§73 GenG governs the settlement after termination of membership. The provision contains balance-related rules, statutory requirements and possible provisions in the articles of association. It does not provide for a blanket claim to a share of the cooperative's other assets. [AUSSCHEIDEN]
Therefore have the articles of association, any obligations and payout prerequisites explained for your case. Do not uncritically assume a later market price for the apartment as the return on your participation. Even a stated payout period must fit the actually applicable rule set; the contribution does not calculate an individual payout date.
Hypothetical case: life plans need available ownership
An interested party wants in a few years to sell the specific apartment freely in order to finance another move. The model offered initially contains a membership and a separate housing offer. He had already mentally equated the prospect of his own apartment with personal Wohnungseigentum (ownership of an apartment).
He now has explained to him which position he actually receives and how its end is handled. He then compares this model with his original goal. The example does not evaluate the cooperative as a good or bad offer. It merely corrects a comparison between different objects of acquisition.
Compare with your own objective
If a suitable usage offer is most important to you, your assessment may differ from that of someone with a firm desire for individually available Wohnungseigentum (ownership of an apartment). What matters is that you consciously assess the specific participation, usage and financial commitment. The attractiveness of the apartment does not answer these structural questions.