Would it make sense to first buy a "Grundstück" and then plan to have a house built?

[java10 25]

Hi fellow TT'ers,

 

We are all aware of the real-estate and rent insanity in South Germany. Owning a house is a fantasy of many of us, I'm sure.

 

We recently discussed with another family an option to search for an acceptable offer to have two "Doppelhaushälfte" together as a package.

We saw a couple of offers but the locations were far from expected (they were OK for the price but not want we would necessarily wanted).

 

Now, another idea is that we try to find a "Grundstück" at a better location and ask for a loan.

 

Provided that goes as planned - the question is: Do you think the bank would be willing to give us another loan or (more likely) re-calculate the existing one so that we can find a company which would build the house/s?

 

Did anyone do exactly that and were there any problems and/or complications?

[SpiderPig 9,729]

If I were you i would look for a house with a fair sized plot of land with the intent of demolishing and new build...  

 

Its very sad that these older properties get ripped down, but hey ho.. thats progress..

 

As for the bank loan...   I am almost sure the bank will want you to pay of the existing loan including the interest that they will lose due to the early cancellation...

 

FYI, I know a former TTer who said that House purchase etc is not the way forward blah blah blah and just recently he said that he wishes his house wouldnt increse in value as much as it does...  He was a bit of a tit... 

[dstanners 1,080]

2 hours ago, SpiderPig said:

If I were you i would look for a house with a fair sized plot of land with the intent of demolishing and new build... 

Spot on (at least here in the Eifel). In our village, tiny 500m plots for new homes are going for roughly 300 hundred euros per square meter (I know that won't be much for you folk in Munich), so around 150k just for the land, whereas in the same village there's a small old house (not under protection) with three times as much land land and I know the seller would see it go for not much more than 200k. 

The only downsides would seem to be 1) costs of demolishing the existing house, 2) the fact that (usually) places with more land tend to be slightly further from the centre of villages. Whether you consider the latter point a downside depends upon what sort of lifestyle you are after.

 

 

[maxie 398]

If you go for a plot with a house on it, make sure to check the "window" on which you can actually build on that property and also the requirements for building which might have changed since the last house was built so they didn't apply for this one but for your new one. 

Sometimes, one plot can be several parcels of land: building and garden/field etc. 

 

When we were looking for a house, 500 m² for a new home was actually considered a "large" plot. Some were only 350 

 

Since a larger garden was one of the top priorities, we ended up buying an "older house". (50 yrs) It had a lot of work done by a previous owner (roof, windows) so we could move in right away and are tackling the other issues as we go along. We were lucky that we bought when we did (3 1/2 yrs ago) because the market has just gone nuts since. Even though it felt expensive at the time - we had been looking for almost two years and even in that time prices had increased significantly. 

 

Good luck! I know some people would rather rent adn it is true, that if you own property, the work never stops, but I love it and wouldn't change a thing! 

[java10 25]

Thank you all for your good pieces of advice! The idea of finding an old house on a nice plot seems really good. However, I can't imagine myself finding something like that before some makler  It's not impossible though (nothing is, I guess) so I'll definitely keep my eyes wide open in that regard!

 

If anyone else have something to say - please do so, I hope this topic stays alive.

[fraufruit 35,738]

If you would tell us where you wish to live, somebody here might hear of something.

[java10 25]

10 minutes ago, fraufruit said:

I you would tell us where you wish to live, somebody here might hear of something.

 

Maybe imagine a semi-circle formed by Moosburg an der Isar and Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm (North), Augsburg and Landsberg am Lech (West) and Starnberg (south-west). But sure, the remaining side/s of the approx. same distance to Munich are not preferred but they are welcome as well. Thanks in advance to anyone who might have some info and share it with me!

 

[MikeMelga 5,944]

A colleague just tried to build his house like that to save money and it was a huge mistake. The contractor was cheating the work and at some point left with the money. Then it took him 2 years to finish the house, slowly, because construction firms are quite busy.

[SpiderPig 9,729]

I hope you have "dis-owned" him...   what a pleb...  tried to build  house on the cheap instead of buying an EV to live in!!

 

[catjones 1,249]

10 hours ago, java10 said:

The idea of finding an old house on a nice plot seems really good.

 

an old house on a nice plot is not something you 'find'.  it's not lost.  almost everything on the open market is market priced.  buying land and constructing a house is probably worth the price of the land and the cost of building a house.  as the saying goes, 'location, location, location' is everything in real estate.  building a house for a total cost of 500k in a neighborhood of 300k houses will not result in the 300k houses going up in value to 500k.  on the contrary, you might take a loss if you sold that house. this applies to restoring cars, furniture and just about everything where value is added to a product.

[MikeMelga 5,944]

Another point is taxes. Unsure how property taxes are in Germany, but in Portugal you have a tax benefit if you build by yourself, as property purchase tax is only over the plot value. Otherwise, if you buy a complete house, you pay taxes over the whole value (plot + house). I guess it is similar in Germany.

[mtbiking 1,333]

9 hours ago, MikeMelga said:

Another point is taxes. Unsure how property taxes are in Germany, but in Portugal you have a tax benefit if you build by yourself, as property purchase tax is only over the plot value. Otherwise, if you buy a complete house, you pay taxes over the whole value (plot + house). I guess it is similar in Germany.

 

Yes, it is as you say, but on the other hand building a brand new house is expensive and in many cases a huge headache. Adding insult to injury, in southern bavaria plot prices are so high that the existence of a perfectly decent 20 years old house on it  doesn't make a big difference as you mostly pay for the plot. When I last bought some years ago the plot price was around 75% of  the total, and nowadays I see empty plots similar to mine in the neighbourhood being sold for what I paid for plot + house.

[mtbiking 1,333]

17 hours ago, MikeMelga said:

A colleague just tried to build his house like that to save money and it was a huge mistake. The contractor was cheating the work and at some point left with the money. Then it took him 2 years to finish the house, slowly, because construction firms are quite busy.

 

Saving money should never be the main criteria when choosing a contractor. In particular in the construction industry and with Handwerker, you really get what you pay for. That, and staying away from certain  nationalities - From my experience some stereotypes are 100% true.

 

[optimista 4,693]

Are there any who are not on the make?

[mtbiking 1,333]

4 minutes ago, optimista said:

Are there any who are not on the make?

 

Yes, I've managed to build a network of handwerker I trust and even like. It only took me 10 years.. But nowadays even I need someone else for a specific job I just call the ones I trust and ask for a reference.

[optimista 4,693]

Just now, mtbiking said:

It only took me 10 years.

Did you pick the right ones from the off, or is the way-side littered with as yet untold drama?

[mtbiking 1,333]

Just now, optimista said:

Did you pick the right ones from the off, or is the way-side littered with as yet untold drama?

 

untold drama 

[optimista 4,693]

Point made then

[MikeMelga 5,944]

18 minutes ago, mtbiking said:

 

Saving money should never be the main criteria when choosing a contractor. In particular in the construction industry and with Handwerker, you really get what you pay for. That, and staying away from certain  nationalities - From my experience some stereotypes are 100% true.

 

I thought the same, but he told me the guy was German and price was in line with others, although he could be lying there.

[mtbiking 1,333]

28 minutes ago, optimista said:

Point made then

 

I prefer to think of the untold drama as paid lessons in property managing and German law. The head hurts less that way.