ᐅ Building a house with a budget of €300,000 possible

Of course, you have to ask yourself what exactly defines a village. Is it a place with more cows than residents and just one street with 20 houses, or is any settlement with fewer than 100,000 inhabitants considered a village?

Clearly, I wouldn’t want to live somewhere without even a bakery, let alone supermarkets, gas stations, doctors, schools, etc. However, in larger communities or small towns (between 5,000 and 20,000 people), you usually have all of that, and living conditions vary a lot within towns. In many areas, I wouldn’t tell my child to just go outside and play.

In new residential developments, there are often young families, so children will definitely find friends. It’s simply two different mindsets, which parents probably model for their children.

I don’t want to reread everything now, but I think I mentioned that I need less than 15 minutes to get from home to the city limits and then at least another 15 minutes within the city, sometimes nearly 45 minutes. That’s all by car. From my point of view, the approximately 12 minutes to the city limits are negligible compared to the rest. Driving through the city is the annoying part, and I would face that even if I lived in the city—unless I moved to an industrial area next to my workplace and stayed there forever.

For those colleagues who take longer within the city, I based my calculations on public transport, which I think I also mentioned. You walk a few minutes to the stop, wait a few minutes or more if you miss the train or if it’s delayed, travel, then walk a few minutes more—and suddenly the same amount of time has passed. All of this in wind and weather, while I don’t even need to step outside before getting into my car.

Besides, how often do strikes happen, or services get canceled due to snow, etc.?

By the way, especially newer houses here are often sold before they are advertised in the newspaper or online. You probably won’t get a million dollars for a single-family house, but previously you would have paid only half or less.

Conclusion: Everyone has to decide for themselves, but very few want to “switch sides.”

On the topic of city versus countryside, here are my thoughts: Nowadays, it’s hard to predict the resale value of a property in 10, 20, or 30 years. Until the 1990s, living in a house out in the countryside was very popular; no one wanted to live in the city with their family. This is still true in many Western countries today. Preferences simply change. Who knows how cities will develop over the next years and decades? What will happen, for example, if crime continues to rise sharply in urban areas as it has recently? What if remote work becomes more common in 10 years, eliminating the need to commute? Perhaps people will prefer working from a terrace in a green environment rather than from a small apartment in a concrete jungle—even if the small local theater nearby remains unused?

My opinion: We found a place about half an hour from downtown Stuttgart, right near the train station (30 minutes to Stuttgart main station) and about 1 meter (1,000 meters / 0.62 miles) from a highway-like express road that brings you even closer to the Swabian metropolis, if you want to visit it. Everything you need for daily life is within walking distance.

That’s also how I grew up, and I didn’t mind it as a teenager at all—in fact, I enjoyed it. Even in a small town, teenagers have fun, whether it’s partying at forest edges or barbecue spots, or taking trips into the city.

Food for thought:

A few days ago, I listened to a very interesting lecture by a transportation researcher.
The topic was: When self-driving cars become common, there will be no reason to live in the city anymore. The commute can be used for working, having breakfast, or similar activities. Traffic jams will be avoided through connectivity, and so on.

This could allow villages and small towns around larger cities to position themselves much better. Businesses and other establishments could set up where there previously were few or none. So not rural depopulation, but perhaps an exodus from the city?

This – although still a rather distant – vision intrigued me. Who really knows what the future holds.

nordanney schrieb:
Thoughts to consider:

A few days ago, I listened to a very interesting lecture by a traffic researcher.
The main idea: once self-driving cars are widely available, there will be no need to live in the city anymore. The commute can be used for working, having breakfast, or similar activities. Traffic jams will be avoided through connectivity, and so on.

This could allow villages and communities around larger cities to position themselves much better. The establishment of shops and other businesses might increase where there were few or none before. So instead of people leaving rural areas, we might see a kind of urban exodus?

Although this vision is still rather distant, I found it fascinating. Who really knows what the future will hold.

That is definitely a very interesting idea and one I hadn’t really considered before. It seems very logical to me. And autonomous vehicles are coming… it’s just a matter of time.

Steffen80 schrieb:
That’s a really interesting idea, and I hadn’t considered it before. It does sound very logical to me. And autonomous vehicles are coming... it’s just a matter of time.

They’re not just coming; they’re already here, with test tracks in operation.
There are definitely arguments on both sides, depending also on one’s stage of life.
I can only say that when I lived in Munich, I went to a friendly match at the stadium only once. You don’t end up doing as much as you might have otherwise, etc.
Regarding friends, living in a city is often much more anonymous (which many people actually prefer) than in a smaller town.
It always depends on HOW and WHERE you live in the city. Sure, living in an upscale neighborhood, on a large, park-like, secluded property, perhaps by a lake with a private dock, where your neighbors are people like Phillip Lahm or Thomas Müller, would be ideal for me. But most probably can’t afford that.
I know people who really wanted to live in the city and bought a 50-year-old terraced house with 120m² (1,292 sq ft), spread across three floors, on a 6m (20 ft) wide and 25m (82 ft) long plot for the same price as a newly built detached house of 150m² (1,615 sq ft) on a 500m² (5,382 sq ft) lot located 25 km (15.5 miles) outside the city.
For them, living in the city was very important; how they lived there was almost irrelevant, because the houses really can’t be compared.

It is possible, especially if you can carry out some of the work yourself.