Hello everyone, we are Ina and Philipp. We both want to take the next step and build our own home.
We are intentionally moving away from the big city back to the countryside (Ina comes from a rural area). Perhaps some of you remember we have posted here before and shared some bad experiences with looking for land. Thanks to your advice, we quickly figured out what to watch out for. We want to actively share our journey toward homeownership here and are grateful for any tips and tricks.
What is the current status?
We are currently in contact with an owner (over 70 years old) of a plot of land who is willing to sell us 1,400 square meters (15,070 square feet) for 50,000 euros. All utility connections except for gas are already available at the site. The land is currently farmed as agricultural land. The plot is located next to a low-traffic federal road.
Yesterday, we spoke with potential neighbors. They also bought from this gentleman in 2011 and are still very satisfied with the quality of living and housing in the area. The neighbors were in the same situation back then—the land was also used as farmland.
Next Tuesday, we have an appointment with the bank. We will discuss whether to finance the land or possibly pay in cash. The advisor told us on the phone yesterday that we should generally consider paying for the land in cash rather than financing it.
If everything goes well, we will call the owner on Tuesday and hopefully tell him that we want to buy the land. He said yesterday he would then send us all the documents.
We have a specific idea we want to realize: a bungalow (the neighbor’s house is already a bungalow) modeled after a Swedish-style home.
Currently open questions:
Do you already have any advice on what we should pay attention to?
I (Philipp) have some doubts and would prefer to finance the land because the €50,000 should serve as equity/reserve for building the house.
There is a sewage access point right at the edge of the property. The owner said—if I understood correctly—that he would also talk to the water utility company to see if we would not have to buy that part of the land.
Thank you very much for reading this far. We wish you a nice weekend and will continue to report here openly and regularly. We appreciate any feedback or suggestions on things we can clarify early on.
We are intentionally moving away from the big city back to the countryside (Ina comes from a rural area). Perhaps some of you remember we have posted here before and shared some bad experiences with looking for land. Thanks to your advice, we quickly figured out what to watch out for. We want to actively share our journey toward homeownership here and are grateful for any tips and tricks.
What is the current status?
We are currently in contact with an owner (over 70 years old) of a plot of land who is willing to sell us 1,400 square meters (15,070 square feet) for 50,000 euros. All utility connections except for gas are already available at the site. The land is currently farmed as agricultural land. The plot is located next to a low-traffic federal road.
Yesterday, we spoke with potential neighbors. They also bought from this gentleman in 2011 and are still very satisfied with the quality of living and housing in the area. The neighbors were in the same situation back then—the land was also used as farmland.
Next Tuesday, we have an appointment with the bank. We will discuss whether to finance the land or possibly pay in cash. The advisor told us on the phone yesterday that we should generally consider paying for the land in cash rather than financing it.
If everything goes well, we will call the owner on Tuesday and hopefully tell him that we want to buy the land. He said yesterday he would then send us all the documents.
We have a specific idea we want to realize: a bungalow (the neighbor’s house is already a bungalow) modeled after a Swedish-style home.
Currently open questions:
Do you already have any advice on what we should pay attention to?
I (Philipp) have some doubts and would prefer to finance the land because the €50,000 should serve as equity/reserve for building the house.
There is a sewage access point right at the edge of the property. The owner said—if I understood correctly—that he would also talk to the water utility company to see if we would not have to buy that part of the land.
Thank you very much for reading this far. We wish you a nice weekend and will continue to report here openly and regularly. We appreciate any feedback or suggestions on things we can clarify early on.
blackm88 schrieb:
Our street has existed for 13 years, yet Google and many GPS devices still don’t recognize it. At least the city has now installed street name signs. You wouldn’t believe how slow authorities can be in Germany... In our case, it took exactly 1-2 months for all maps to be updated. Insurance and contracts could only be applied for in a complicated way using the parcel number. So I personally added the streets including houses on Google Map Maker or whatever it was called, and after verification, I had to submit a photo. A few days later, it was approved. The funny thing is that everyone even copies OpenStreetMap into Google.
P
philipp199025 Aug 2019 12:53First of all, thanks to everyone who has provided suggestions so far. Tomorrow I will call the building authority (building permit / planning permission office) to ask about the current status. I will also contact the utility providers to check whether everything is connected – electricity, water, and wastewater. According to neighbors and the property owner, gas is not available.
Maybe I’ll be lucky and receive some documents in advance by e-mail. Otherwise, I will probably have to go there in person.
Maybe I’ll be lucky and receive some documents in advance by e-mail. Otherwise, I will probably have to go there in person.
P
philipp199026 Aug 2019 13:52Here is a brief update – the checklist has been processed as follows – the municipality was contacted regarding the plot of land. At first, it was said to be agricultural land... Then I was informed there is an additional zoning regulation. They are now investigating this and will speak with the mayor about whether it exists and how it applies. The problem is that the responsible officer is attending a training course, so we need to be patient until around Thursday.
philipp1990 schrieb:
Here is a brief update – the checklist has been handled as follows – the local authority was contacted regarding the plot. At first, they said it was farmland… Then I was informed there is an additional zoning regulation. They are now checking into this and will discuss it with the mayor to confirm if it exists and in what form. The issue is that the officer in charge is currently in training, so we need to be patient until around Thursday. It can be simple, right?
P
philipp199026 Aug 2019 14:05ypg schrieb:
It can simply be simple, right? Totally
P
philipp199027 Aug 2019 16:58An update:
Today we had a meeting regarding the financial budget. Taking into account contingencies, real estate agent fees, notary fees, and property transfer tax, we have a maximum purchase price of €296,140.09 as the budget for the house and land.
We are budgeting €50,000 for the land.
We are considering a bungalow. Does anyone have recommendations for bungalows that can be built turnkey within a budget of around €250,000? We would prefer a timber frame construction rather than solid/masonry.
Today we had a meeting regarding the financial budget. Taking into account contingencies, real estate agent fees, notary fees, and property transfer tax, we have a maximum purchase price of €296,140.09 as the budget for the house and land.
We are budgeting €50,000 for the land.
We are considering a bungalow. Does anyone have recommendations for bungalows that can be built turnkey within a budget of around €250,000? We would prefer a timber frame construction rather than solid/masonry.