ᐅ Additional Costs When Purchasing a Plot of Land – Property Tax?

T21150 schrieb:
Horrible. Purely horrible. I’m so sorry for you.

They break in at any time these days. Saturday midday is not unusual.

These are terror gangs. They are also roaming around in Velbert. I find that extremely disturbing. But the police prefer speed camera patrols... Catching burglars seems to be too difficult for them.

Burglary and theft: I was also very worried about this during the construction phase. It wasn’t insurable back then. I had sleepless nights, especially when the valuable heating components were on-site and not yet installed... so for a few nights, I stayed cautiously in the shell of the building with a lamp and five blankets (cold, trembling!).

Now, after moving in, I have a full package of new-for-old insurance everywhere. If there is a break-in, we receive new-for-old replacement. Damage from unsuccessful burglary attempts is also compensated. In case of elemental damage—water (a timber frame house and water damage can quickly become a total loss; in my case, I think about 30cm (12 inches) of flooding on the ground floor is enough), house fire, lightning strike, tornadoes (laughs)—a new house will be built. For me, the risk related to the value of such damages is just too high, so I prefer to pay a little more every month.

Insurance-wise, the construction phase is critical, especially for components not yet connected to the main structure (tools, materials).

I am still afraid of break-ins, even though everything was built with secure locks and so on, and I now have a small alarm system... As long as these gangs can roam as freely as they currently do around here, my fear will not lessen.

All the best to you.

Thorsten

... Sorry, I have to ask now: as long as the heating system or other components haven’t been formally accepted by you, isn’t the risk the builder’s and not yours? Or am I mistaken?

Best regards

Finishing the House.

After the building envelope was completed, I acted as the construction contractor (also legally and with the construction workers’ insurance).

Items not permanently attached to the house were not insurable. If there had been a break-in, everything would have been gone.

And when you have, say, 15,000 worth of equipment lying around (heating, solar, etc.)... a cautious person like me can easily get worried. Honestly, that was on my mind a lot...

After consulting with the insurance company, I ended up sleeping in the house cold until everything was installed... with the lights on downstairs... It worked. Back then, the house was almost standing alone out here in the open countryside. Exciting moments...

Experiences like this create an emotional bond with the building. Sometimes during the construction phase, I even hated the house. But by now, I really love this little thing with the roof on it.

Best regards
Thorsten

Aren’t you then "underinsured"? I’ve read there is a clause stating that this is not checked (otherwise only a proportional amount would be paid). €16 per month sounds reasonable though.

BeHaElJa schrieb:
Are you not "underinsured" with that? I read there is a clause saying it’s not checked (otherwise only partial payment would be made). 16 € per month sounds okay though.

No, on the contrary. Underinsurance is explicitly excluded in writing.

We have a very fair agent (a married couple) whom we have known for 20 years through Steffi. The insurance itself is admittedly considered expensive.

However, in the event of a claim (we had a fire in 2009 with over €40,000 (about $43,000) in damage in the rental apartment, caused by an electrical fault), they paid within 24 hours and did not try to avoid payment.

We didn’t fall into such traps — everything was properly arranged. The people were here on-site for several hours to document everything. Only then did the contract proposal come. Absolutely excellent and fair.

I’m satisfied with the price considering the coverage.

And no, I definitely won’t name the insurance company here… my personal experiences are not intended as advertising.

Compared to the rental apartment, we now pay a few euros more per year (I think it used to be €162 (about $175) back then). But that is so marginal it’s negligible.

When we moved to temporary housing, the contract was temporarily adjusted to reflect the smaller scale (a lot of household contents were stored with Sureguard) and then increased again when we returned to the house. Everything went smoothly.

Best regards,
Thorsten

Sebastian79 schrieb:
Our newly built house was broken into 2 weeks ago, and I’m very glad to have contents insurance.

Pure curiosity: Does your existing, old contents insurance fully cover items stolen from the new house? Or was the contents policy updated before construction started?

Bieber0815 schrieb:
Just out of curiosity: Does the old household contents insurance still fully cover items stolen during the new build? Or was the household contents policy adjusted before construction started?

During the construction phase, different rules apply.... Here, you insure the building against water damage, natural hazards, fire, lightning, and earthquakes. Theft: No..... None. Not covered.

You have to be living there to insure household contents.

You will need to adjust your policy then.

From my personal experience: Besides liability insurance, household contents insurance is one of the most important insurances you should have alongside health insurance. Of course, you should also insure the building itself (fire, natural hazards, water damage, burglary), but that usually doesn’t cost much. These are costs (building insurance) that renters usually don’t have.

A rough rule of thumb: Turn the house upside down without the roof tiles. Everything that falls out counts as household contents. Everything still attached is part of the building insurance.

Best regards
Thorsten