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Neogenesis29 Nov 2015 10:14Good morning.
A brief introduction about us.
We are a couple, aged 27 and 32.
Our combined net income is about 4000-4500 euros.
We are currently searching intensively for a house in Bochum.
Building a new house is not an option for us financially due to the extremely high prices and the scarcity of land, so we can only look for a pre-owned property.
Unfortunately, we have always been too late so far.
Our only search method until now has been online research through platforms like Immobilienscout, etc.
The properties that seemed interesting to us were often already reserved, even though we contacted the seller very quickly.
How would you recommend searching?
Maybe register with a real estate agent to share our requirements?
Consider foreclosure sales?
Place ads in the “traditional” newspaper?
A brief introduction about us.
We are a couple, aged 27 and 32.
Our combined net income is about 4000-4500 euros.
We are currently searching intensively for a house in Bochum.
Building a new house is not an option for us financially due to the extremely high prices and the scarcity of land, so we can only look for a pre-owned property.
Unfortunately, we have always been too late so far.
Our only search method until now has been online research through platforms like Immobilienscout, etc.
The properties that seemed interesting to us were often already reserved, even though we contacted the seller very quickly.
How would you recommend searching?
Maybe register with a real estate agent to share our requirements?
Consider foreclosure sales?
Place ads in the “traditional” newspaper?
Good morning to both of you,
A friend of mine searched for a property like this for over three years, also in the E / BO / DO region.
He finally found his house in 2015 through a coworker who lived next door and knew about the seller’s intentions. In Dortmund. Great outcome—respect to my friend and his family.
The problem was less about finding and viewing properties. In all previous cases, the price-to-value ratio simply didn’t make sense. The market currently strongly favors sellers due to high demand, which is clearly disadvantageous for buyers!
Before involving a real estate agent, who can be costly, I would recommend placing an advertisement. Traditional print media as well as online. When viewing a property, it helps to have someone knowledgeable along—for example, to check for moisture in walls and other issues.
I’ve run around so many houses with experts like that...
Also: tell many friends and acquaintances about your plans. Someone will always hear something…
Both large and small local agents often have an office with noticeboards where you can get non-binding preliminary information.
Good luck. Be patient and take your time!
Best regards,
Thorsten
PS: Moving slightly south from DO into more rural areas (towards the W valley, Gevelsberg, SG, etc.) can be financially worthwhile. Other alternative directions to consider are Unna, Fröndenberg, and so on. Prices in Dortmund’s good neighborhoods (and there are some very good areas there—it is a beautiful city) are quite steep.
A friend of mine searched for a property like this for over three years, also in the E / BO / DO region.
He finally found his house in 2015 through a coworker who lived next door and knew about the seller’s intentions. In Dortmund. Great outcome—respect to my friend and his family.
The problem was less about finding and viewing properties. In all previous cases, the price-to-value ratio simply didn’t make sense. The market currently strongly favors sellers due to high demand, which is clearly disadvantageous for buyers!
Before involving a real estate agent, who can be costly, I would recommend placing an advertisement. Traditional print media as well as online. When viewing a property, it helps to have someone knowledgeable along—for example, to check for moisture in walls and other issues.
I’ve run around so many houses with experts like that...
Also: tell many friends and acquaintances about your plans. Someone will always hear something…
Both large and small local agents often have an office with noticeboards where you can get non-binding preliminary information.
Good luck. Be patient and take your time!
Best regards,
Thorsten
PS: Moving slightly south from DO into more rural areas (towards the W valley, Gevelsberg, SG, etc.) can be financially worthwhile. Other alternative directions to consider are Unna, Fröndenberg, and so on. Prices in Dortmund’s good neighborhoods (and there are some very good areas there—it is a beautiful city) are quite steep.
Neogenesis schrieb:
......
Some of the properties that were interesting to us were already reserved, even though we contacted the provider very quickly.... ?If your "very quickly" means immediately, then you are doing everything right.
Call immediately (don’t email), be available for a viewing right away (not next week), and schedule a second inspection with an expert without waiting two weeks.
Many people didn’t get back to us after the first viewing, and it was impossible to tell if they were genuinely interested. Then, after four weeks, calls came in expressing interest after the second inspection. Unfortunately, by that time the property was already reserved.
While it is often advised not to rush, as a seller I want to know as soon as possible where I stand. That also means that a potential buyer should already know what they want and how much money they have available.
From our experience, using a real estate agent makes little sense. Our result from that was basically zero. We had ourselves listed with about half a dozen. So, the main approach is to take matters into your own hands. Also check with well-known financial institutions. Savings banks or cooperative banks often have a larger range of offers, either online or on their notice boards.
Try searching the classic way via Google as well. For example, "house for sale in [location]." Often, you can find listings in local media or online marketplaces that way. Talk to friends and acquaintances, share your plans with them—often you find your goal through word of mouth or luck.
Otherwise, don’t lose sight of the new build option. As already mentioned, the used property market is very competitive and overpriced. We also had to learn that the hard way. For example, a nice property matching our ideas, price 400,000 Euro (about 435,000 USD), went to the bank for a valuation and was estimated at 280,000–300,000 Euro (305,000–327,000 USD). On top of that, we would have had to invest about 100,000 Euro (110,000 USD) in renovations, and that still didn’t include windows or heating that were already 20 years old.
Try searching the classic way via Google as well. For example, "house for sale in [location]." Often, you can find listings in local media or online marketplaces that way. Talk to friends and acquaintances, share your plans with them—often you find your goal through word of mouth or luck.
Otherwise, don’t lose sight of the new build option. As already mentioned, the used property market is very competitive and overpriced. We also had to learn that the hard way. For example, a nice property matching our ideas, price 400,000 Euro (about 435,000 USD), went to the bank for a valuation and was estimated at 280,000–300,000 Euro (305,000–327,000 USD). On top of that, we would have had to invest about 100,000 Euro (110,000 USD) in renovations, and that still didn’t include windows or heating that were already 20 years old.
Thank you, MarcWen! The addition regarding the savings banks / cooperative banks is helpful—I had just forgotten to include it.
By then, the time to edit the post had already expired.
At around 400,000: It is indeed possible to build new yourself. I completely agree with you.
The market for good used properties has been heavily searched.
If something good appears on the market, it’s gone in no time. Faster than you can blink. The demand is currently enormous.
What often remains are listings of a certain age, with primary energy factors that can be as shocking as the asking price and the required renovations. Finding the right property means you need to involve experts, especially building surveyors (this has already been mentioned here).
Depending on equity, the mentioned income in the original post makes either a new build possible now or in the near future.
By then, the time to edit the post had already expired.
At around 400,000: It is indeed possible to build new yourself. I completely agree with you.
The market for good used properties has been heavily searched.
If something good appears on the market, it’s gone in no time. Faster than you can blink. The demand is currently enormous.
What often remains are listings of a certain age, with primary energy factors that can be as shocking as the asking price and the required renovations. Finding the right property means you need to involve experts, especially building surveyors (this has already been mentioned here).
Depending on equity, the mentioned income in the original post makes either a new build possible now or in the near future.
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Neogenesis29 Nov 2015 13:43Thank you very much for the information....
What about the topic of foreclosure?
What about the topic of foreclosure?