Good 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?
Neogenesis schrieb:
Thanks a lot for the information....
What about the topic of forced auction?A possible option with many risks. Often, you don’t know exactly what you are buying.
Your financing must be secured beforehand.
It can be cheaper, but as with anything in life, these situations carry risk.
I would definitely involve professionals before proceeding.
MarcWen schrieb:
We were once told that the real prime properties are already picked out by the banks beforehand. Of course, you can get lucky, but we stayed away from it and didn’t pursue the topic further.I completely agree with you again.
Banks pre-select the marketable properties. These then end up in the bank’s portfolio. That makes sense. More money for the banks (I would also want to minimize my losses).
What’s left... you can imagine.
However, the moderators here can surely provide more insight, as they probably know more about this. I am just a layperson with a good gut feeling and fairly good information.
A family with a net income of 4.5k is already in a strong position when it comes to proper building and buying. Truly.
Only a distant cousin of mine once went through foreclosure sales and got lucky with a top property (which they realized after the purchase, not before. Quite a gamble). But that was just chance... as I said, it can happen.
I recommend that you place your own property search advertisement. Last month, I conducted two purchase consultations for properties in Cologne that were initiated and advertised by the prospective buyers themselves, resulting in good and quick outcomes. Real estate agents are generally dispensable and usually do not contribute anything substantial to the property transaction. The listings on real estate portals are often leftover stock; the truly interesting properties are directly offered to clients registered with the agents. This option is of course available to you as well, but property owners increasingly prefer not to use the services of an agent for understandable reasons and therefore do not offer them officially. There are now also several mostly agent-free platforms, for example, the listings from the large E... department store.
Foreclosures can be interesting if you are familiar with the subject, know how to read appraisals, and can estimate renovation and remodeling costs in advance. Unknown construction and planning law aspects, as well as unclear ownership statuses, can turn the purchase into a surprise package. Essentially, this is only suitable for “professionals” or people with a sense of adventure and a well-financed renovation budget.
As a general rule, I recommend that if you have concrete interest, you always bring an expert (architect or structural engineer) to the second viewing. They should critically assess the condition of the property, the renovation effort, construction and planning law issues, and any renovations already carried out. They should also be able to roughly estimate the upcoming renovation and remodeling costs and calculate the purchase price on-site after inspection using the abbreviated cost approach. This provides you, as a prospective buyer, with a very concrete basis for realistic financial planning.
Foreclosures can be interesting if you are familiar with the subject, know how to read appraisals, and can estimate renovation and remodeling costs in advance. Unknown construction and planning law aspects, as well as unclear ownership statuses, can turn the purchase into a surprise package. Essentially, this is only suitable for “professionals” or people with a sense of adventure and a well-financed renovation budget.
As a general rule, I recommend that if you have concrete interest, you always bring an expert (architect or structural engineer) to the second viewing. They should critically assess the condition of the property, the renovation effort, construction and planning law issues, and any renovations already carried out. They should also be able to roughly estimate the upcoming renovation and remodeling costs and calculate the purchase price on-site after inspection using the abbreviated cost approach. This provides you, as a prospective buyer, with a very concrete basis for realistic financial planning.
MarcWen schrieb:
Someone once told us that the best deals are already picked over by the banks ahead of time. You can be lucky, but we decided to stay away from it and didn’t pursue the topic further.They can’t just pick whatever they want! A foreclosure is still a court-ordered process, and it follows a set procedure.
B
Bauexperte30 Nov 2015 10:35tomtom79 schrieb:
They can’t really opt out! A forced auction is still a court order and it follows its own procedure.Agreements—even if they contradict the established procedure—do not prevent this 😉Best regards, Bauexperte