Hello everyone 🙂
In recent days, I have been thinking more about the idea of building a house. It’s basically decided that my girlfriend and I definitely want to own our own home in the future. The question of whether to buy an existing house or to build one keeps coming up. We regularly check the usual property websites to get an overview of the homes currently available in the nearby area (Mülheim an der Ruhr). Since the market situation has been, to put it mildly, "more challenging" for some time now, this raises my question. While browsing these property sites, I often find at least 2-3 issues with the houses listed that, in my opinion, would be deal-breakers 😀
Therefore, to what extent should preparatory work or efforts be made before starting a building project?
I hope my question doesn’t sound too “stupid”! 😱
In recent days, I have been thinking more about the idea of building a house. It’s basically decided that my girlfriend and I definitely want to own our own home in the future. The question of whether to buy an existing house or to build one keeps coming up. We regularly check the usual property websites to get an overview of the homes currently available in the nearby area (Mülheim an der Ruhr). Since the market situation has been, to put it mildly, "more challenging" for some time now, this raises my question. While browsing these property sites, I often find at least 2-3 issues with the houses listed that, in my opinion, would be deal-breakers 😀
Therefore, to what extent should preparatory work or efforts be made before starting a building project?
I hope my question doesn’t sound too “stupid”! 😱
O
Osnabruecker7 Jan 2021 12:58criberg schrieb:
But if you take even a superficial look around and check out the market situation, it almost makes me want to cry in the shower. 😱 And if you want to go deeper instead of just a superficial glance, be sure to have whiskey/cognac/wine within reach of your shower—depending on your preference. 😉
W
WilderSueden7 Jan 2021 13:04After searching for a house for a while, I have personally developed a dislike for real estate agents. The current market simply provides too little incentive for reasonable work, and if you’re not prepared to swallow your frustration, there’s no point in attending viewings. But if you are friends with the agent... maybe she’s worth considering.
Otherwise, when looking for plots of land, it’s advisable to call the local municipalities and get on their waiting lists everywhere. Many people apply quite broadly (you should do the same in places you like), and sometimes a few builders drop out after reserving.
Otherwise, when looking for plots of land, it’s advisable to call the local municipalities and get on their waiting lists everywhere. Many people apply quite broadly (you should do the same in places you like), and sometimes a few builders drop out after reserving.
Osnabruecker schrieb:
And if you want to go deeper instead of just skimming the surface, have some whiskey/cognac/wine within reach of your shower already, depending on your preferences 😉 “You have some unusual shower gel and shampoo bottles there” :p
WilderSueden schrieb:
After some time searching for a house, I personally developed an aversion to real estate agents. The current market simply offers too little incentive for proper work, and anyone who doesn’t want to swallow their frustration shouldn’t bother coming to viewings. But if you’re on friendly terms… maybe the agent is worth something.
Otherwise, it’s advisable to call the local municipalities about land plots and get yourself on their waiting lists. Many people apply widely (you should do the same where you like the area), and sometimes a few buyers withdraw after making a reservation. I still need to understand the whole waiting list thing. So far, I haven’t found any specific websites for the different municipalities or neighborhoods in Mülheim, only the general site for the city itself. There, a few parcels are listed by neighborhood, but it’s very sparse—maybe 7 or 8 in total.
apokolok schrieb:
Just to ask again: Do you have equity available?
Otherwise, I find the discussion about building a house here somewhat pointless.
You can’t build a house with €400,000 (around $440,000), at least not on the scale you’re imagining.As of now, equity would be around €28,000 (about $31,000), but I still have some outstanding student debts to deal with this year. That raises the question of how these might be managed together.
If I pay off the debts in one go this year, about €10,000 (around $11,000) would remain. Over the next two years, with regular saving (without investment returns, etc.), probably between €15,000 and €20,000 (approximately $16,500 to $22,000) would be added. These figures were discussed a few months ago with LBS and are included in the total €400,000 (around $440,000) considered.
It’s also not about building right now, but planning for the future and understanding when and how to take steps that might make the process easier.