ᐅ Build or buy? Prefabricated house or solid construction? Baden-Württemberg/Rhineland-Palatinate – detached house/semi-detached house
Created on: 8 Jun 2020 10:17
N
Netodo_de
Wanted/Desired:
- Semi-detached house (dream)
- Semi-detached house with a granny flat
- Single-family house with a granny flat
- Two-family house
Budget including land calculated:
400,000 (if acceptable)
500,000 (if the house is perfect and relatively new)
600,000 (if it’s a semi-detached house)
In short: buying a house that also generates rental income to reduce overall costs.
Background:
We have been looking for some time but haven’t found anything that really fits, mainly because prices are extremely high. It’s not easy. My partner is from Worms and I’m from Stuttgart. We want to own a home somewhere between Mannheim and Karlsruhe/Pforzheim or between Mannheim and Heilbronn—basically along the highway. So near Mannheim, Speyer, Karlsruhe, Bruchsal, Sinsheim, Heilbronn. Small towns are fine; it doesn’t have to be in a city. Being 10 minutes away is also okay. So far, we have found well-located houses near Speyer, Phillipsburg, Germersheim. That’s on the border of Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate. I can’t say if these are cheap. I usually compare the price per square meter on homeday.
Our dream would be to build a semi-detached house with two units of about 110-130 m² (1,184–1,400 sq ft) each. We would live in one and rent out the other, then possibly sell it later. At first, we looked at prefabricated houses (wood). For example, we had an offer for 550,000 all inclusive (including land) for the entire semi-detached house. After talking to some people, we learned that wooden prefabricated houses can creak because the wood “moves”. We don’t want that, so that option is off the table. Also, the offer included 170,000 for interior finishing, but colleagues said it should cost less than 100,000, so that seemed high.
I contacted many masonry/concrete construction companies but got very few responses. Two of them replied with 300,000 per semi-detached unit if we want a semi-detached house. Plus land, that’s about 750,000–800,000. That’s way beyond our budget. I’m not sure if there are any masonry builders here who could manage 600,000 including land (about 150,000 of that). We also considered just contracting the shell construction for XXX,XXX and managing the interior finishing ourselves. But no company seems to offer just the shell; they mostly offer nearly finished or turnkey solutions. We know many people who could do windows/doors, flooring, plumbing, electrical work, plastering, but unfortunately no one does the shell work. Do you think that would be feasible?
•••••••••••••••••••••••
Otherwise, we resumed looking for houses:
We find semi-detached houses quite attractive, especially with the option of a granny flat.
We have now found one or two near Speyer:
••• One semi-detached house (Offenbach / Palatinate) was built in 1994 and costs 500,000 (via agent). It’s huge—250 m² (2,691 sq ft) with 9 rooms—and sits on a 450 m² (4,844 sq ft) plot. It has a double garage and photovoltaic system for water heating and sauna. The granny flat is in the basement, about 60 m² (646 sq ft), with 2-3 rooms including a shower and toilet but no kitchen yet. It is accessible via the garden or through the main house. Upstairs are 4 rooms plus the attic, which has been converted but not included in the total area. One room is about 15 m² (161 sq ft). On the ground floor, there is an office plus a large open living/dining/kitchen area with a kitchen worth about 20,000 € (from Miele). There is a covered terrace and a large garden.
The granny flat basement has some moisture on the wall, allegedly because it was closed off too early. Also, there are moisture problems in the utility room due to a lack of ventilation, according to the agent. The fittings are almost upscale but somewhat older since the house dates from 1994. The knee wall (kniestock) is 1.60 or 1.80 m (5 ft 3 in or 5 ft 11 in).
••• Another semi-detached house built in 2018 in Lingenfeld costs 520,000 (private sale). It has about 160 m² (1,722 sq ft) of living space plus a 17 m² (183 sq ft) terrace, totaling around 177 m² (1,905 sq ft). The plot is 250 m² (2,691 sq ft) with a small garden. It has an open living/dining area including a small nice kitchen. There is a shower and guest toilet on the ground floor. Upstairs are three bedrooms and a bathroom with shower. In the basement is a two-room granny flat of about 48 m² (517 sq ft) including kitchen and shower, with a separate entrance near the main entrance and a separated staircase. The roof is hipped. Knee wall is 2 m (6 ft 7 in). There is a garage with an electric vehicle charging option. Everything is fairly new and the fittings are upscale. I haven’t negotiated the price yet but I think it’s possible to agree on 500,000 or even less with a private seller.
So here’s my question: Is it better to buy the newer one? Or the older, larger one, although the location is less ideal and some work may be needed?
Or would it make sense to build ourselves for that price? For example, a semi-detached house that looks just like the newer house mentioned above, assuming we can make it work for the budget. The land would cost about 50,000–100,000 for the semi-detached plot, leaving roughly 300,000–350,000 for construction.
Or to contract just the shell and manage finishing ourselves?
So many questions. There are so many options, but which one makes the most sense?
I hope I’m not overwhelming you all.
- Semi-detached house (dream)
- Semi-detached house with a granny flat
- Single-family house with a granny flat
- Two-family house
Budget including land calculated:
400,000 (if acceptable)
500,000 (if the house is perfect and relatively new)
600,000 (if it’s a semi-detached house)
In short: buying a house that also generates rental income to reduce overall costs.
Background:
We have been looking for some time but haven’t found anything that really fits, mainly because prices are extremely high. It’s not easy. My partner is from Worms and I’m from Stuttgart. We want to own a home somewhere between Mannheim and Karlsruhe/Pforzheim or between Mannheim and Heilbronn—basically along the highway. So near Mannheim, Speyer, Karlsruhe, Bruchsal, Sinsheim, Heilbronn. Small towns are fine; it doesn’t have to be in a city. Being 10 minutes away is also okay. So far, we have found well-located houses near Speyer, Phillipsburg, Germersheim. That’s on the border of Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate. I can’t say if these are cheap. I usually compare the price per square meter on homeday.
Our dream would be to build a semi-detached house with two units of about 110-130 m² (1,184–1,400 sq ft) each. We would live in one and rent out the other, then possibly sell it later. At first, we looked at prefabricated houses (wood). For example, we had an offer for 550,000 all inclusive (including land) for the entire semi-detached house. After talking to some people, we learned that wooden prefabricated houses can creak because the wood “moves”. We don’t want that, so that option is off the table. Also, the offer included 170,000 for interior finishing, but colleagues said it should cost less than 100,000, so that seemed high.
I contacted many masonry/concrete construction companies but got very few responses. Two of them replied with 300,000 per semi-detached unit if we want a semi-detached house. Plus land, that’s about 750,000–800,000. That’s way beyond our budget. I’m not sure if there are any masonry builders here who could manage 600,000 including land (about 150,000 of that). We also considered just contracting the shell construction for XXX,XXX and managing the interior finishing ourselves. But no company seems to offer just the shell; they mostly offer nearly finished or turnkey solutions. We know many people who could do windows/doors, flooring, plumbing, electrical work, plastering, but unfortunately no one does the shell work. Do you think that would be feasible?
•••••••••••••••••••••••
Otherwise, we resumed looking for houses:
We find semi-detached houses quite attractive, especially with the option of a granny flat.
We have now found one or two near Speyer:
••• One semi-detached house (Offenbach / Palatinate) was built in 1994 and costs 500,000 (via agent). It’s huge—250 m² (2,691 sq ft) with 9 rooms—and sits on a 450 m² (4,844 sq ft) plot. It has a double garage and photovoltaic system for water heating and sauna. The granny flat is in the basement, about 60 m² (646 sq ft), with 2-3 rooms including a shower and toilet but no kitchen yet. It is accessible via the garden or through the main house. Upstairs are 4 rooms plus the attic, which has been converted but not included in the total area. One room is about 15 m² (161 sq ft). On the ground floor, there is an office plus a large open living/dining/kitchen area with a kitchen worth about 20,000 € (from Miele). There is a covered terrace and a large garden.
The granny flat basement has some moisture on the wall, allegedly because it was closed off too early. Also, there are moisture problems in the utility room due to a lack of ventilation, according to the agent. The fittings are almost upscale but somewhat older since the house dates from 1994. The knee wall (kniestock) is 1.60 or 1.80 m (5 ft 3 in or 5 ft 11 in).
••• Another semi-detached house built in 2018 in Lingenfeld costs 520,000 (private sale). It has about 160 m² (1,722 sq ft) of living space plus a 17 m² (183 sq ft) terrace, totaling around 177 m² (1,905 sq ft). The plot is 250 m² (2,691 sq ft) with a small garden. It has an open living/dining area including a small nice kitchen. There is a shower and guest toilet on the ground floor. Upstairs are three bedrooms and a bathroom with shower. In the basement is a two-room granny flat of about 48 m² (517 sq ft) including kitchen and shower, with a separate entrance near the main entrance and a separated staircase. The roof is hipped. Knee wall is 2 m (6 ft 7 in). There is a garage with an electric vehicle charging option. Everything is fairly new and the fittings are upscale. I haven’t negotiated the price yet but I think it’s possible to agree on 500,000 or even less with a private seller.
So here’s my question: Is it better to buy the newer one? Or the older, larger one, although the location is less ideal and some work may be needed?
Or would it make sense to build ourselves for that price? For example, a semi-detached house that looks just like the newer house mentioned above, assuming we can make it work for the budget. The land would cost about 50,000–100,000 for the semi-detached plot, leaving roughly 300,000–350,000 for construction.
Or to contract just the shell and manage finishing ourselves?
So many questions. There are so many options, but which one makes the most sense?
I hope I’m not overwhelming you all.
HilfeHilfe schrieb:
It is wishful thinking to believe that a tenant largely finances someone’s house. It is a naïve calculation on several levels:
Incorrect assumption 1)
When renting out, we profit from the start (based on false premises, including no vacancy, timely payments, no damages exceeding the security deposit, no grounds for rent reductions in the new house, etc.);
Incorrect assumption 2)
Because of the profit, the rented square meters are considered more “valuable” in the subtraction calculation “repayment burden minus rental income” than the areas used personally, so the rental unit not only finances itself but also, for example, the square meters of the home office, children’s bathroom, or those gained through raising the knee wall;
Incorrect assumption 3)
—and this should already be obvious even to the naïve—
If, given our creditworthiness, the loan request for a home (an investment for personal living space) results in tough terms, it becomes easier—not logically harder—when combined with a second loan request for a business as a landlord (a speculation on business profit).
From this perspective, it should hopefully be a clear case of “realize it yourself.”
Rental units like this are a tool from a time when §7b of the Income Tax Act was relevant, rather than §10e (and the serving Chancellor was Helmut Schmidt). Back then, we also had monolithic 30 cm (12 inch) exterior walls as the standard—even with radiator niches.
Much time has passed since then. That calculations can work out is not absolute, meaning you cannot assume continuity or even permanence. That is old news.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
Region Stuttgart, with the desire to live near the highway. An expensive area.
It might work, but very tight:
150,000€ land
120m² (1,292 sq ft) * 2,200€/m² (204 sq ft) house
50,000€ additional construction costs
Total: 464,000€
Since this is a very expensive area, it will probably be more costly. I think your offers give a good idea of the likely outcome.
Now I just hope you can finance the 500k € even without rental income.
Netodo_de schrieb:
500,000 (if the house is perfect and relatively new)
It might work, but very tight:
150,000€ land
120m² (1,292 sq ft) * 2,200€/m² (204 sq ft) house
50,000€ additional construction costs
Total: 464,000€
Since this is a very expensive area, it will probably be more costly. I think your offers give a good idea of the likely outcome.
Now I just hope you can finance the 500k € even without rental income.