ᐅ Build a new house or wait for an affordable home to become available?
Created on: 4 Oct 2018 23:02
A
armmitcharme
Hello everyone,
Thank you very much for taking the time.
We are completely torn and looking for opinions on our situation.
My husband and I (both 27, plus our daughter who is 11 months old) are considering building a house, even though we never really wanted to, since we are quite adaptable but definitely not decisive.
To begin with: We are both still students. I will become a doctor next May. He will study for a long time yet, but already has completed vocational training and is an excellent homemaker.
Our current savings amount to €80,000 (about $86,000). We would definitely be able to get a loan since my (very financially stable) mother would act as guarantor for us.
We have been searching for almost a year for a suitable house in the beautiful village with a population of about 200 where my mother lives. Several months ago, we were offered a house there (a verbal agreement giving us a right of first refusal, but most people hardly sell their houses here anyway, so the seller can also consider themselves lucky), once the 90-year-old mother of the potential seller can no longer live alone. She is still relatively fit, walking around outside, etc.
We want to move there, specifically so that our little girl can walk to her grandmother’s without crossing a busy road, which applies both to the new development area (about 3 building plots) and to the reasonably priced house offered to us, as they are practically opposite each other.
Details of the old house:
5 rooms, approximately 120 sqm (about 1,290 sq ft) living space
Plot size 700 sqm (about 7,535 sq ft)
3 bathrooms, but one in the shed
Last plot at the edge of the forest (undevelopable, because the forest belongs to my mother)
Huge basement with a shed
Two garages
Built in the 1970s
Inspected by an expert (though somewhat superficial), very well maintained at first impression
Renovations needed, but no major refurbishment required. We estimate immediate necessary investments of around €20,000 (about $21,500)
Lovely garden with mature trees
Cost: €68,000 (about $73,000)
Details of the new development:
Mostly flat northern slope
€9 per sqm (no typo — it’s rural and the municipality supports young families. Nine euros per sqm)
Opposite the forest (undevelopable because it belongs to my mother)
Reasons to wait:
Very low costs, no loan needed
Manageable work (we are both not professionals)
Move in without huge upfront costs
We could gradually add more “luxury,” but start simply
Charm of the old house
The house is worth more than we would pay for it
Reasons against waiting:
We might end up waiting forever
One room is a walk-through
No matter what we do, it won’t be as environmentally friendly as a good new build
The house is not perfect
Reasons to build new:
It feels terrible to “take” the house away from the elderly woman
We could start planning immediately
I will have plenty of time for this over the next six months, but not after that
We could customize a lot according to our wishes
The plots are beautiful and practically a gift
We could build a passive house
Reasons against building new:
Costs are approximately €300,000 (about $323,000) if we are lucky — meaning debt
In this region, property usually never recovers its construction price
An overwhelming number of decisions
Neither of us are experts and could easily be taken advantage of
Any “luxury” must be financed upfront
“If you’re going to build, build properly?” — costs, costs, costs
Building doesn’t happen quickly
What we want:
At least 100 sqm (about 1,075 sq ft), maximum 135 sqm (about 1,450 sq ft)
At least 5 rooms (a second child is planned)
Preferably a low-energy house
2 bathrooms (one can be very small, just some backup option)
Not too much hassle
What I mean by luxury:
A tiled stove (very cozy, and since the forest is family-owned, we get wood extremely cheaply)
The infrastructure — daycare, primary school, proximity to future work, etc. — is ideal for us despite, or because of, the very rural location. But property prices in our very rural area are very low, so we don’t view the potential house as an investment but as a place to settle down. The chance of one of the approximately 10 other suitable houses in the village becoming available by chance seems very low to us.
What would you do?
What would you advise a friend?
We are completely uncertain!
Thank you very much for your help, and have a nice evening!
Anne
Thank you very much for taking the time.
We are completely torn and looking for opinions on our situation.
My husband and I (both 27, plus our daughter who is 11 months old) are considering building a house, even though we never really wanted to, since we are quite adaptable but definitely not decisive.
To begin with: We are both still students. I will become a doctor next May. He will study for a long time yet, but already has completed vocational training and is an excellent homemaker.
Our current savings amount to €80,000 (about $86,000). We would definitely be able to get a loan since my (very financially stable) mother would act as guarantor for us.
We have been searching for almost a year for a suitable house in the beautiful village with a population of about 200 where my mother lives. Several months ago, we were offered a house there (a verbal agreement giving us a right of first refusal, but most people hardly sell their houses here anyway, so the seller can also consider themselves lucky), once the 90-year-old mother of the potential seller can no longer live alone. She is still relatively fit, walking around outside, etc.
We want to move there, specifically so that our little girl can walk to her grandmother’s without crossing a busy road, which applies both to the new development area (about 3 building plots) and to the reasonably priced house offered to us, as they are practically opposite each other.
Details of the old house:
5 rooms, approximately 120 sqm (about 1,290 sq ft) living space
Plot size 700 sqm (about 7,535 sq ft)
3 bathrooms, but one in the shed
Last plot at the edge of the forest (undevelopable, because the forest belongs to my mother)
Huge basement with a shed
Two garages
Built in the 1970s
Inspected by an expert (though somewhat superficial), very well maintained at first impression
Renovations needed, but no major refurbishment required. We estimate immediate necessary investments of around €20,000 (about $21,500)
Lovely garden with mature trees
Cost: €68,000 (about $73,000)
Details of the new development:
Mostly flat northern slope
€9 per sqm (no typo — it’s rural and the municipality supports young families. Nine euros per sqm)
Opposite the forest (undevelopable because it belongs to my mother)
Reasons to wait:
Very low costs, no loan needed
Manageable work (we are both not professionals)
Move in without huge upfront costs
We could gradually add more “luxury,” but start simply
Charm of the old house
The house is worth more than we would pay for it
Reasons against waiting:
We might end up waiting forever
One room is a walk-through
No matter what we do, it won’t be as environmentally friendly as a good new build
The house is not perfect
Reasons to build new:
It feels terrible to “take” the house away from the elderly woman
We could start planning immediately
I will have plenty of time for this over the next six months, but not after that
We could customize a lot according to our wishes
The plots are beautiful and practically a gift
We could build a passive house
Reasons against building new:
Costs are approximately €300,000 (about $323,000) if we are lucky — meaning debt
In this region, property usually never recovers its construction price
An overwhelming number of decisions
Neither of us are experts and could easily be taken advantage of
Any “luxury” must be financed upfront
“If you’re going to build, build properly?” — costs, costs, costs
Building doesn’t happen quickly
What we want:
At least 100 sqm (about 1,075 sq ft), maximum 135 sqm (about 1,450 sq ft)
At least 5 rooms (a second child is planned)
Preferably a low-energy house
2 bathrooms (one can be very small, just some backup option)
Not too much hassle
What I mean by luxury:
A tiled stove (very cozy, and since the forest is family-owned, we get wood extremely cheaply)
The infrastructure — daycare, primary school, proximity to future work, etc. — is ideal for us despite, or because of, the very rural location. But property prices in our very rural area are very low, so we don’t view the potential house as an investment but as a place to settle down. The chance of one of the approximately 10 other suitable houses in the village becoming available by chance seems very low to us.
What would you do?
What would you advise a friend?
We are completely uncertain!
Thank you very much for your help, and have a nice evening!
Anne
kaho674 schrieb:
All those who are retiring now will remain customers of the general contractor for another 30 years. Mostly retirees (but not to be enrolled in a chronic care program), from a billing perspective the death of a general practitioner's practice.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
11ant schrieb:
Mostly retirees (but not to be registered in a chronic care program), financially the death of a general practice. That is probably the reason why doctors want to move to the city, right?
A
armmitcharme5 Oct 2018 19:08@apokolok: Obviously, we have very different views on this, but that’s okay, and that’s not what this is about.
@Zaba12: I would appreciate it if you didn’t compare me and my partner to scammers who betray their partners so badly without being asked. I understand that there have never been and never will be guarantees for happy marriages, and that has to be enough.
@chand1986: I think the price essentially comes down to two main factors: Firstly, the land belongs to the municipality, which wants to promote young families and homebuilders, so the "official" price per square meter is roughly twice as high. Secondly, the commuting area of Cologne, even though longer commutes happen in other regions, doesn’t really extend here. I know several people who work in Bonn and live here, but the immediate surroundings of Bonn are still affordable, so building is happening there first. I could imagine that both factors might change and this area might gain more attention if the housing situation worsens further. However, I’m not counting on that.
@nordanney: Good point, we still need to find that out. We would have direct neighbors whose land is fully developed, but most of the infrastructure up to our plot needs to be expanded. We don’t know the costs yet. Fortunately, excellent internet is available via wireless, so no 5,000+ for fiber optic cable installation.
@11ant: No way, you can definitely finance a practice even with mostly retirees. That is definitely not the end of a general practice.
More generally: This is NOT about whether we want to move to the countryside or not. We live and love living in the countryside and are not willing to give up our quality of life just because there might possibly be a worst-case scenario sometime in the future.
@Zaba12: I would appreciate it if you didn’t compare me and my partner to scammers who betray their partners so badly without being asked. I understand that there have never been and never will be guarantees for happy marriages, and that has to be enough.
@chand1986: I think the price essentially comes down to two main factors: Firstly, the land belongs to the municipality, which wants to promote young families and homebuilders, so the "official" price per square meter is roughly twice as high. Secondly, the commuting area of Cologne, even though longer commutes happen in other regions, doesn’t really extend here. I know several people who work in Bonn and live here, but the immediate surroundings of Bonn are still affordable, so building is happening there first. I could imagine that both factors might change and this area might gain more attention if the housing situation worsens further. However, I’m not counting on that.
@nordanney: Good point, we still need to find that out. We would have direct neighbors whose land is fully developed, but most of the infrastructure up to our plot needs to be expanded. We don’t know the costs yet. Fortunately, excellent internet is available via wireless, so no 5,000+ for fiber optic cable installation.
@11ant: No way, you can definitely finance a practice even with mostly retirees. That is definitely not the end of a general practice.
More generally: This is NOT about whether we want to move to the countryside or not. We live and love living in the countryside and are not willing to give up our quality of life just because there might possibly be a worst-case scenario sometime in the future.
armmitcharme schrieb:
The "official" price per square meter is roughly twice as high That's what I meant. I didn't know that it even existed, so as a fallback, I asked about the average market prices in the neighboring villages. In some places, there is no open market; only the municipality offers land openly, and otherwise, purchases are made informally, directly "under the pub table" from Sepp at Vincenz.
armmitcharme schrieb:
No way, you can finance a practice even with mostly retirees. That definitely is not the end of general practitioner practices. It seems to me that billing was not fully covered in your training (which is good if doctors are first and foremost good physicians, but you have to be able to make a living as well). For a specialist, that is no problem, but for a general practitioner, the "point is worthless" if you work "too much." As the patients age, the number of home visits increases. If you have nursing homes, that’s great: you drive there once, bill for twenty home visits, all patients are "in one place." But if everyone is spread out in their own detached houses? – I have seen dozens of cases: a doctor over 70 finally found a highly motivated young successor, but regularly, the bank rejects the loan: a bad keyword being the profit and loss statement (BWA).
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
A
armmitcharme5 Oct 2018 19:42@11ant : I openly admit that you might know more about this than I do. But my keyword is "additional qualification." I definitely want to work in palliative care and as an emergency doctor, as those offer good extra income. Additionally, I will try to become a specialist in internal medicine, focusing on rheumatology or oncology, due to my interest and because this area is severely underserved. I didn’t want to discuss my entire career plan here, but I already have a clear idea.