Good day,
I hope I have posted in the right subforum.
I am planning to build a house on my own land in Hessen at some point.
I often encounter the same issue:
I do not want to acquire a leasehold property (ground lease). The land should belong to me "completely."
Some listings also mention that the property is leasehold.
Here are my specific questions:
Can a purchased plot of land that was NOT acquired as leasehold still be subject to expropriation?
How can you tell if a property might be leasehold, other than it being explicitly stated in the listing? I don’t want to waste valuable time in inquiries only to later realize that although it is not literally mentioned, there is some kind of "code" or other indication in the listing that experts recognize as a leasehold reference, meaning it actually is leasehold.
How does property law generally work in Germany? Does it vary from state to state or is it uniform?
Can it generally be said that property rights in Germany are better or worse compared to neighboring countries such as Austria, Switzerland, or France?
And the most important question: how can I be sure that the land I purchase belongs solely to me?
Best regards
alwayssearchin
I hope I have posted in the right subforum.
I am planning to build a house on my own land in Hessen at some point.
I often encounter the same issue:
I do not want to acquire a leasehold property (ground lease). The land should belong to me "completely."
Some listings also mention that the property is leasehold.
Here are my specific questions:
Can a purchased plot of land that was NOT acquired as leasehold still be subject to expropriation?
How can you tell if a property might be leasehold, other than it being explicitly stated in the listing? I don’t want to waste valuable time in inquiries only to later realize that although it is not literally mentioned, there is some kind of "code" or other indication in the listing that experts recognize as a leasehold reference, meaning it actually is leasehold.
How does property law generally work in Germany? Does it vary from state to state or is it uniform?
Can it generally be said that property rights in Germany are better or worse compared to neighboring countries such as Austria, Switzerland, or France?
And the most important question: how can I be sure that the land I purchase belongs solely to me?
Best regards
alwayssearchin
N
nordanney15 May 2020 15:03alwayssearchin schrieb:
I believe it generally doesn’t hurt to be a bit more cautious and to ask three more questions, rather than regretting it later.Asking questions is always a good idea. At least when they are meaningful questions that you have given some thought to beforehand (Google helps a lot). Even more important than questions are the answers. You’ve received plenty of those – all clearly conveying the same content.alwayssearchin schrieb:
Well, I could again write pages explaining why I don’t want to take the risk of paying off a house only to have the market value calculated afterward, for which you’d ideally need a professional who then charges 9% of the market value for their valuable expertise.
Maybe that’s a bit exaggerated? Still, I’ll leave it as it is.Well, you haven’t actually answered even a single line, let alone several lines, about the risk you mentioned. And if you had informed yourself, you would know how it actually works. Then you wouldn’t have to exaggerate or misstate things.alwayssearchin schrieb:
What kind of questions should I be asking?
Things like location, connections, future infrastructure are things I would look into more closely in the respective property listing; I can’t really discuss those here now.
What I can address are general legal questions and situations.But those questions don’t fit a specific plot or your personal preferences. The first questions actually are: Where do I want to live – urban, rural, suburban, etc. / What must the surrounding area be like (infrastructure, traffic situation, demographics, etc.) / Commute / Family connections / Rental potential (you mentioned a multi-family house) / Budget / Type of house, and so on. After these, there’s a long gap, and only then “expropriation” comes into play. Putting that question before all those others makes no sense at all.alwayssearchin schrieb:
For example, I wouldn’t ask an expectant mother why she’s afraid of miscarriage or premature birth if she’s looking for information on those topics in the “expectant mothers forum.”Why not, if she wants exactly that information? Maybe she heard that tap water causes miscarriage? One answer could ease her fear. That’s why we also ask about your concerns.alwayssearchin schrieb:
The fact is, these things exist and someone like me would like to know more about them.All the answers have already been provided.Summary:
Leasehold: completely normal in Germany and absolutely unproblematic (except for very short remaining terms, but then you would have a problem with the bank anyway, which usually requires 10 years of remaining term beyond the end of the financing period—not interest rate lock).
Expropriation: far-fetched and only possible in defined exceptions (which simply do not apply to typical homebuyers) – legally regulated including the Basic Law and for the owner at most annoying, but economically unproblematic.
I’m more concerned, for example, about climate change (building in the North German plain up to the Rhineland would currently not be advisable due to rising sea levels – this risk is factually higher than a possible expropriation).
nordanney schrieb:
I’m more concerned about issues like climate change—for example, in the North German Plain extending into the Rhineland, building there today is not advisable due to rising sea levels. This risk is actually higher than a possible expropriation. And if things go badly, this risk will materialize even before the 99-year term expires. By then, we’ll have much bigger problems than grandchildren worrying about grandpa’s house. Grandpa will definitely have been gone for a long time, and no one will have any emotional attachment to the house anymore.