Hey hey,
I’m new here and have a question for you.
We recently built a house in a nice new development in beautiful Bavaria. Unfortunately, the building plot is located on a busy main road through the town, which we admittedly underestimated beforehand.
The situation is that we have been struggling with the road noise for months (actually since the very beginning). It’s a constant up and down every day. The fact is, the traffic is sometimes so loud that it wakes us up in the morning or is even audible while watching TV. Especially trucks or motorcycles. It’s really starting to get on our nerves and is very draining mentally. Plus, we just weren’t used to this from our previous apartment. So we can’t really settle in properly. It’s wearing us down slowly but surely, and we simply don’t feel comfortable here. I’m not exaggerating when I say it’s a psychological burden over time.
The reason we chose this plot in the first place was simply due to the lack of alternatives. And we thought we wouldn’t hear the road noise. In hindsight, that was a mistake. You have to be very lucky to find something affordable in a perfect location here.
But now we are actually lucky… we were offered an affordable building plot in a completely quiet area of a new development with a great view and good infrastructure. The plot is closer to our jobs, has the same size, a reasonable price, and above all offers one thing: the prospect of absolute peace (apart from future neighbors, of course). The plot was offered to us by the local council, where we had applied years ago without success. Ironically, now that we have just built but don’t really feel at home here, we received an offer from the council.
So we are seriously considering going through the house-building adventure again and giving it another shot. This would mean financing the plot through the bank, selling our current house, and building on the new plot within the next 3 years. Apart from the renewed construction stress… we do feel somewhat uneasy, especially because of the financial risk. Although with the new house, we expect to come out significantly cheaper (we estimate €50,000–60,000 less), because the plot is easier to build on and the construction would also be less complex (for example, a gable roof instead of a hipped roof, slightly smaller exterior dimensions, etc.).
So we are facing a choice: try to accept the situation here or build new again and correct the mistake! What would you do in our place? As I said, the noise issue is wearing us down in the long run, and we don’t believe it can be permanently resolved. Has anyone had similar experiences? What pitfalls should we watch out for if we decide to go this route? How would you proceed?
I’m new here and have a question for you.
We recently built a house in a nice new development in beautiful Bavaria. Unfortunately, the building plot is located on a busy main road through the town, which we admittedly underestimated beforehand.
The situation is that we have been struggling with the road noise for months (actually since the very beginning). It’s a constant up and down every day. The fact is, the traffic is sometimes so loud that it wakes us up in the morning or is even audible while watching TV. Especially trucks or motorcycles. It’s really starting to get on our nerves and is very draining mentally. Plus, we just weren’t used to this from our previous apartment. So we can’t really settle in properly. It’s wearing us down slowly but surely, and we simply don’t feel comfortable here. I’m not exaggerating when I say it’s a psychological burden over time.
The reason we chose this plot in the first place was simply due to the lack of alternatives. And we thought we wouldn’t hear the road noise. In hindsight, that was a mistake. You have to be very lucky to find something affordable in a perfect location here.
But now we are actually lucky… we were offered an affordable building plot in a completely quiet area of a new development with a great view and good infrastructure. The plot is closer to our jobs, has the same size, a reasonable price, and above all offers one thing: the prospect of absolute peace (apart from future neighbors, of course). The plot was offered to us by the local council, where we had applied years ago without success. Ironically, now that we have just built but don’t really feel at home here, we received an offer from the council.
So we are seriously considering going through the house-building adventure again and giving it another shot. This would mean financing the plot through the bank, selling our current house, and building on the new plot within the next 3 years. Apart from the renewed construction stress… we do feel somewhat uneasy, especially because of the financial risk. Although with the new house, we expect to come out significantly cheaper (we estimate €50,000–60,000 less), because the plot is easier to build on and the construction would also be less complex (for example, a gable roof instead of a hipped roof, slightly smaller exterior dimensions, etc.).
So we are facing a choice: try to accept the situation here or build new again and correct the mistake! What would you do in our place? As I said, the noise issue is wearing us down in the long run, and we don’t believe it can be permanently resolved. Has anyone had similar experiences? What pitfalls should we watch out for if we decide to go this route? How would you proceed?
The problem arises when interest rate locks expire and extending them becomes too expensive for the borrower. Alternatively, the property value may have decreased to the point where the loan-to-value ratio is no longer manageable because the loan was repaid too slowly and over a short term, while the value simultaneously dropped.
Well, I recall the savings and loan crisis and the subsequent banking crisis in the USA from 2005 to 2008. Property prices skyrocketed, driven by low interest rates. Houses became more expensive than people’s incomes allowed. Savings banks and partly commercial banks in the USA still financed these purchases, arguing that if things got tight, they could always resell the house at a profit. When that didn’t work, loans that had been securitized and passed on burst, and these securitized assets suddenly became worthless junk. With inflated prices and excessive credit demand, this is something that can’t be ignored in some regions here as well. And the fact that people finance for 30 years and still have a remaining debt of $150,000 is, in my opinion, a ticking time bomb. Yet this is still posted here as a financing option.
It was different on the Iberian Peninsula. There, the driving force was also low interest rates. But then property developers built a massive number of apartments and condominiums beyond demand. Afterwards, these couldn’t be sold anymore, causing loans to default. In 2010, we were at the Algarve and admired the ruins: kilometers of empty, ready-to-move-in vacation properties left unsold. I don’t see that happening in Germany at the moment.
Of course, it’s all speculation. The only certainty is that economies never only go upward. Karsten
It was different on the Iberian Peninsula. There, the driving force was also low interest rates. But then property developers built a massive number of apartments and condominiums beyond demand. Afterwards, these couldn’t be sold anymore, causing loans to default. In 2010, we were at the Algarve and admired the ruins: kilometers of empty, ready-to-move-in vacation properties left unsold. I don’t see that happening in Germany at the moment.
Of course, it’s all speculation. The only certainty is that economies never only go upward. Karsten
That's how it looks. The next crisis could be triggered by defaulting car loans in the USA. More affordable properties might enter the market in 7-10 years when the first 10-year loans expire and refinancing becomes impossible due to significantly higher interest rates.
But that's off-topic now. On the subject: we're still debating... Noise protection measures are being considered, but they don't come cheap and the effectiveness is uncertain... we will see.
But that's off-topic now. On the subject: we're still debating... Noise protection measures are being considered, but they don't come cheap and the effectiveness is uncertain... we will see.