ᐅ No building plot available due to new EU local residency model?
Created on: 11 Nov 2017 21:49
H
Hanneshickel
Hello everyone,
We are a family of two who have been searching for a building plot east of Munich, about 50-70km (30-45 miles) away, near the upcoming A94 highway, for several years. We have applied multiple times to local municipalities near us for a plot under the local resident model, but each time we were rejected due to too few points or because our equity or income was too high. We have too few points because we don’t have children. Since we have been searching for a long time, we have saved around €130,000 (about $140,000) and can save about €15,000 (about $16,000) more each year. However, here you are not allowed to have more savings than the plot would cost (mostly around €150-200/sqm (about $140-190/sqft), so approximately €120,000 (about $130,000)). Also, you are not allowed to earn more than the municipal average, which as a couple is about €80,000 (about $85,000) gross. We, however, earn almost double that gross, so together we have a net income of around €6,500 (about $7,000) per month (both earn roughly the same).
Therefore, our only option is to buy a plot privately. But prices here are extremely high compared to municipal land. We are talking about €500-700/sqm (about $460-650/sqft), so quickly around €300,000 (about $320,000) just for the plot. Then I estimate construction costs of about €400,000-500,000 (about $430,000-540,000) for a 160 sqm (about 1,700 sqft) house with a basement, double garage, and a simple building shape. That means approximately €700,000-800,000 (about $750,000-860,000) in total.
We don’t feel confident financing this amount, as it would easily mean paying over €2,000 (about $2,150) per month for the next 30 years. If one of us takes time off work due to having children, then there would be too little left for living expenses. Or is it now normal to finance this much for a house? My pain threshold is currently around €1,800 (about $1,950) per month for the mortgage.
What do you think?
What other options do we have to get affordable building land?
Or should we forget about building and only look for existing houses?
Thank you and best regards,
Hannes
We are a family of two who have been searching for a building plot east of Munich, about 50-70km (30-45 miles) away, near the upcoming A94 highway, for several years. We have applied multiple times to local municipalities near us for a plot under the local resident model, but each time we were rejected due to too few points or because our equity or income was too high. We have too few points because we don’t have children. Since we have been searching for a long time, we have saved around €130,000 (about $140,000) and can save about €15,000 (about $16,000) more each year. However, here you are not allowed to have more savings than the plot would cost (mostly around €150-200/sqm (about $140-190/sqft), so approximately €120,000 (about $130,000)). Also, you are not allowed to earn more than the municipal average, which as a couple is about €80,000 (about $85,000) gross. We, however, earn almost double that gross, so together we have a net income of around €6,500 (about $7,000) per month (both earn roughly the same).
Therefore, our only option is to buy a plot privately. But prices here are extremely high compared to municipal land. We are talking about €500-700/sqm (about $460-650/sqft), so quickly around €300,000 (about $320,000) just for the plot. Then I estimate construction costs of about €400,000-500,000 (about $430,000-540,000) for a 160 sqm (about 1,700 sqft) house with a basement, double garage, and a simple building shape. That means approximately €700,000-800,000 (about $750,000-860,000) in total.
We don’t feel confident financing this amount, as it would easily mean paying over €2,000 (about $2,150) per month for the next 30 years. If one of us takes time off work due to having children, then there would be too little left for living expenses. Or is it now normal to finance this much for a house? My pain threshold is currently around €1,800 (about $1,950) per month for the mortgage.
What do you think?
What other options do we have to get affordable building land?
Or should we forget about building and only look for existing houses?
Thank you and best regards,
Hannes
Kaho, you’re actually right. But this forum attracts people who want to build their own home. And if I live or have to live in an urban area, not in paradise north of the Elbe River, I’m unlikely to get a building plot in the city center. I will have to move to the outskirts, whether it’s called Ahrensburg, Werder, or something else. So I quickly end up with more than 30 kilometers (about 19 miles). I had to go to Hamburg last week. It took me just under 60 minutes to get from here to Ahrensburg. From there to Mönkebergstrasse took almost the same amount of time again. Everything is full. That every day? Never. Karsten
Let’s stay on topic. I also see the risk of conducting business talks in the car, but that’s not really relevant here.
Okay – so you want to move closer to family for childcare. At least that’s a reasonable reason.
You have to make some compromises. For me, commuting wouldn’t work because it doesn’t fit with family life if I want to have children who would then only be seen for a few minutes or not at all during the day. But everyone has to decide that for themselves.
Still, there’s also the question of childcare, since grandparents can’t always help, and especially in rural areas, kindergartens don’t usually have long opening hours.
All important factors for making a decision...
Apparently, I’m not up to date. I only remember disputes about routes due to various nature reserves in the area – but it seems these have been resolved and the highway will be built?
In that case, you should definitely save a bit more.
Okay – so you want to move closer to family for childcare. At least that’s a reasonable reason.
You have to make some compromises. For me, commuting wouldn’t work because it doesn’t fit with family life if I want to have children who would then only be seen for a few minutes or not at all during the day. But everyone has to decide that for themselves.
Still, there’s also the question of childcare, since grandparents can’t always help, and especially in rural areas, kindergartens don’t usually have long opening hours.
All important factors for making a decision...
Apparently, I’m not up to date. I only remember disputes about routes due to various nature reserves in the area – but it seems these have been resolved and the highway will be built?
In that case, you should definitely save a bit more.
Alex85 schrieb:
Why? He is right. That’s the only way to get into the system. There are no other ways. (Well, usually there are, namely with a severe disability rating. But THEN it really gets absurd.) Is he really? Please think about what happens if having children doesn’t work out. Maybe this doesn’t happen in the rosy world some imagine, but it is a real problem for at least two couples in my circle of friends and family. And those affected are not allowed to have the desire to build a home, or it becomes even more difficult, is that how it is?
Regardless, how someone arranges their life is a private matter and far too individual to be dismissed with something like, “What are you complaining about? Just have children then” (social connections and/or responsibility: keyword caregiving for parents...). Another equally pointless piece of advice could have been: “Just earn five times as much so you can compete with the wealthy.” Also not particularly helpful. Sorry if that sounded a bit sharp, but I really find it challenging to stay calm with such overly simplified “it’s all easy, why are you making such a fuss” suggestions.
I think the intention to support young families through incentive programs is good. The question is how. Local resident models are, in my opinion, well-intentioned—but often badly implemented. I also find it quite legitimate to build first and then start a family. Why should support only apply if you already have children, and not also if planning to start a family is a key part of your life plan?
The issues with these models have already been mentioned: young families overextend themselves, or local political networks undermine the “fair” allocation... and one more thing about the points-based system: how do you support young families if children over 4 years of age result in point deductions???
Otherwise, just an impression: some here seem to be looking at this through the lens of jealousy because of decent incomes. But that’s just an impression when reading four pages of posts one after the other since last night...
A bit more on the local resident model. Quote: “The allocation of residential building plots is carried out in two rounds. For the first round by lottery, only the following applicants are admitted:
– Applicants with current or previous residence in the municipality ******** or a workplace in the municipality.
– Applicants must be adults.
– A written application is required to participate in the lottery.
– In case of multiple applications from several family members, only one application per household will be considered in the lottery.”
This was the situation in our area (Fürth/Erlangen).
Where exactly is the incentive for families here?
After four years of searching, we have gone through just about everything. From offers that were left standing for another week to push the price up through bidding processes, to quality management prices in the four-figure range per square meter.
In the end, we were lucky because in the development area that allocated plots through the local resident model (see quote), the farmer who sold the land to the municipality marketed 4 plots herself—at a roughly 150€/m² (about $15/sqft) premium compared to the municipality...
As someone who moved about 15 years ago from the Hamburg surroundings to Franconia, with a wife who is Franconian but not from that specific municipality, and living in a community of about 3,000 people mostly focused on agriculture, can an expert here please explain how one is supposed to get a plot to start a family?
One observation (for the one asking): there is also a very overheated market for land in the Nuremberg/Fürth/Erlangen area. You hardly find reasonable offers, yet building is happening as if there were no tomorrow, and some plots in new development areas are still undeveloped... a lot of land is sold under the table through contacts in clubs, volunteer fire brigades, etc. Either be present there more actively (which could be difficult), or find the owners of free plots and contact them personally, repeatedly follow up with the municipalities, or post wanted ads on local supermarket bulletin boards. Especially in rural areas, many plots still belong to older people who have little to do with real estate portals, or b) can be genuinely impressed by a handwritten, friendly letter and that way you stay memorable...
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