ᐅ Procedure and Planning for Plot of Land and Single-Family Home in the MTK Region
Created on: 24 Aug 2019 11:28
D
der_puffi
Hello dear community,
My wife and I (both around 30 years old) would like to make our dream of building a single-family home come true. The area of choice (due to its proximity to our workplaces) is the Main-Taunus district, right in the heart of the Frankfurt-Wiesbaden-Mainz region.
After several appointments with different prefab home providers at model home parks, we are somewhat frustrated with the sales approach. Nevertheless, based on various offers, we have had our financing capacity calculated. According to this, we could finance around €500,000 (including €60,000 of equity, of which we could use €40,000).
One of our challenges is, of course, that besides the house, we also need a plot of land in the area. Most of the prefab home providers we met with (the discussion always involved house + land) wanted us to sign a "reservation agreement" before we were even allowed to visit the plot. So far, we have clearly decided not to sign such a contract. The offer price for a 125m² (1,345 sq ft) KFW55 single-family home was about €260,000 plus additional construction costs and special features (including electric shutters).
Now we are wondering what other options there are to realize our dream. As mentioned, we are looking for not only the house itself but also a plot of land. Paying for the land outright from our own funds seems impossible in this area. Therefore, we need a "package deal" that includes both the land and the house, which so far we have only found with the mentioned prefab home providers (where again, we are not allowed to inspect the land without signing that agreement). We are also aware that our conditions (single-family home, land in MTK, only a €500,000 budget) represent a big challenge. Since we are both not professionals in this field, we are grateful for any tips or comments.
Many thanks in advance!
My wife and I (both around 30 years old) would like to make our dream of building a single-family home come true. The area of choice (due to its proximity to our workplaces) is the Main-Taunus district, right in the heart of the Frankfurt-Wiesbaden-Mainz region.
After several appointments with different prefab home providers at model home parks, we are somewhat frustrated with the sales approach. Nevertheless, based on various offers, we have had our financing capacity calculated. According to this, we could finance around €500,000 (including €60,000 of equity, of which we could use €40,000).
One of our challenges is, of course, that besides the house, we also need a plot of land in the area. Most of the prefab home providers we met with (the discussion always involved house + land) wanted us to sign a "reservation agreement" before we were even allowed to visit the plot. So far, we have clearly decided not to sign such a contract. The offer price for a 125m² (1,345 sq ft) KFW55 single-family home was about €260,000 plus additional construction costs and special features (including electric shutters).
Now we are wondering what other options there are to realize our dream. As mentioned, we are looking for not only the house itself but also a plot of land. Paying for the land outright from our own funds seems impossible in this area. Therefore, we need a "package deal" that includes both the land and the house, which so far we have only found with the mentioned prefab home providers (where again, we are not allowed to inspect the land without signing that agreement). We are also aware that our conditions (single-family home, land in MTK, only a €500,000 budget) represent a big challenge. Since we are both not professionals in this field, we are grateful for any tips or comments.
Many thanks in advance!
der_puffi schrieb:
The providers work with real estate agents (so they are not directly affiliated with the provider), who can then choose from a currently available "pool" of plots. There are no real estate agents involved. a) You can’t make a living from that, and b) plots are not produced on an assembly line. There is also no gray market or any dealer exchange or network.
For example:
If there is a new housing development, all prospective homeowners get eager and "reserve" some plots. This typically looks like this: you approach a company, and they refer you to such a plot. The catch is that they all refer to the same plots. Once you have signed, they say: “There are two available here.” However, family y has already reserved those two plots directly with the municipality two weeks earlier. Family y is happy to build without any building obligation, while you’re stuck with your housing contract and possibly a second plot that is poorly located, struggling either to fulfill the contract or to exit with a penalty.
Companies like Heinz von Heiden and Viebrockhaus were still advertising our plots from the new development on Immonet and IS24, even though everything was already gone.
der_puffi schrieb:
Accordingly, I would focus more on municipalities/local offers in the future. Unfortunately, we don’t know anyone who also wants to build there. You approach people there directly.
der_puffi schrieb:
Thanks for the example calculation. Our initial estimate was quite similar. Painting and flooring were already included in the offer. We had about 315,000€ for the house including special features and landscaping/parking space. We estimated ancillary building costs at 30,000€, resulting in about 155,000€ for the plot including additional purchase costs. You should read up a bit here in the forum. For example, there is the “Building Costs” subforum, which contains a lot of information on realistic costs as well as the necessary budget buffer.
D
der_puffi24 Aug 2019 15:42ypg schrieb:
There are no real estate agents for land. For one, you can’t make a living from that, and second, plots are not produced on an assembly line. There is also no gray market or other kind of dealer network.
For example:
If there is a new development area, all home builders get excited and “reserve” some plots. What happens is that you go to a company, and they all point you to the same plots. The catch is everyone points to these plots. Once you have signed, they say, “here are two available.” But family Y already reserved these two directly with the municipality two weeks earlier. Family Y is happy to build without binding themselves to a contractor, while you are stuck with your house contract and possibly a second plot that is really badly located, struggling to fulfill the contract—or to get out of it with a penalty.
Heinz von Heiden and Viebrockhaus were still advertising with our plots in the new development area on Immonet and IS24, even though everything was already gone. Thanks for the info. I find it crazy what salespeople tell you, or rather that this is even allowed.
Back to my previous question... How does financing work if I arrange the land myself? Do I have to pay for the plot directly out of pocket, or is there still a way to finance it together with the house construction?
ypg schrieb:
You should spend some time reading in the forum. For example, there is a subforum on construction costs, where you can find a lot of information about realistic expenses as well as the necessary buffer. Thanks again for the tip. I’m new to the forum and will take a closer look at what information is available here about construction costs.
der_puffi schrieb:
Most of the prefabricated house providers we had appointments with (the discussion always involved both the house and the plot of land) wanted us to sign a "conditional agreement" before we were even allowed to view the property. ypg schrieb:
They don’t have any. And if they do, it’s only reserved or acting as a broker. “They don’t have any” – I completely agree with that. Regarding that dubious contractual setup, I hope their crafty lawyer is prepared, because the law, to say the least, does not recognize a broker for a contact to another broker.
der_puffi schrieb:
In addition to the “standard” contracts, there are attachments that allow a free cancellation if a suitable plot cannot be found. And this condition is vague enough that practically any replacement plot would be considered sufficient.
der_puffi schrieb:
One of our challenges, however, is that alongside the house, we also need a plot of land in the area. In the following posts (which sometimes include additional links), the topic of such questionable construction contract and land bundles is also discussed, and I have presented alternative ways to successfully find land: https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/Grundstück-erst-nach-vertrag-beim-Bauträger.30401/page-2#post-311916 - https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/wie-lange-habt-ihr-bis-zum-Bau-Entschluss-gebraucht.29507/page-4#post-295144 - https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/einheimischenmodell-ist-das-noch-rechtens.27876/page-17#post-323804 – and if a young pre-owned home is also acceptable, contacts with divorce lawyers can be useful.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
I think it’s great that you’ve signed up here. I believe it was your last chance before you might have fallen for some dubious schemes. In my opinion, the hardest part of building a house is finding the perfect plot of land.
We found ours by driving out every Saturday and Sunday to visit villages we liked. There, we looked directly for land that appeared abandoned or had ruins on it, and so on.
The usual route is probably through the local authorities, registering and hoping for the best.
First, find your land. At the same time, go to the bank and get advice on what you can actually afford. Once you have found the plot, you can still arrange financing for both the house and the land. However, for tax reasons, it’s usually better to purchase them separately.
We found ours by driving out every Saturday and Sunday to visit villages we liked. There, we looked directly for land that appeared abandoned or had ruins on it, and so on.
The usual route is probably through the local authorities, registering and hoping for the best.
First, find your land. At the same time, go to the bank and get advice on what you can actually afford. Once you have found the plot, you can still arrange financing for both the house and the land. However, for tax reasons, it’s usually better to purchase them separately.
I’m surprised that you are still so enthusiastic and positive about the building project.
If you have been regularly searching property portals for land, you should know that plots in your area are extremely expensive and that you are not the only ones wanting to build.
I entered the central location of your area with a generous search radius and found only about 2 out of approximately 70 plots that are designated as building land and cost less than 150,000.
Since some of us have been members of this forum for a while, we are familiar with this issue and suggest considering an existing property or a small terraced house given your budget.
Regarding your financing question: if you do manage to find an affordable plot, it’s possible to arrange bridging finance.
Most people here have more own funds available and can pay in cash. Others resort to plan B: buying an existing property or a developer-built house.
If you have been regularly searching property portals for land, you should know that plots in your area are extremely expensive and that you are not the only ones wanting to build.
I entered the central location of your area with a generous search radius and found only about 2 out of approximately 70 plots that are designated as building land and cost less than 150,000.
Since some of us have been members of this forum for a while, we are familiar with this issue and suggest considering an existing property or a small terraced house given your budget.
Regarding your financing question: if you do manage to find an affordable plot, it’s possible to arrange bridging finance.
Most people here have more own funds available and can pay in cash. Others resort to plan B: buying an existing property or a developer-built house.
D
der_puffi24 Aug 2019 17:3911ant schrieb:
And that condition is vague enough that practically any replacement plot qualifies. Exactly. That was also the point when we realized something wasn’t right here (including the “I can give you an exceptional special discount if you sign within the next 2 weeks” tactic).
11ant schrieb:
The following posts (some contain additional links) also deal with such shady building contract-land bundles, and I have outlined alternative approaches to successfully finding land: https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/Grundstück-erst-nach-vertrag-beim-Bauträger.30401/page-2#post-311916 - https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/wie-lange-habt-ihr-bis-zum-Bau-Entschluss-gebraucht.29507/page-4#post-295144 - https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/einheimischenmodell-ist-das-noch-rechtens.27876/page-17#post-323804 – and if a recently used property is also an option, contacts with family lawyers can be useful Thank you for the references to the other threads, I’ll also take a close look at them soon!
kaho674 schrieb:
I think it’s great that you registered here. I believe it was your last chance before you might have fallen for some dubious schemes. In my opinion, the hardest part of building a house is finding the dream plot. As mentioned before, we also sensed that something was “off” about the whole situation. Are there any reputable providers in those model home parks with sales agents? That doesn’t exactly inspire confidence when it comes to building a house...
kaho674 schrieb:
We found ours by driving out every Saturday and Sunday, visiting villages we liked. There we looked directly for land that appeared abandoned or had ruins on it, and so on.
The usual way is probably through the local authorities. Register and hope.
First find your land. At the same time, go to the bank for advice on what you can realistically afford. Once the plot is found, you can start arranging financing for the house and land. But for tax reasons, it’s better to buy them separately. Okay, thanks for the tip. We have roughly discussed with several mortgage advisors what kind of budget we can afford. In the end, it was about 500,000€ (approximately $540,000) with good terms for our needs and a monthly payment that we can manage.
ypg schrieb:
I’m surprised that you’re still so enthusiastic and positive about the building project.
If you regularly searched the portals for plots, you should know that they’re extremely expensive in your area and you’re not the only ones wanting to build.
I entered the center of your location with a generous search radius and found only 2 out of about 70 plots were building land and under 150,000€.
Since some of us have been here longer, we know the problem and with that budget recommend an existing property or a small terraced house.
Regarding your financing question: if you do find an affordable plot, you can arrange bridge financing.
Most here have more equity and can pay cash. The others go for plan B: buy an existing house or a builder’s home. Well, we were only “enthusiastic” at the very beginning. We soon realized that with our budget and preferred location, we’ve taken on a big challenge (which is somewhat depressing as two “average earners” without children or prior debts). I’m always grateful for realistic assessments. The sales agents only ever say “it’s all no problem.” I’ll take a closer look at the bridge financing as well. We’d also like to have more equity available… but reality is different. If it’s not feasible within these conditions, we’ll have to adjust some parameters, like location, or look at the alternatives you mentioned. A rental property is also an option for us. But so far, we haven’t been able to make any really reliable decisions because we’re simply not informed enough yet.