ᐅ Questions, Questions: Beginner Seeks Initial Guidance on Building a House

Hello dear community,

My name is Ralf, I am 39 years old, married, have a 3-year-old son, rent my home, and am a complete beginner when it comes to the topic of home ownership.

I have a number of questions and hope to receive help, advice, and suggestions in this forum. I would like to thank you in advance for your support.

The current situation:

My family and I are renting. My wife’s family owns a plot of land where both a single-family house and a multi-family house are located. What I understand is that both are in the same property register section but have different numbers.

My wife’s grandmother lives in the single-family house. My wife’s mother, her aunt, and uncle live in the multi-family house. Since the grandmother is quite old, she will move in with her mother, and we can take over the old building.

In the land register, my mother-in-law is listed as the owner, while according to a notarized contract, my wife’s grandmother has a lifelong right of residence for the old building (single-family house).

I would like to demolish the house and build a new one.

What would be the first steps?

I think the ownership of the land and house would first need to be transferred. Gift? Purchase? The goal is for both my wife and me to be registered as owners in the land register. What would you recommend and why? I would like to pay as little tax as possible (gift tax vs. property transfer tax). Also, according to a new contract, the grandmother should no longer have a right of residence.

My mother-in-law has a very old map showing the property parcels and numbers. Where can I get an up-to-date map? From the land registry office? Does it cost anything? How do I go about this?

Then the next fundamental question: once ownership has been transferred, should I hire an architect for demolition and new construction, or should I contact a large home builder company (for example, DFH Haus, as they are local in my region)?

My background is in business administration. I feel confident assessing financing and related issues, but not the other topics.

I would be very grateful if someone could outline a rough roadmap for me here. I am happy to answer any further questions at any time.

Thank you very much.

Best regards,
Ralf

A lifelong right of residence means lifelong. Even if you purchase the old house, you also acquire your grandmother along with it. That’s how it is. Your mother-in-law can gift something to her daughter, but not to you, with significant tax exemptions. I believe the exemption is 400,000. Check with the tax office if you’re unsure. However, you wouldn’t legally own anything. Your wife could later gift you something… I think the tax-free allowance was 500,000.

An alternative is a low-cost purchase. This keeps the property transfer tax low. Any equalization of value can be handled informally through cash payment. But I think gifting is the best approach, whether you then decide to gift something to her parents is another matter.

If the entire area is still one parcel, first divide the parcel into two separate plots and properties: one for the single-family house and one for the multi-family house. Then transfer the single-family house to your wife, deleting the residential right (possibly with compensation payment, since otherwise it might be considered a gift and the social welfare office could claim money from you if the grandmother has to go to a nursing home and no funds are left). After that, complete the matrimonial property transfer of a share from your wife to you.

Plan: Land registry office and land register excerpt at the land registry court

Ralf_1980 schrieb:
What would be the first steps?

The first step would be to check with the building permit authority whether rebuilding is even allowed after demolition and, if so, under what conditions (development plan, other local regulations, building footprint, location, number of floors, height, infrastructure, parking spaces).

Ralf_1980 schrieb:
Where can I get a current plan?

That depends on the purpose. For preliminary planning, an extract from the geoportal.rlp.de -> basic cadastral map is sufficient. This is free of charge.

Ralf_1980 schrieb:
From the land registry office?

That works too, but it costs a fee and is necessary anyway for the building application. You can pick it up in person or order it online from the State Office for Surveying and Geoinformation.

Ralf_1980 schrieb:
My mother-in-law has a very old plan

Let me see it.