ᐅ Stay here (and build) or move away (and build/buy elsewhere)
Created on: 21 Mar 2022 01:47
H
Hitokiri-1978
Hello everyone,
I don’t even know where to begin. There is an older thread, but since links are considered taboo, you’ll have to search for it yourselves if you’re interested. In short, since 2018!!! we have been aware of two new residential development areas in our town, with plots allocated based on a scoring system. And as it stands, we are currently ranked 52-55 (four others have the same score and would then be drawn by lot on the allocation day) out of a maximum of 59. I don’t want to blame the municipality here for leaving four years to pass without reason, ignoring two official land value assessments amid an exploding price level, and so on. Then came Corona, now “Crazy Ivan,” no more KfW funding, skyrocketing construction costs for prefab houses, rising interest rates, and generally increasing prices. In short… it’s totally insane to build now! But... who says it won’t be even worse in three years?
Additionally, we simply want to move to a bigger place (second child), and rental apartments in the Munich suburbs are outrageously expensive. For retirement, we want to have a certain amount of value as assets.
In general, about €30,000 (approximately $32,000) would come as a gift from our families, about €60,000 (around $64,000) as an interest-free loan from various wealthy Swiss relatives, and €10,000 (around $10,700) from us as equity. We already have a financial advisor who calculated everything, and a mortgage would be possible with a monthly payment of €1,770 (around $1,880). Everything would be tight, though: gym membership canceled, no spontaneous dining out, no spontaneous activities... best if I cook lunch at home.
So… soon (unless someone files another lawsuit) the plots will be allocated. By then, we need to decide if we want to stay here in the familiar neighborhood (with all its advantages, like close proximity to the in-laws) and manage the estimated €750,000 to €850,000 (about $800,000 to $900,000)—€350,000 ($375,000) for the land and the rest for the house—without getting overwhelmed. (Net income is about €4,400 ($4,670), with €2,700 ($2,865) fixed expenses and living costs.) Alternatively, we have considered moving away from Bavaria. The Upper Franconian provinces near the Czech border are significantly cheaper for used properties, ranging roughly from €200,000 to €500,000 ($215,000 to $530,000), and we would have a lot more room and money for living there.
We have already crossed out the plots that are definitely not an option for us. Oh, and half of them are for sale, the others are assigned as leases with all their possibilities but also many problems!
It’s a painful, nagging question whether it’s better to stay here and hope for an increase in value (plus living close to the parents), make use of leasehold rights and slowly lose value, or move somewhere else entirely where prices are reportedly much lower according to Immo24. Also, my wife is assuming the current situation will continue, while I am hoping to finally get a better paying job within the next one to two years.
Clearly, we don’t want to leave, but the price level is just so insane that we have to ask ourselves if it’s really worth it anymore. This whole situation just causes headaches, with the feeling that we have to choose between bad and worse.
I don’t even know where to begin. There is an older thread, but since links are considered taboo, you’ll have to search for it yourselves if you’re interested. In short, since 2018!!! we have been aware of two new residential development areas in our town, with plots allocated based on a scoring system. And as it stands, we are currently ranked 52-55 (four others have the same score and would then be drawn by lot on the allocation day) out of a maximum of 59. I don’t want to blame the municipality here for leaving four years to pass without reason, ignoring two official land value assessments amid an exploding price level, and so on. Then came Corona, now “Crazy Ivan,” no more KfW funding, skyrocketing construction costs for prefab houses, rising interest rates, and generally increasing prices. In short… it’s totally insane to build now! But... who says it won’t be even worse in three years?
Additionally, we simply want to move to a bigger place (second child), and rental apartments in the Munich suburbs are outrageously expensive. For retirement, we want to have a certain amount of value as assets.
In general, about €30,000 (approximately $32,000) would come as a gift from our families, about €60,000 (around $64,000) as an interest-free loan from various wealthy Swiss relatives, and €10,000 (around $10,700) from us as equity. We already have a financial advisor who calculated everything, and a mortgage would be possible with a monthly payment of €1,770 (around $1,880). Everything would be tight, though: gym membership canceled, no spontaneous dining out, no spontaneous activities... best if I cook lunch at home.
So… soon (unless someone files another lawsuit) the plots will be allocated. By then, we need to decide if we want to stay here in the familiar neighborhood (with all its advantages, like close proximity to the in-laws) and manage the estimated €750,000 to €850,000 (about $800,000 to $900,000)—€350,000 ($375,000) for the land and the rest for the house—without getting overwhelmed. (Net income is about €4,400 ($4,670), with €2,700 ($2,865) fixed expenses and living costs.) Alternatively, we have considered moving away from Bavaria. The Upper Franconian provinces near the Czech border are significantly cheaper for used properties, ranging roughly from €200,000 to €500,000 ($215,000 to $530,000), and we would have a lot more room and money for living there.
We have already crossed out the plots that are definitely not an option for us. Oh, and half of them are for sale, the others are assigned as leases with all their possibilities but also many problems!
It’s a painful, nagging question whether it’s better to stay here and hope for an increase in value (plus living close to the parents), make use of leasehold rights and slowly lose value, or move somewhere else entirely where prices are reportedly much lower according to Immo24. Also, my wife is assuming the current situation will continue, while I am hoping to finally get a better paying job within the next one to two years.
Clearly, we don’t want to leave, but the price level is just so insane that we have to ask ourselves if it’s really worth it anymore. This whole situation just causes headaches, with the feeling that we have to choose between bad and worse.
W
WilderSueden21 Mar 2022 13:09Please don’t expect any leniency regarding the equity. I specifically found the old thread, and there was already little flexibility back then. At that time, it was still 30,000-40,000 euros. Apparently, the much better-paid job didn’t materialize either.
We made the decision 20 years ago to move out of the greater Munich area. Back then, land prices here were still around 100 euros per square meter (approximately 9 USD per square foot), and construction costs were about 1000 euros per square meter (approximately 93 USD per square foot) of living space. However, we are still within a one-hour drive of Munich.
DennisW schrieb:
I don’t think we’ll see them again anytime soon.
The profile is no longer accessible. It was already like that this morning. Some people basically lock everything down… 🙄
SumsumBiene21 Mar 2022 21:14Maybe he needs some time to heal first.
I’ve been there too....
I’ve been there too....