Hello everyone,
My wife and I are currently considering whether we should look into buying property.
Family Situation
We are in our early to mid-30s, and my wife is four months pregnant. This will be our first child, but we plan to have another one in the future.
Financial Situation
We can expect a monthly income of about 4,500 € (approximately $4,800) over the next few years. However, there is no Christmas bonus or similar additional income.
We have about 60,000 € (about $64,000) in equity overall, but it is not entirely liquid, and we do not necessarily want to invest all of it in real estate.
Currently, around 12,000 € (about $13,000) is saved in a life insurance policy maturing in three years. 30,000 € (about $32,000) is invested in securities and funds, which we don’t want to fully liquidate. 13,000 € (about $14,000) is in a home savings contract, and 5,000 € (about $5,300) is in a savings account. In addition, we have some emergency funds set aside for car expenses, vacations, etc.
Current Living Situation
We rent an 80 m2 (860 sq ft) apartment in the Ruhr area, which is very affordable. We could imagine staying here for a transitional period with the baby (maybe up to one year). The only thing we really miss here is a garden. We do have a small balcony, but it only faces east.
Considerations Regarding Future Living Situation
Over the past few months, we have considered various options and then dismissed some. Ideally, we would like to build a nice single-family house. However, after doing some research here on the forum, I’ve come to the conclusion that for our dream house plus land, we would need to budget about 600,000 € to 700,000 € (around $640,000 to $750,000), which neither we can finance nor want to commit to.
After ruling out ownership of a single-family home for now, we started looking at apartments. If we were to move into a new apartment, we would definitely want enough space for two children. Depending on location, size, and features, the rent would likely be between 1,000 € and 1,500 € (about $1,070 to $1,600).
As a comparison, I calculated that with a rent of 1,500 € per month, we could alternatively finance about 300,000 € (around $320,000) over 20 to 25 years and then looked again at houses. However, in that price range, I couldn’t really find any suitable existing properties.
Deutsche Reihenhaus AG
While searching real estate portals, I came across projects by Deutsche Reihenhaus AG in Duisburg and Bottrop and found the concept very interesting.
With a base price of 220,000 € to 250,000 € (about $235,000 to $270,000), I submitted an inquiry. Adding options worth 30,000 € to 40,000 € (about $32,000 to $43,000), estimated 30,000 € to 40,000 € for interior work on walls and floors (materials and labor), plus around 30,000 € (about $32,000) in purchase-related costs, the total comes to approximately 320,000 € to 350,000 € (about $340,000 to $375,000) for a 140 m2 (1,500 sq ft) house.
The houses are quite basic in their standard equipment, and the project locations do not seem ideal. Features like underfloor heating, central ventilation, and smart home systems—things we would have in our dream house—are not available here. The wall structure also appears to make later modifications to wiring difficult. On the other hand, most reviews I found were positive, and the overall concept seems solid.
Our current idea is whether it might be worthwhile to invest in a townhouse instead of paying high rent. Depending on how we like it and how our finances evolve, we could still consider building our dream house in about 10 years and then rent out or sell the townhouse.
Disadvantages of Deutsche Reihenhaus AG From Our Perspective
• Ownership is divided according to condominium law (Wohnungseigentumsgesetz), so no independent decisions about the house are possible
• Small plot of land and very close to neighbors
• Risk of having difficult co-owners
• No underfloor heating, no central ventilation, no electric roller shutters
• Location of current projects is okay, but not ideal
• Only basic standard
• Limited influence on design
Advantages of Deutsche Reihenhaus AG From Our Perspective
• Affordable, making it possible for us to become homeowners
• No rent to pay for an apartment
• We liked the floor plan of the 145 m2 (about 1,560 sq ft) house
• Less risk and effort compared to building a house ourselves
• Better energy efficiency compared to older properties and rental apartments
• Very likely many other young families with children in the neighborhood
• Small private garden with low maintenance but enough space for grilling, sitting, and playing
• Much of the management runs through the homeowners’ association and administration, so less personal effort is required
In our opinion, the advantages clearly outweigh the disadvantages at this point, but we are still quite uncertain.
Questions
1. Are our assumptions and calculations correct, especially regarding interior finishing costs? Have I overlooked any costs?
2. Can you think of any other advantages or disadvantages?
3. Do you see a reasonable alternative to buy an equivalent house with at least 140 m2 (1,500 sq ft) for a maximum of 350,000 € (about $375,000) in the Ruhr area?
4. Do you have any experience with Deutsche Reihenhaus AG? Despite many projects, I have found surprisingly few reviews.
5. Do you know of any interesting alternative projects in the Ruhr area?
My wife and I are currently considering whether we should look into buying property.
Family Situation
We are in our early to mid-30s, and my wife is four months pregnant. This will be our first child, but we plan to have another one in the future.
Financial Situation
We can expect a monthly income of about 4,500 € (approximately $4,800) over the next few years. However, there is no Christmas bonus or similar additional income.
We have about 60,000 € (about $64,000) in equity overall, but it is not entirely liquid, and we do not necessarily want to invest all of it in real estate.
Currently, around 12,000 € (about $13,000) is saved in a life insurance policy maturing in three years. 30,000 € (about $32,000) is invested in securities and funds, which we don’t want to fully liquidate. 13,000 € (about $14,000) is in a home savings contract, and 5,000 € (about $5,300) is in a savings account. In addition, we have some emergency funds set aside for car expenses, vacations, etc.
Current Living Situation
We rent an 80 m2 (860 sq ft) apartment in the Ruhr area, which is very affordable. We could imagine staying here for a transitional period with the baby (maybe up to one year). The only thing we really miss here is a garden. We do have a small balcony, but it only faces east.
Considerations Regarding Future Living Situation
Over the past few months, we have considered various options and then dismissed some. Ideally, we would like to build a nice single-family house. However, after doing some research here on the forum, I’ve come to the conclusion that for our dream house plus land, we would need to budget about 600,000 € to 700,000 € (around $640,000 to $750,000), which neither we can finance nor want to commit to.
After ruling out ownership of a single-family home for now, we started looking at apartments. If we were to move into a new apartment, we would definitely want enough space for two children. Depending on location, size, and features, the rent would likely be between 1,000 € and 1,500 € (about $1,070 to $1,600).
As a comparison, I calculated that with a rent of 1,500 € per month, we could alternatively finance about 300,000 € (around $320,000) over 20 to 25 years and then looked again at houses. However, in that price range, I couldn’t really find any suitable existing properties.
Deutsche Reihenhaus AG
While searching real estate portals, I came across projects by Deutsche Reihenhaus AG in Duisburg and Bottrop and found the concept very interesting.
With a base price of 220,000 € to 250,000 € (about $235,000 to $270,000), I submitted an inquiry. Adding options worth 30,000 € to 40,000 € (about $32,000 to $43,000), estimated 30,000 € to 40,000 € for interior work on walls and floors (materials and labor), plus around 30,000 € (about $32,000) in purchase-related costs, the total comes to approximately 320,000 € to 350,000 € (about $340,000 to $375,000) for a 140 m2 (1,500 sq ft) house.
The houses are quite basic in their standard equipment, and the project locations do not seem ideal. Features like underfloor heating, central ventilation, and smart home systems—things we would have in our dream house—are not available here. The wall structure also appears to make later modifications to wiring difficult. On the other hand, most reviews I found were positive, and the overall concept seems solid.
Our current idea is whether it might be worthwhile to invest in a townhouse instead of paying high rent. Depending on how we like it and how our finances evolve, we could still consider building our dream house in about 10 years and then rent out or sell the townhouse.
Disadvantages of Deutsche Reihenhaus AG From Our Perspective
• Ownership is divided according to condominium law (Wohnungseigentumsgesetz), so no independent decisions about the house are possible
• Small plot of land and very close to neighbors
• Risk of having difficult co-owners
• No underfloor heating, no central ventilation, no electric roller shutters
• Location of current projects is okay, but not ideal
• Only basic standard
• Limited influence on design
Advantages of Deutsche Reihenhaus AG From Our Perspective
• Affordable, making it possible for us to become homeowners
• No rent to pay for an apartment
• We liked the floor plan of the 145 m2 (about 1,560 sq ft) house
• Less risk and effort compared to building a house ourselves
• Better energy efficiency compared to older properties and rental apartments
• Very likely many other young families with children in the neighborhood
• Small private garden with low maintenance but enough space for grilling, sitting, and playing
• Much of the management runs through the homeowners’ association and administration, so less personal effort is required
In our opinion, the advantages clearly outweigh the disadvantages at this point, but we are still quite uncertain.
Questions
1. Are our assumptions and calculations correct, especially regarding interior finishing costs? Have I overlooked any costs?
2. Can you think of any other advantages or disadvantages?
3. Do you see a reasonable alternative to buy an equivalent house with at least 140 m2 (1,500 sq ft) for a maximum of 350,000 € (about $375,000) in the Ruhr area?
4. Do you have any experience with Deutsche Reihenhaus AG? Despite many projects, I have found surprisingly few reviews.
5. Do you know of any interesting alternative projects in the Ruhr area?
HbMathias schrieb:
I thought the same—if they build the same houses hundreds of times across Germany, neither the company nor the buyers have likely had very bad experiences with them.
In the next few weeks, we plan to visit the model home in Cologne and, if we like it, also check out the projects under construction and the completed neighborhoods. Hello HbMathias,
Have you actually decided on a house from Deutsche Reihenhaus?
We are also in the process of deciding—actually, we have pretty much made up our minds... but I’m interested in the smart home aspect. Have you already looked into that?
Best regards,
Adrian