Hello everyone,
So far, I haven’t been able to contribute much to this forum, as I was a quiet reader for a long time, gathering some initial, basic knowledge.
Now, I would like to share our house-building adventure with you.
Here is a chronological overview of how we got involved in this project.
In spring last year, we needed more space due to our family growing. Our son was born, and suddenly the 2-room apartment with 64 m² (690 sq ft), contrary to our expectations, was no longer enough. So, we spent weeks going through real estate listings, searching to rent 4-room apartments, terraced houses (row houses), semi-detached, and detached houses.
Our requirements were about 90 m² (970 sq ft), less than 10 years old, and total rent (including utilities) up to around 1,000 €. With these expectations, we had little success, so we had to consider alternative options. The rental properties interesting to us started at 1,200 € total, but mostly the rent including utilities was upwards of 1,400 €, mostly terraced houses and semi-detached houses.
Then my parents-in-law mentioned that the same amount could also be used to pay off a house. That idea initially seemed surreal to us. Since we had just become parents and I had taken on a new job with significantly more responsibility 7 months earlier, we wanted to postpone taking on further responsibilities for a while.
But the longer we searched, the more frustrated we became. So, we started looking at existing properties for sale. Here, too, interesting options had price tags that my grandfather would have been shocked by, saying: “That used to be 1 million marks!”
Then my parents-in-law heard about a new development area that was about to be developed and passed on a contact from their network. This person was well connected with a decision-maker in the local government, so we quickly arranged a meeting with the mayor and had an initial informal discussion about the area and our situation.
I came out of that meeting feeling completely overwhelmed. I had never read a development plan before in my life and couldn’t understand 90% of the technical terms. At least I could remember the approximate purchase price. He gave me a copy of the development plan.
At that point, I knew I couldn’t evaluate something like this without professional advice. So, we arranged a meeting with a general contractor. The discussion quickly showed what might be possible, and ultimately we were shown that for a price of about 350,000 € we could get a fully finished house including the land.
That certainly made an impression. Suddenly, everyone we knew encouraged us to build this house and become homeowners.
At that point, I decided to research more thoroughly, since I don’t even buy a vacuum cleaner without reading up on it.
The more knowledge I gained, the more skeptical I became that the project would actually work out. We are very demanding with our purchases, and nothing annoys us more than an investment that turns out to be a mistake.
Coincidentally, my wife came across an ad on a classifieds site offering new apartments for rent. A 4-room apartment, terrace, and 2 bathrooms for 950 € total.
Three days later, we signed the rental contract, and the house-building topic was finished.
After moving into the new rental apartment last summer, our desire for another child reemerged. We had always planned on two children but with a gap of about 4-5 years. We then abandoned this plan and “got to work.”
By autumn, we knew baby number two was on the way. At the beginning of this year, it became clear to us that our apartment would probably be too small, as I need a home office. The simplest solution seemed to be renting a workspace in an office. But as I later found out, this is not really available here. Since I didn’t want to start a company, we had to find alternatives.
So, the plan to build a house got reactivated. We told friends and acquaintances that we were looking for a building plot. Unfortunately, building plots in the areas suitable for us are scarce. Occasionally, we found offers on classifieds and similar platforms, which for various reasons were not suitable. Some of these can be read in my earlier posts.
We registered on all local municipality waiting lists for new development areas, and I was really active in the search. Unfortunately, without success. I also heard more and more from others that they had been looking for building plots for several years. At that point, we had only been active for 3 months. This could get interesting. Since patience is not my strong suit, I started to lose hope. This will never work!
And then the phone rang yesterday. On the other end was the mayor of the municipality where we had the initial meeting at the beginning of the story. We had completely forgotten that meeting, as we assumed all plots there were already assigned!
He told us we could take a non-binding look at the last free plot. He expected that the current interested buyer would withdraw for various reasons and that we would then be next on the list.
Completely stunned, I asked him to send the plans and prices again, and we arranged to meet next Monday for further information.
Then this morning the phone rang again. It was the mayor who informed me that the interested buyer had indeed withdrawn!
So we viewed the plot today and were able to secure it!
Contracts are to be signed by July, and construction could theoretically start in August, as the area will only be fully developed then.
Our adventure is starting now!
Attached are excerpts from the development plan and the drawing of the plot. The plot is number 3.
We will enjoy the weekend first and then take a closer look at different house types and start searching for architects in the area.
This thread is intended to allow interested readers to virtually follow our house-building journey. At the same time, I will most likely have many questions and hope for helpful answers and lively exchanges.
Now I’ll stop writing and wish everyone a pleasant and healthy weekend!
So far, I haven’t been able to contribute much to this forum, as I was a quiet reader for a long time, gathering some initial, basic knowledge.
Now, I would like to share our house-building adventure with you.
Here is a chronological overview of how we got involved in this project.
In spring last year, we needed more space due to our family growing. Our son was born, and suddenly the 2-room apartment with 64 m² (690 sq ft), contrary to our expectations, was no longer enough. So, we spent weeks going through real estate listings, searching to rent 4-room apartments, terraced houses (row houses), semi-detached, and detached houses.
Our requirements were about 90 m² (970 sq ft), less than 10 years old, and total rent (including utilities) up to around 1,000 €. With these expectations, we had little success, so we had to consider alternative options. The rental properties interesting to us started at 1,200 € total, but mostly the rent including utilities was upwards of 1,400 €, mostly terraced houses and semi-detached houses.
Then my parents-in-law mentioned that the same amount could also be used to pay off a house. That idea initially seemed surreal to us. Since we had just become parents and I had taken on a new job with significantly more responsibility 7 months earlier, we wanted to postpone taking on further responsibilities for a while.
But the longer we searched, the more frustrated we became. So, we started looking at existing properties for sale. Here, too, interesting options had price tags that my grandfather would have been shocked by, saying: “That used to be 1 million marks!”
Then my parents-in-law heard about a new development area that was about to be developed and passed on a contact from their network. This person was well connected with a decision-maker in the local government, so we quickly arranged a meeting with the mayor and had an initial informal discussion about the area and our situation.
I came out of that meeting feeling completely overwhelmed. I had never read a development plan before in my life and couldn’t understand 90% of the technical terms. At least I could remember the approximate purchase price. He gave me a copy of the development plan.
At that point, I knew I couldn’t evaluate something like this without professional advice. So, we arranged a meeting with a general contractor. The discussion quickly showed what might be possible, and ultimately we were shown that for a price of about 350,000 € we could get a fully finished house including the land.
That certainly made an impression. Suddenly, everyone we knew encouraged us to build this house and become homeowners.
At that point, I decided to research more thoroughly, since I don’t even buy a vacuum cleaner without reading up on it.
The more knowledge I gained, the more skeptical I became that the project would actually work out. We are very demanding with our purchases, and nothing annoys us more than an investment that turns out to be a mistake.
Coincidentally, my wife came across an ad on a classifieds site offering new apartments for rent. A 4-room apartment, terrace, and 2 bathrooms for 950 € total.
Three days later, we signed the rental contract, and the house-building topic was finished.
After moving into the new rental apartment last summer, our desire for another child reemerged. We had always planned on two children but with a gap of about 4-5 years. We then abandoned this plan and “got to work.”
By autumn, we knew baby number two was on the way. At the beginning of this year, it became clear to us that our apartment would probably be too small, as I need a home office. The simplest solution seemed to be renting a workspace in an office. But as I later found out, this is not really available here. Since I didn’t want to start a company, we had to find alternatives.
So, the plan to build a house got reactivated. We told friends and acquaintances that we were looking for a building plot. Unfortunately, building plots in the areas suitable for us are scarce. Occasionally, we found offers on classifieds and similar platforms, which for various reasons were not suitable. Some of these can be read in my earlier posts.
We registered on all local municipality waiting lists for new development areas, and I was really active in the search. Unfortunately, without success. I also heard more and more from others that they had been looking for building plots for several years. At that point, we had only been active for 3 months. This could get interesting. Since patience is not my strong suit, I started to lose hope. This will never work!
And then the phone rang yesterday. On the other end was the mayor of the municipality where we had the initial meeting at the beginning of the story. We had completely forgotten that meeting, as we assumed all plots there were already assigned!
He told us we could take a non-binding look at the last free plot. He expected that the current interested buyer would withdraw for various reasons and that we would then be next on the list.
Completely stunned, I asked him to send the plans and prices again, and we arranged to meet next Monday for further information.
Then this morning the phone rang again. It was the mayor who informed me that the interested buyer had indeed withdrawn!
So we viewed the plot today and were able to secure it!
Contracts are to be signed by July, and construction could theoretically start in August, as the area will only be fully developed then.
Our adventure is starting now!
Attached are excerpts from the development plan and the drawing of the plot. The plot is number 3.
We will enjoy the weekend first and then take a closer look at different house types and start searching for architects in the area.
This thread is intended to allow interested readers to virtually follow our house-building journey. At the same time, I will most likely have many questions and hope for helpful answers and lively exchanges.
Now I’ll stop writing and wish everyone a pleasant and healthy weekend!
PyneBite schrieb:
where my grandpa would have said in shock: That used to be worth 1 million marks! What would my grandpa have said then — in 1923, you couldn’t even buy a loaf of bread for a million marks.
With my lottery winnings of one million marks, I’ll first take a world trip including an audience with the Pope, then later I’ll open a men’s clothing store in Wuppertal with my daughter.
PyneBite schrieb:
Our adventure starts now! Well then, good luck!
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
K
knalltüte25 Apr 2020 14:52PyneBite schrieb:
... and got down to work.
Is that where the saying "fun at work" comes from?
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