Advertisement for the joint purchase of a plot of land

Hello everyone,

I keep seeing offers on the usual portals with so much land area (e.g. >1400sqm) that for me about half would be suitable and also attractive in terms of price.

Now I’m wondering why you don’t actually read ads where like-minded people with similar interests in land size, price level, and location are sought to buy a large plot together and then have it divided at the notary, thus turning one "too expensive" plot into two affordable ones with double the purchasing power?

Of course, this makes the land purchase more complicated and surveying costs come on top. And of course, some municipalities do not allow the division of parcels. Often it probably doesn’t make sense anyway (slope, access possibility, or similar).

But is there anything else speaking against arranging by ad here just in case?

Maybe the agents, if division is allowed, have always divided market-conform so that further division of the offered plots is usually no longer possible or sensible?

And in this context: What happens if you buy a too large and too expensive plot alone, divide it, and resell the second half—does speculation tax then apply to the resold part of the plot?

Best regards Jo

I'll start from the end. No! There is no speculation tax. Of course, it makes sense to buy a large property "together" with later division. But as a hypothetical case, it is currently terrible theory!

I keep seeing listings with so much land area (e.g. >1400 sqm) on the usual portals during my property search, that for me about half would be more suitable and also more attractive in terms of price.

With 1400 sqm - assuming a reasonably evenly distributed building plot - you could or rather would have to divide it into three to cut out "market-appropriate" pieces. I can't think of anything the municipality would object to in this case. I only know of minimum sizes of 450 or 500 sqm in some development plans.

What happens if you buy a plot that is too large and too expensive on your own, divide it, and resell the second half? Does speculation tax apply to the resold part of the plot?

If you want more than the purchase price plus the proportional division costs from the sparring partner, then I think yes. Speculation tax taxes profit.

Speculation tax doesn't matter at all. It just means that you get more when you sell than you paid yourself. So you give up part of your profit, you keep the rest. I would be happy to pay taxes for money earned so quickly and easily

I find it unsuitable to find someone for such a matter through an advertisement.

Finding the right partner, next to whom one later wants to live, who is actually liquid and does not accompany you to the notary out of curiosity/overestimation, only to then realize that it all won’t work out, would be too big a (time-related, emotional, and financial) risk for me.

And for the seller’s side, there may then be better (because less complicated) bidders. In the current situation, you can practically choose the buyers in many areas.

And for the seller side, there might then be better (because less complicated) bidders.

Sellers of large plots usually want to get rid of them entirely or not at all (and mostly with little sales pressure), but not end up still having a piece of land lying around that is now smaller than before. So they usually want one buyer – whether that buyer fillets and resells is then their risk. The interested party must first become a buyer, whereby their bank usually has no interest in financing them to become a parcel dealer who only covers their own needs and for the rest has partner after partner drop out when it comes to the crunch. So, one would basically first need a preliminary contract with a penalty clause with the sparring partner, ensuring that both actually follow through on the purchase out of their genuine interest. It is this last small step between wanting and being able to that fails too often – especially owners of large properties have often experienced this or know someone for whom it ended in a fiasco. I know a comparable pattern of "typical" tragedies from boasting medical group practices. Until two previously unknown parties really have everything together to buy a whole from a third party, there is regularly a world of difference between interest and execution.