Always late so far....

......Good morning.

A little introduction about us. We are a couple, 27 and 32. Our net income is about 4000-4500€ together. We are currently searching intensively for a house in Bochum. Since building new is not an option financially due to extremely expensive and rare plots, the only option is to look for something used. Unfortunately, we have always been too late so far. Our only search method until now has been internet research via Immobilienscout etc..... The properties that were interesting to us were sometimes already reserved even though we contacted the provider very quickly.

How would you search? Maybe contact an agent with our ideas? Foreclosure? Place ads in the "classic" newspaper?

Good morning, both of you,

A friend of mine looked for such a property for over 3 years. Also in the region E / BO / DO.

He ultimately found his house in 2015 through a colleague at work who lives next door and knew about the intention to sell. In Dortmund. Great result, respect to my friend and his family.

The problem was less about finding and viewing properties. Rather, the price/performance ratio simply did not match in all previous cases. The market is clearly at a disadvantage for buyers due to the current high demand!

Before I would involve a real estate agent, who is not inexpensive, I would place an ad. Classic in print media and on the internet. Having someone knowledgeable with you when viewing the property doesn't hurt (moisture in walls, etc.). What did I go through running around houses...

Also: Tell many friends and acquaintances what you plan to do. Someone always hears something...

Larger and also smaller local agents often have an office with a notice board. There you can also get non-binding preliminary information.

Good luck. Spend a lot of patience and calm!

Best regards Thorsten

PS: Moving a bit south of DO towards the "countryside" (that is towards W-Tal, Gevelsberg, SG, ...) can pay off in terms of price. Other alternative directions are also conceivable (Unna, Fröndenberg, ...). The prices in DO in good locations (and there are really very good locations there, it is a beautiful city) are very high.

...... The properties that were then interesting to us were partly already reserved even though we were very quick with the provider .... ?

If your "very quick" means immediately, you are doing everything right. Call immediately (do not email), be available immediately for a viewing (not next week), do not schedule the second viewing with an expert only in two weeks.

Many did not get back to us after the first viewing, nor was any closer interest visible in their poker faces. After 4 weeks, calls came regarding interest after the second viewing. Too bad, it had already been reserved.

It is always advised not to be rushed, but as a seller, I want to know as soon as possible where I stand. That also means that an interested party already knows what they want and how much money they have available.

From our experience, using a broker makes little sense. Our result from that was actually zero. We had also registered with a good handful of them. So mainly, you have to do it yourself. Also check with the well-known financial institutions. Savings banks or Raiffeisen banks often have a larger range, either online or on notice boards. Also try searching the classic way through Google. Something like "buy a house in xy." Often you can also find listings in local media or on eBay that way. Talk to friends and acquaintances, tell them about your plans, often you find your goal through word of mouth or just luck.

Otherwise, don't lose sight of the topic of new builds. As already mentioned, the second-hand market is also very heavily picked over and overpriced. We also had to have our own experiences there. For example, a nice property according to our ideas, price 400,000 euros, go to the bank and have it checked, value estimated at 280-300,000 euros. On top of that, we would have had to invest/renovate about 100,000 euros, and that still wouldn't have included the 20-year-old wooden windows or heating system.

Thank you, MarcWen! The addition with the Sparkassen / Raiffeisenbank is good, I had just forgotten it. Then the time for correction of the post was already over.

At 400,000: You can really build new yourself. I completely agree with you.

The market for good used real estate is heavily picked over. If something good appears on the market, it’s gone in no time. Faster than you can look. The demand is enormous at the moment.

What remains are often offers of a certain age, with primary energy factors that are sometimes as alarming as the asking price and necessary renovation needs. Finding the right one: You have to involve experts, especially building surveyors (this has already been written here).

Depending on equity, the mentioned income of the original poster allows for a new build now or in the near future.

Super, thank you very much for the information....

What about the topic of foreclosure?