Assistance with property purchase; notary, identifying the owner, cadastral map

Of course, you could also go to the local police station, explain to the officer there that while turning on the street with your car you accidentally drove a little bit onto the property and caused minimal damage to the land, which you would like to settle with the owner.

In this way, a colleague of mine obtained the name and address of the now former owner of his building plot...

Hi,
we did it the same way and found our dream property like that. I therefore think it is exactly the right approach. Getting the owner out is usually a bit tricky and not always easy. Neighbors would be a first suggestion, I have also once told the office that I can buy the neighboring property and therefore need to know the neighbor.... Important to buy the cadastral map beforehand so that you know all the plots.

We then wrote a letter to the owner. This is not too direct at first, the owner can digest it and think about it. This was our wording:

Subject: Property inquiry
Dear Ms. XY!

During a drive through Wunschdorf, your property caught our eye by chance. Since the land mostly looks unused, we wondered if you might be considering a sale?
It concerns the property at Idealplatz, 01234 Wunschdorf, Flur 100, plot 12/3.
We would be very happy about your contact.

Best regards

I wish you good luck with it!

Why all this secrecy?

I don’t understand at all what you mean? Secretly, huh?

Either he wants to sell or not....

Ha, don’t make me laugh! As soon as there are for example 2 heirs, the trouble starts... they first have to talk and think about it.

On the other hand, if the old owner finds out by what tricks you got the address, it can backfire. Especially in the village, you shouldn’t do something like that.

Nobody cares about that anymore.

That’s why... try directly. Not beating around the bush first. If someone wants to sell today, there’s usually an agent on it anyway... hardly anything is still sold privately. At least around here, building companies now offer high premiums for successfully mediating plots of land.

Beating around the bush?
It’s quite different where we are! Agents only sell things that nobody wants anymore. Everything else is already bought beforehand. So it really varies regionally.

Hello,


This is all way too complicated and unnecessary.

Go to the land registry office; they maintain a so-called gap cadastre.

Gap cadastres are not maintained comprehensively and not necessarily at all. If there isn't one, you have to come up with something else.

If the owners of "your" desired plot want to sell, they are listed there with names and addresses. If no such entry is found, you can usually assume that the owners do not want to sell and all subsequent considerations are in vain.

The problem with the gap cadastre is that many owners do not even know that such a thing exists and therefore do not register. In addition, one can certainly approach owners directly. I know a family who, with a child in their arms, simply rang the bell because they were interested in an undeveloped, fully serviced "garden plot" that might one day be for the owners' children. If they hadn’t rung the bell, presumably no one would have built there in 10 years because the owners could easily afford to leave the plot unused. Now the house is almost finished.

So: find out who the owners are and simply express interest. Whose property it is can usually be found out fairly quickly if you really want to.

Best regards
Dirk Grafe

Good morning everyone,

I wouldn’t have expected it to be such an interesting topic after all. Especially with the most diverse answers and contributions.
First of all, thanks to everyone who has already written something or made the effort to give me an answer or even to have given one or the other "good tip."

@kaho674: Thanks for the tip. We also thought that, as mentioned several times, we want to find out who the owner is and then cautiously ask how the whole thing looks. Also, thanks for the little note and thumbs up! How long did the search take for you? And how difficult was it for you to convince the owner?

@Der Da: I am well aware that he will either say YES or NO. But it has nothing to do with secrecy either. But unless I try, I will never find out. If I then see at some point that someone managed to develop the property, well then I just had bad luck. So either I or we try our luck or just leave it. And about the point with the village and everyone knowing about it. I honestly don’t care if people gossip about it or not. I do it for me and my wife, everything else they can do as they please.

@Doc.Schnaglls: If nothing helps, your tip is definitely the most creative and really stays in my mind (secret weapon). As the saying goes, "The journey is the goal." If I initially have no success and your tip comes into play and it works, then I swear I will let you know and you will get something from me. I stand by my word!!!

@all: I will sit down with my wife in the next few days and see how we will approach the whole thing. But what I can already say is that going to the neighbor would rather be the second way I would try. Why? Because there is the risk that the neighbor might take advantage of it, buy the property and use it himself or something else. If you know what I mean!!! I have a bit of my worries, concerns, and also a little fear! I think for now, going to the respective office, getting the cadastral map, finding out the owner and then writing a very nice letter in which I express my interest would be my first approach! But I’m still open to tips or suggestions and will post my further approach here in the next few days!!!

Nevertheless, I look forward to more tips, suggestions or also experience reports!

In this sense, have a nice 3rd Advent and a nice Sunday evening!

@kaho674: Thanks for the tip. We also thought that, as mentioned several times, we want to find the owner and then gently ask how the whole thing looks. Also, thanks for the little note and a thumbs up! How long did the search take for you? And how difficult was it to convince the owner in your case?

We searched for about three quarters of a year for the perfect plot. At first, through agents, where we quickly realized there was only rubbish. Then we got in the car and simply drove through the towns we liked and wrote down every house number or land that looked abandoned, undeveloped, or similar. For this, I bought the cadastral maps. With the data, I went to the respective building authority and looked at the land use plan. I obtained some additional clues through the geoinformation center and, via various detours (which I unfortunately don't remember anymore), also the owners. I even had one owner identified through the tax office. Often, the office itself did not know the owners and was glad about my research.
We wrote to about 8 people. Almost all responded! Of course, many plots were already planned otherwise until we were finally able to buy our dream land.
I would also recommend searching through foreclosures, with banks, or on Ebay classifieds.