Build new or wait for an affordable house to become available?

Hello dear ones,

thank you very much for taking the time.
We are completely torn and looking for opinions on our situation.

My husband and I (both 27, plus our daughter who is 11 months old) are considering whether we want to build a house, although we actually never wanted to, since we are quite adaptable but not at all decisive.

First of all: We are both still students, I will be a doctor next year in May. He will study for a long time yet, but already has completed training and is a great stay-at-home dad.
Our current equity is 80,000€. We would definitely get a loan because my (extremely liquid) mother would act as guarantor for us.

We have been looking for a suitable house for almost a year in the beautiful village with a population of 200 where my mother lives. A house was already offered to us months ago (preemptive right by handshake, but here most people hardly ever sell their houses anyway, so the seller should be glad somewhere), as soon as the 90-year-old mother of the potential seller can no longer live alone. She is still quite fit, so walks around outside etc.
We want to move exactly there and in a way that the little one can walk to her grandmother without crossing a major road, which applies both to the new development area (about 3 building plots) and the reasonably priced house offered to us, as these are practically opposite each other.

Data on the old house:
5 rooms, about 120 sqm living space
Plot 700 sqm
3 bathrooms, but 1 in the shed
Last plot by the forest (unbuildable, as the forest belongs to my mother)
Huge cellar with shed
Two garages
70s construction
Viewed with an expert (though quite superficially), very well maintained at first glance
Renovation, yes. No major refurbishment necessary. We expect immediately necessary investments of about 20,000€
Beautiful garden with old trees
Cost: 68,000€

Data on the new development:
Rather flat north slope
9€ per sqm (no, no typo. It’s in the countryside and the municipality supports young families. Nine euros per sqm.)
Opposite the forest (unbuildable, as the forest belongs to my mother)

Arguments for waiting:
Very low costs, no loan needed
Manageable work (we are both not experts)
Move in without huge costs beforehand
We could gradually add more "luxury," but move in simply at first
Charm of the old house
The house is worth more than what we would pay

Arguments against:
We might be waiting forever
One room is a walk-through room
No matter what we do, it won’t be as environmentally friendly as a good new build
The house is not perfect

Arguments for building new:
It feels awful to want to "take away" the house from the old lady
We could start planning immediately
I would have a lot of time for this in the next half year, not later
We could design a lot according to our wishes
The plots are beautiful and practically given away
We could build a passive house

Arguments against:
Costs (if we are lucky) about 300,000€ (??), i.e. debt
Around here a property is never again worth its building price
Tons of decisions
We are both not experts and could easily be "taken advantage of"
Any "luxury" must be financed immediately
"If you build, then do it right?" — Costs, costs, costs?
Building doesn’t go that fast anyway

What we want:
At least 100 sqm, at most (!) 135 sqm
At least 5 rooms (2nd child planned)
Preferably a low-energy house
2 bathrooms (one can be tiny, just any alternative option)
Not much hassle

What I mean when I say luxury:
Tiled stove (so cozy and since the forest is family-owned we get wood super cheap)

The infrastructure, i.e. daycare, elementary school, proximity to future work etc., is optimal for us despite, or precisely because of, the extremely rural location. But property prices in our extremely rural area are very low and we do not see our possible house as an investment, but as a way to settle down. The likelihood that one of the approximately 10 other suitable houses in the village will happen to become available is very low.

What would you do?
What would you advise a friend?

We are completely uncertain!

Thank you very much for your help and have a nice evening!

Anne

If I were you, I would rent. I see only advantages in it.

If I were you, I would rent. I see only advantages in it.

In the village, there is only one rented house, which is well rented and does not become available, and not a single rental apartment. Renting is not possible.

I guess I would build (but I am also someone who would like to build). It could still take many years until the old lady's house becomes available, and waiting for that would seem somehow strange to me, especially since you probably know her well in such a small village. How big are the plots? Although, at that price, it hardly matters anyway. How strong is the desire to settle down? Which medical specialty are you leaning towards? Is there money in it? In other words: will you be able to afford to partially write off the construction cost? (I suspect yes…)

What year was the Butze built? I find 300k very expensive for your area. At nine öre per sqm, I wouldn’t hesitate for a second, provided you don’t want to move away from there in the medium term.

: Thank you for your response. The plots range from 490 to 750 sqm, with me tending towards the largest one because it is so affordable. At least if the quality of the soil is right, which I would of course have checked beforehand. Our desire to settle down is very strong. Above all, we want our little one not to have to change daycare or something similar, but to grow up in a stable environment. The village is really ideal for us (there are a few more reasons, but that would be going too far now) and we would preferably like to move there forever, but at least for about 25 years. I won’t become a specialist doctor where I get filthy rich, I want to become a general practitioner with several additional qualifications. But yes, I will earn enough money and I could probably recoup 300,000 fairly easily over time. The problem is rather that we would have to go into debt first, and that scares me. Most of all, I am afraid of being completely taken for a ride.

: The house is supposed to cost 68k and was built in the 1970s. I had calculated 300k for a new build. I thought new build prices don’t fluctuate so much? Am I wrong?