Buy a condominium now for a future house purchase

Hello,

how sensible is it to buy a condominium now (Rhein-Main area) in order to maybe buy a house in X years? Since the housing market is currently almost completely sold out, we had the idea that instead of "investing" in a rental apartment for several more years, we would rather move into a condominium. That way, in X years we would have equity as a real estate asset for a possible house purchase/construction?!

Does something like this make sense? When does it not pay off? I don't have exact figures on this now.

Best regards
Obsthaendler

Does it make sense to sell an apartment now at probably the highest price, and then try to sell it again when the apartment market is flooded?

No one can answer that, because no one knows how the market will develop. It could be that the apartment you bought increases in value, or it could be that you’re stuck with it and have to sell it at dumping prices. It all depends on the location.

Hello Osthaendler,

as Der Da already said, no one can give you a reliable advice - it really depends on the development of real estate prices. However, I suspect that prices in metropolitan areas will remain stable in the long term or even continue to rise. But that is just my assumption and not a reliable statement.

What you should definitely consider is that acquisition costs (Grunderwerbsteuer, notary, land registry) are definitely gone. You won’t get them back when you sell the apartment.

Regards Micha

What are "a few years" to you? Something like that would be okay to me as a joker if you want to rent out the apartment then, but as a short-term investment it is questionable. It also depends on the area; there are regions where the real estate wave has not yet arrived.

I have exactly the same plan. My goal is to purchase an apartment for about 220,000 euros in the Frankfurt area, pay it off in about 6 years, then live in it for a few years before possibly moving to a larger place. I earn about 3,000 euros net, live frugally, and have been saving 2,000 euros per month for 2 years. The equity now amounts to 80,000 euros. According to [Interhyp], I am done after 6 years with a monthly payment of 2,054 euros, an effective annual interest rate of 1.84%, and full repayment of 15.79%.

The income is calculated conservatively; with a bonus, I actually come to 3,500 euros net.
Will I really be able to close the offer calculated by [Interhyp]?
Is it sensible to pay off an apartment so quickly?

@pristine: Great to be able to save that much (monthly). Not everyone can do that. Whether it is the right thing to do to only save your life, or to invest all your money long-term in one (or two) properties, you have to decide for yourself. We know nothing about you, whether you are in your mid-20s or mid-50s, with or without a family... being debt-free with a property is the goal of everyone, but to give up 2/3 of your income for that? Possibly going down to a savings level during the years when you still have the drive to take action Somewhere the standard of living must suffer somewhat. At least that is how I read your post.