Buy a large plot with an old house and later divide it??

Hello everyone,

I have been reading along for some time now and I am happy about this forum, thank you very much.

First, a few pieces of information: I (32) have been searching with my girlfriend (32) and our son (almost 2) for a long time for a nice existing property in the eastern Rhein-Sieg district... and that for now two years. So far, there hasn't been THE hit yet, something was always disturbing (location, plot size, price, or effort, etc.). Ultimately, we looked at many houses where, with all the conversions and adjustments according to our wishes, we would have come quite close to the price of a new build. In addition, my girlfriend has always rather wanted to build (have built) herself, especially since her father is a civil engineer. Now, besides continuing the search for an "ideal" existing property, we are also looking for a suitable building plot in our area. Since I personally am not very fond of new development areas and prefer to live somewhat in the green with large plots, the search has not been very successful so far (maybe we just have too high demands??!!). Now we have found a plot attractive to both of us just 2.5 KM from the town center in an edge-of-town location. In this village, there are, besides older, well-kept houses, also about 15 newer, beautiful houses from the last 5-10 years. That all fits very well and we could imagine building and living there.

The desired plot is, however, too large for me even at 2500m2 and also built on with an old house. Now my amateur idea would be to buy the entire plot, have the old house demolished, and then sell half again. According to the municipality, a subdivision would be possible, and there would remain a street frontage of about 27m per plot. From my point of view, after the long research for building plots, I have a certain overview, and part of the plot would be easy to sell.

How would you proceed? Buy the plot and partially finance it and then have it subdivided? Have the old building demolished and calmly plan your own construction and in the meantime find a buyer for the second part? Who has experience with this?

Thank you in advance for your assessments!

Best regards

Tobias

Hello Tobias,

... in the eastern Rhein-Sieg district...

I’ve been dreaming of that for a while now, as often as we are on site

( maybe we just have too high demands ??!! )

*lol, simpler - you just haven’t been searching long enough yet

How would you proceed? Buy the plot and partially finance it and then have it officially divided, tear down the old building and quietly plan your own construction and in the meantime find a buyer for the second part? Who has experience with that?

From a seller’s point of view, nothing would please me more than if you bought the entire plot and then took care of both division and sale yourself.

But – this plot is optimal for you, are you sure – located in the outskirts and there really are plenty of plots in the Rhein-Sieg district – that it would be so easy to market? I didn’t write without reason above that you haven’t been searching long enough yet. In all the years I have been in this business, one thing has always remained the same: when we are supposed to look for plots for clients, it takes and takes until a decision is made. Too big, too small, too expensive, too much/too little garden, no south-facing location, too noisy, surroundings are not nice, too far away, etc. Most want to live as close to the motorway as possible at the start of their search but without noise and with lots of greenery – an ungrateful business; not counting the dream locations.

I would advise you to buy the plot only in its entirety if you can shoulder demolition and new construction in the long run alone, without having to significantly restrict yourself. The part of the plot that is to be sold is not dead capital but also not something you can easily liquidate if things go badly.

Alternatively – if you get along well with the current landowner – you can optimize the plot for a period “x” and launch a trial balloon. Advertise the part you want to sell and see if your research on the offer of building plots is correct. If it works, all the better – if not, you should calculate carefully.

Best regards