Buy a second property - on existing mortgage

Oh, and one more thing, I'm not really well informed about this, but isn't it the case that recipients of basic security and/or Hartz IV are only allowed to rent a maximum of 50m²? Or are recipients of basic security allowed more? Otherwise, with larger apartments there could sometimes be problems with the coverage of heating costs. But as I said, I'm not exactly informed about this, just as a suggestion in case you haven't researched it yet.

A completely different question - has your relationship with your mother improved/"normalized" by now? Not that you end up not receiving any rent payments. (I just thought about what it would be like if I rented to my mother... she is quite naive about it, like "the apartment belongs to you anyway, it doesn't cost you anything if I live in it" - I would probably rarely see any rent....)

To answer everything in order:
- the price is already correct. Typical annual rents there are 3000 euros (annual rent net cold).
- the apartment from the opening post was gone immediately. Now we keep looking. Today we viewed the 64 sqm for 38k.
- the service charge is super low and amounts to 150 euros. 100 of that is allocable. Pretty low indeed...
- but not much has really been done to the building, overall mom wasn't so enthusiastic. She would always pay rent. The relationship is only bad from my side. That means I haven't forgiven her and probably never will. She, on the other hand, makes quite an effort to be a "good mother" afterwards, but now it's too late.
- basic security is only half a problem. With a cold rent of 250 euros the agency doesn't object, they have higher rent limits there, which surprises me since the square meter prices for normal-simple housing are 3 euros. I lived there myself once and back then for my first and second apartments, each 36 sqm, I paid 400 marks. So rents have fallen almost by half in 20 years... Still a city with a future according to demographic studies. I have to say, they do a lot. I moved away almost 20 years ago, 10 years later I visited again and they had suddenly built a skyline and completely renovated the whole city center. I barely recognized it.

Now we have another apartment in mind, which is slightly over budget at 55k, and 73 sqm, also rented for 250 euros a month. I think you don’t have to rush anything. Better to look a bit longer and save meanwhile, so there is more room for maneuver.