Buy an apartment on credit and rent it out

I have a question: how should I imagine an apartment that currently costs (on average) €35,000? You can't even get a caravan in a flood zone for that money...

They are just small apartments, 1-2 rooms, in an average location, but already close to the city center. An apartment in Düsseldorf or Munich is probably a safer investment, but if you want more than 2% return and want to eventually pay off the place through rent, you have to "take the risk" of buying in the Ruhr area. At least that's what I did.

In my opinion, Dortmund still has a relatively good economy compared to many surrounding cities like Herne, Hagen, etc. And just look at the population forecasts for a city like Gelsenkirchen, a city that at first glance is comparable to Dortmund and is located almost next door. That would make me very worried if I owned an apartment there and wanted to still use it as a source of income in 20-30 years. However, prices there are even cheaper than in Dortmund.

Even if no one believes it. There is a significant housing shortage in the Ruhr area. Decent apartments are in high demand, but not as expensively [schw....teuer] as in Munich, Frankfurt, Hamburg, or other boom regions. On the other hand, there is also a high (structural) vacancy rate – that is what you always see reported in the press.

So anyone who pays a little attention to quality and location can make a lucrative and sustainably profitable business here for relatively little money.