Buying Guide - Former Agricultural Farm

Hello everyone,

my wife and I have been looking for a suitable home for our future life plans for some time. What is especially important to us is a large garden (plot from about 2,000 sqm) so that we can live close to nature and with our pets (my wife is a veterinarian). The house should offer enough space for our family of four. We are not really under time pressure in our search. But it would be nice if it could work out within the next 3 years.

Now we came across a former agricultural business while browsing, which has not been managed for many years, whose owner passed away 3 years ago, and which is now being sold by the heirs.

Apparently, chickens were once bred here. The large plot is currently very overgrown, and the big old house also has some issues. We are not afraid of the necessary work, but due to some peculiarities, we are not sure whether the plot can even still be used reasonably for private purposes.

Here are the most important key data:

Location: Rhein-Neckar region on the outskirts of a large city
Plot: 5,275 sqm - length approx. 250m
Living area: 265 sqm
Year built: 1936
Asking price: €550,000
The plot is located in an outer area without a development plan and is designated as an area for agriculture and forestry.

[*]No connection to the city’s sewage system. Instead, own septic tank, emptied annually.
[*]Old oil heating works.
[*]Water and electricity work.
[*]Internet works.
[*]No insulated walls or roof.
[*]No real renovations have been done for many years.
[*]Two old masonry chicken coops on the plot. One partially collapsed.
[*]Plot is part of an FFH / Natura 2000 area
[*]No biotope on the plot
[*]Secluded location in a fresh air corridor.
[*]Residential area with good connection to the city center 100 meters away.
[*]One of the heirs has cluttered the interior of the house quite a bit.

The house is very solidly built, fully basemented, and also dry.
We are aware that there is a lot to do on the house. That is okay for us.

Our biggest uncertainty is the garden because we can’t quite grasp what is still allowed here at all.
The environmental office says that an FFH compatibility assessment must be carried out before any intervention.
You are probably allowed to fence the area, but only with simultaneous small animal passages.
One would probably be allowed to lay lawn.
The plot is surrounded by grassland.

The house and the plot fascinate us very much!
But we just don’t know if it can even be made into a "gem."
We definitely find the requested €550,000 still too much.
But would it make any sense at €400,000 or €300,000 at all?
Of course, that’s a very individual question.
Is the plot with the existing conditions still really usable by humans?
Would you even be allowed to cut back the overgrown bushes or are they also protected now?
Or is it now simply a nature reserve where humans are only tolerated at most in a "minor role"?

Has anyone ever had a similar case or seen something like this?
We would be very interested in your assessment! Maybe someone also has tips on what nice things could be made out of this?

Attached are some photos and an excerpt from the FFH protection features.

If I’ve forgotten any important information, just let me know!

[ATTACH alt="Einfahrt.JPG"]83553[/ATTACH][ATTACH alt="FFH.JPG"]83554[/ATTACH][ATTACH alt="Haus.JPG"]83555[/ATTACH][ATTACH alt="Luftbild.JPG"]83556[/ATTACH]

Many thanks and best regards
Markus

You'd best talk to the [Naturschutzbehörde]. But you do realize that an energy-efficient renovation can easily double the purchase price.

You’d best talk to the nature conservation authority.

But you do realize that an energy-efficient renovation can easily double the purchase price.

I have already spoken with the nature conservation authority. They simply say that any intervention in nature must be reported to them in advance via an FFH compatibility assessment and then will be examined on a case-by-case basis...

The question is how you would neutrally evaluate the whole thing financially.
Plot worthless because it is a nature reserve?
House worth very little because it’s too old and renovation is extremely expensive?

The property is located in an outer area without a development plan and is designated as an area for agriculture and forestry.

The question for you would be: do you perhaps want to establish an animal practice there? Because only a residential house in an outer area is not that easy. You would have to get a conversion approved, which will not be so easy. Possibly feasible with a practice. I would ask the building authority about that.

The question for you would be: do you perhaps want to establish a veterinary practice there? Because just a residential house in the outer area is not that simple. You would have to get a conversion approved, which will not be that easy. Possibly feasible with a practice. I would ask the building authority about that.

The deceased owner has "only lived" there for about 20 years. We would basically want to do the same. Just renovate the house and get the property "in shape." A veterinary practice is currently not planned there. Another interested party apparently wanted to relocate their engineering office into the house, but this was rejected by the authorities.

The deceased owner had "only lived there" for about 20 years.

… but it was still classified as an agricultural operation. You would have to apply for a change of use. And that is only possible in the outer area under certain conditions. You do not have those. What is an FFH compatibility assessment? What is FFH?