Construction costs are currently skyrocketing

Yes, it is also somewhat strange for me. We are also in a rural area here with real farms and a nice village primary school, but it also means 6 supermarkets within < 10km proximity and 1 GBit fiber optic... So our internet is, for example, better than in the city 25km away.

The same applies to my home village, where we want to go back in the foreseeable future. There is an elementary school, kindergarten, general practitioner, dentist, pharmacy, supermarket, gas station, beverage market, an ice cream parlor, 3 bakeries, 2 restaurants, a building materials yard, nursing home, businesses (photovoltaic system builder, driving school, ...) etc. Fiber optic will also be activated soon. And that with < 2,000 inhabitants in southern Lower Saxony, so where really "nothing" is going on around.

10 km further is the next small town, where there is "everything." Of course, it’s not Berlin or Munich. But I don’t want to (go back) there anyway. :)

I think there is a more suitable place to live for every stage of life.
As a student or in my mid-twenties, I also don’t want to rot away in the village. With children, however, I don’t want to live in the city, where at best I would have a towel garden and the kids can’t go to friends alone.

My 7 and 8 year olds are out here in the village everywhere on their bikes with their buddies and have adventures – in a way that’s impossible in the city...

But there are no children’s Pilates classes or baby cafes here where you could gossip about the neighbors :D

P.S.: My wife and I enjoy country life, but we agree that after the kids’ studies/training we will move back to the city because the cultural offerings and local amenities for old age are simply better there.

In the Lower Saxony village where we hopefully will build someday, there are actually only properties UNDER 250k. Even houses with about 180sqm, which are in good condition, don't cost more there...

If that is true, then building _new_ there is the dumbest thing you can do. You can't destroy money better than that.

I have an important question. If gas is now more expensive / will be more expensive, will gas grills then become cheaper? :)

Fun fact: Gas grills run on propane. Propane is a byproduct of gasoline production in refineries. It has nothing at all to do with Ukraine, heating, or LNG. It has still become expensive, but not because of the fuel, rather because the stupid Germans have now discovered gas bottles as a new luxury item for themselves, after toilet paper, pasta, and flour. The bottles are scarce, not the gas.

If that's true, building _new_ there is the dumbest thing you can do. You couldn't destroy money better.

We always wanted to build our "own design" and have building land available. Of course, it would be cheaper to move into a 30-40 year old building, do a few things to it, and be done. We've thought about that more than once. But all the houses offered there would ultimately be a bigger compromise that we don't want to make unless it's necessary.

We always wanted to build our "own design" and have building land available. Of course, it would be cheaper to move into a 30-40 year old building, fix a few things, and that's it. We've thought about that more often. But all the houses offered there would ultimately be a bigger compromise that we don't want to make if it's not necessary.

In this location, one should not overestimate the value of the existing building land. At the mentioned price for existing properties, the square meter is probably worth no more than 50-70€.

You will have difficulty financing a new build at the current price level there unless you have a lot of equity. Regional banks are your friends.