Construction costs are currently skyrocketing

Those who have invested in the energy refurbishment/condition of their property in recent years are currently complaining less about the increased energy costs than those who have not invested.

They are not only complaining less. They are now also laughing at everyone who called them crazy for spending so much money to save a little on heating costs.

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as a tenant, you are not responsible for the maintenance of the apartment. As a homeowner, as long as you own property and are financially and physically able, you spend huge amounts of money over the years because you want to "improve or beautify" your place. The garden is an example where you can financially stretch yourself every year again. Eventually, the exterior of the house needs painting, the kitchen is replaced because at first you could only afford or wanted a cheap one. After 15 years, the photovoltaic rectifier reaches the end of its life and a new one is needed, the bathroom doesn’t look so great anymore after some years, trends have changed, and you always wanted nicer outdoor lighting... So you do invest a lot of money over the years in a property if you don’t intend to live until the decade before last.

However, with the majority of online-listed existing properties, you can see that after the initial move-in nothing, absolutely nothing has been changed. I am often shocked. There are still wooden ceilings and wood paneling on the walls, the bathrooms are a white oasis with 15x15cm tiles up to the ceiling, and the kitchen has wooden fronts from the ’80s. The carpets show the wear paths of the owners. Sometimes I wonder if people aren’t "house proud," as we say.

They don’t just complain less. They now also laugh at everyone who called them crazy for spending so much money to save a little on heating costs.

I didn’t want to put it that harshly =) In our family, the situation is as follows: Our apartment is the best insulated living space. Our heating costs are currently about 20 - 25% of those of the other family members. The subject is avoided, or rather the others complain about the increased advance payments. We have a completely different picture when it comes to electricity costs. In spring, 3 out of 4 households installed a balcony power plant each and we excitedly exchange our annual bills and are currently happy about the refunds we are receiving =)

They don't just complain less. They are now also laughing at everyone who called them crazy for spending so much money to save a little on heating costs.

That's exactly how it is. My brother-in-law (a building services engineer!) called us "crazy" over 2 years ago during the planning of our passive house. He said the extra expenses would NEVER pay off. He said this multiple times and "calculated" how little the last x cm of insulation would pay off. But then this year he himself built a KfW40+ multi-family house (my sister was more open to a high insulation standard and probably influenced him?) :D

as a tenant, you are not responsible for the maintenance of the apartment.

Not responsible (even if you have to pay for minor repairs and normally at least renew the interior paint/wallpaper). But you actually do pay for the maintenance of the apartment and the communal property. This is an obvious part of the rent. That is why the rent of a comparable property is usually higher than the interest costs of ownership (this is the "cold rent" of the owner).
The rent consists of: allocated capital costs, maintenance of the apartment and communal property, landlord’s profit

This does not apply to exceptional situations such as in Munich.

,

as a tenant, you are not responsible for the maintenance of the apartment. As a homeowner, as long as you own property and are financially and physically able, you spend huge amounts of money over the years because you want to "improve or beautify" your place. The garden is an example where you can financially strain yourself year after year. Eventually, the exterior needs to be painted, the kitchen is replaced because at the beginning you could only afford or wanted a cheap one. After 15 years, the rectifier of the photovoltaic system is at the end; a new one is needed, the bathroom also doesn't look so great after several years, the trend changes, and you've always wanted nicer outdoor lighting... So you do invest a lot of money over the years in a property if you don't want to live until the end in the decade before last.

You pay the costs for the "maintenance" of the apartment nicely through the rent. It just isn't as noticeable as with property ownership. Usually, you pay for the kitchen yourself both in a rental apartment and in your own home. Or do you believe the landlord will eventually gift you a new one? And if I have to renew my photovoltaic system at some point, I have already saved that money several times over through the operation of the system, unlike the tenant. In your own home, you do have the opportunity to adjust certain knobs to save money, which you do not have as a tenant. If we had stayed in our 90 sqm apartment, we would probably currently have 400€-500€ more in costs per month than now in our 140 sqm house. For our personal case, I do believe that building a house will be permanently cheaper for us than if we lived in rented accommodation all our lives.