Construction costs are currently skyrocketing

With a 5 sqm balcony and 24 neighbors, I can hardly contain my joy at having to live in something like that...

But the cat also eats mice, I don't like it... maybe there are people who like this way of living

Well, you have a funny idea of a condominium. I understand you like this: there’s either the super-duper-once-in-a-lifetime-built single-family house that you never leave until you die, or a panel building.

The developers in our area therefore don’t build panel buildings, but really nice complexes. With our apartment (1st floor) we don’t have a balcony at all, but a 65 m2 terrace, which is very nicely landscaped by the gardener and fits together with the other terraces into a nice overall picture. We have exactly one direct neighbor.

Everyone has to know for themselves how they want to live and what they can and want to afford.

Having to mow the lawn and maintain the outdoor areas constantly in summer, having to clear snow in winter and having to take the garbage bins out and back in yourself in all weather – I can hardly contain my joy...

Pushing the trash bin out yourself... Hopefully your health isn't as bad as it sounds if this job overwhelms you...

New building here: 5sqm balcony and 16 apartments, 2 blocks opposite... Wonderful

I did say there are people who like apartment buildings... We simply don't belong to them... And apparently you don't either because you're here ;)

Then I’d rather have a nice condominium with janitorial service and mandatory reserve funds for necessary renovation measures and from the start lower additional costs.

Your property may be nice and even have a large terrace on the first floor. But that is not usual. Neither in new buildings nor in existing ones. And living nicely is clearly much more expensive than living modestly. It wouldn’t necessarily have had to be a detached house for us either; we would have taken a townhouse in Konstanz as well. But the 60s townhouses here are more expensive than our entire new build. No wonder when the 3-room apartment in an old building already costs 500k, which by the way is not really affordable either. In any case, I am looking forward to simply being able to go outside this summer and have peace and quiet. No people throwing glass into containers at night or students still partying.

And why does it absolutely have to be a detached single-family house at all costs? Then, in 40 years, we'll be back to a topic frequently discussed here: "The owners, who have since grown gray, are overwhelmed by the maintenance of the building and let the place decay. At the same time, the ancillary costs are eating the hair off their heads because the house has never been energetically updated to the current standard over the years..."

Here in the Ruhr area, the unsanitary mining houses are now becoming freely available in large numbers. I'm curious how the prices will develop and who will buy them. You can make pretty little gems out of them.

Exactly. If you calculate at least €350,000 for the house and €100,000 for the land + €50,000 additional costs, you quickly end up at €500,000. Only a few people from the upper class can afford that with the interest rate. Because a monthly payment of €2,000 or more is not possible for the majority with the average income. And that is then a 130 m2 house mentioned by you without a basement/garage 30-50 km away from the nearest big city.

The discussion is always based on the assumption that instead of paying this price, one could simply "rent cheaper". But how should that work? Except for a few exceptions (landlords who can't calculate), living space also costs that much even if you rent it. Some landlord/investor also knows what the place is worth / what he pays off for it. The tenant usually pays the installment + the landlord’s profit.

Also, the 40 years of rent mentioned sound like a lot at first - but if I buy/build a house at 30 and have to pump in 40 years of rent, then that is eventually over. But if I live to be 80 or older, I can add another 10 or more years of rent on top in the same scenario if I rent, since they never stop until I die.

The developers in our area therefore do not build panel buildings, but really nice complexes. In our apartment (1st floor) we do not have a balcony at all, but a 65 m2 large terrace, which is very nicely landscaped by the gardener and fits into a beautiful overall picture together with the other terraces. We have exactly one direct neighbor.

Something like this is currently being built here as well, with apartments of 160-240 sqm. Two different projects from different developers. Price: 5000€/sqm. And we are not even remotely in one of the real estate hotspots. This is simply not possible for the average earner.