Construction costs are currently skyrocketing

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.

Even the 40 years' worth of rent mentioned at first sounds like a lot - but if I buy/build a house at 30 and have to pump in 40 years' worth of rent, then that eventually runs out. But if I live to 80 or older, in the same scenario, I can add another 10 or more years' worth of rent on top, because they never stop until I die.

You have a misconception there. 40 years' worth of rent corresponds to rent at 2.5% of the purchase price. That means, with an interest rate of more than 2.5%, you will never be done paying rent at the initial prices. Additionally, there are purchase incidental costs and maintenance, which you do not have as a tenant. Of course, rents increase eventually, but in the current situation with 4% interest and high multipliers, you simply pay much more rent for the money than rent for a comparable property. A lot still has to happen before rent increases catch up again.

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

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

I said there must be people who like apartment buildings... We simply don’t belong to them... And apparently, neither do you because you’re here ;)

Being in poor health is relative, but I’m more the type who doesn’t feel like dealing with the garbage collection schedule and then definitely forgets to put the bins out every other time ;-)

Somehow I got stuck in this forum since the time we dealt with the topic of owning property ourselves. Back then, over a longer process, we realized that an apartment simply fits our current life situation better =)

Quick off-topic: I really like the way people interact in this forum and I’m simply interested in construction topics, which is why I’m happy to be active here.

Offer from the painter for WDVS+external plaster+colored paint on 366m2 of area to be worked on 50,000 EUR