Defensive offer, or have house prices become so expensive?

Or you rent commercial spaces and open the first shared office space in the region...
That might also be an option for the old house if you do decide to build new.

I had already mentioned that we temporarily moved from our condominium (sold) to a rental apartment (until the new building is finished) and I strongly recommend this to @kathi1337. It’s not that bad. At first, it’s a bit unusual and strange because it’s no longer "your own." But that feeling passes, you get used to everything. A rental apartment in your desired location would also have another advantage. You can react much faster to properties for sale. From a distance, we didn’t even notice when houses or plots of land were up for sale. Regarding the sale: We decided to sell the apartment before moving and buying. It was important for us to know exactly what amount we definitely have available as equity.

Thanks to you - the apartment we could get is quite spacious, 100 m². You can manage to stay there for a while. We would probably need to rent a storage room to store other furniture. Or we sell it on eBay Kleinanzeigen. We spoke with the bank today, selling is probably less problematic and also less expensive than we had feared. Basically, we can just sell it, most of the organizational stuff is handled by the notary. The prepayment penalty is also limited, at least cheaper than I had feared. At least a rough estimate. We are driving down tomorrow now, luckily we were able to arrange something on short notice with an expert / energy consultant, so we will look at the house with expert accompaniment. I would prefer (if we like it) to secure the house and land, meaning buy, then sell here and move down, and when we have sold here take out a sum X (which would then be calculated with the energy consultant) for renovation. But this is not wishful thinking, and I don’t know if a lending institution would go along with it or what our current property “does for us” as an asset. We are now getting advice from an agent with whom our bank cooperates. He will evaluate our current house for us. Unfortunately, we have to change banks. Our advisor consulted her computer extensively, but the new area is outside of their catchment area. If it doesn’t work out that way, then we will probably still go through with the plan to sell here, move down, and look for something further on site.

That sounds like a plan and above all like the path that you both like. In the end, nobody knows how it will turn out, but you both apparently have a fundamentally agreed viewpoint, which is the most important thing with such changes. With the 100sqm apartment, you have great conditions that can give you the necessary peace for further decisions. Maybe it won’t be the first property after all, often it feels different when you have been there more often. We have just gone through building under pressure and I would definitely not recommend that. Ultimately, it also gives you the opportunity to take more time with the sale (higher selling price), because you have a home. Storing furniture is also a good option, we did that when we were abroad or sold/gave away some things beforehand. The most important thing in such decisions in my opinion is the shared perspective of the people involved; what would drive one person crazy is the right path for another. For me, this approach definitely sounds sensible, especially the option to skip the current property if needed and start completely anew on site.

Thank you,
yes, as individuals we more or less agree on this (except for the little one, we can’t ask him yet ;) ), which even surprised me myself. My husband says that he is not particularly attached to any region in Germany since he has no family here. And he knows and likes my family too. Additionally, for him the factor plays a role that with a child it is incredibly practical to have a few relatives in the area who are happy to look after the little one for a few hours, and whom you also trust. After more than 2 years now, having spent a lot of time just the three of us (Corona also reinforces this, of course), you can really see the origin of the saying "it takes a village to raise a child." ;)
Plus, down there he has a better chance to see real snow. Like snow that actually stays on the ground. ;)

If I calculate now based on our current house, former land price +20% = ~ 100k, + house size 153 m² * 3000€ = ~ 459,000, results in ~ 559,000, then my assumption "we should at least get 500k for it" is not so far-fetched, right?
Because if we get 500k, then our equity situation compared to back then would be significantly improved. Remaining debt + early repayment penalty are around 410k.

Thank you, yes, we are more or less in agreement as people (except for the little one, whom we can’t ask yet ;) ), which even surprised me myself. My husband says that he is not particularly attached to any region in Germany, since he has no family here. And he also knows and likes my family. Additionally, the factor plays a role for him that it is incredibly practical with a child to still have a few relatives around who are happy to look after the little one for a few hours, and whom you trust for that. After more than 2 years now where we have spent a lot of time just the three of us (Corona also definitely reinforced that), you can really see the origin of the saying "it takes a village to raise a child." ;)
Also, down there he has a better chance of seeing real snow. Like snow that actually stays. ;)

If I calculate now for our current house, former land price +20% = ~ 100k , + house size 153 m² * 3000€ = ~ 459,000, resulting in ~ 559,000, then my assumption “we should get at least 500k for it” is not so far-fetched, right? Because if we get 500k, then our equity situation would be significantly improved compared to back then. Remaining debt + prepayment penalty is about 410k.

Are there perhaps house listings from your area on popular portals? You can get a pretty good idea from those. If there aren’t any, that could even be advantageous, since demand would then be higher than supply :cool: