Defensive offer, or have house prices become so expensive?

Having three people is already cheaper again. But yes, it can also change suddenly for you. Let's assume that a chip manufacturer with billions in funding from Brussels is soon building a gigantic factory near your house. Suddenly, the price of your property multiplies tenfold and maybe one of your siblings has already cashed out the inheritance earlier and is out of the deal. So now you’re standing there like me. 2 heirs who have to sell the parental home, even though they would have liked to let the grandchildren live there. Okay, maybe you’re not attached to the place, but for my sister and me it's different. We’re just emotional softies.

Rather unlikely, we’re talking about rural Upper Swabia. No big corporations come from there, but luckily there are some that have been there since they grew up. And if the value multiplies tenfold, even better. If purchase prices diverge too far from rent, then it will simply be sold. If a sensible rent can be achieved, it might possibly be kept and rented out. But I wouldn’t keep an uneconomical house on reserve for the unlikely event that my child might want to move there one day.

As I wrote yesterday, you have to separate two things in life. One is investments. They yield a decent return and if some of it is taxed, that’s unpleasant but not the end of the world. And then there is hobby/passion/lifestyle. That sometimes looks like an investment but costs money. And you have to be able to afford this category.
If you want to keep the house, you can either rent it out so that it belongs to the first category. But then a good bit more than a thousand euros per month has to come out for a house worth millions. Or you run it as a passion because you’re attached to it and accept that every month a larger installment goes to the tax office to pay off the inheritance tax.

If this topic is important to you, break up the real estate and build apartments at affordable prices. I mean it seriously.

I don't think that's unimportant, but I believe it's a matter for the state. In fact, we had something similar planned elsewhere, but it was unaffordable for us.

Or you run it as a hobby because you are attached to it and live with the fact that every month a larger installment goes to the tax office to pay off the inheritance tax

I am also clear about what the options are. I was really only concerned with the fact that there is currently a distortion in the exemptions.

Yes, the driveway / property is actually wide enough that easily one or two more houses could fit there. The floor space index would certainly allow for one more - the neighbor just did that. Whether three could also fit, I don't know.
But I like the grass better. :p

I think that’s great and I hope you and your sister stick to that attitude. I find it so unpleasant when there is a (1) nice house somewhere and when the heirs sell, the investors/buyers build one or two more houses in the garden. Absolutely horrible. (Off topic: Better to work on population development then. ;-) ) We would have liked to build with a large "front garden," but the city council prohibited it. Now our house stands right at the street, like almost all the other houses, and there is more garden in the back than we want and need. I don’t understand it in this respect, because only the owner benefits from the garden in the back, but everyone who passes by benefits from a generous garden in front.

I am not a tax advisor, but my naive brain comes up with something like this:

Estate	1,700,000.00 €
__________	_____________	Allowance	Inheritance tax liable amount
Spouse	700,000.00 €	500,000.00 €	200,000.00 €	exempt if owner-occupied property otherwise maintenance allowance
Child 1	400,000.00 €	400,000.00 €
Child 2	400,000.00 €	400,000.00 €
Grandchild 1	200,000.00 €	200,000.00 €
Balance	- €
At father's death
Estate	910,000.00 €	With a further 30% increase in value
Child 1	400,000.00 €	400,000.00 €
Child 2	400,000.00 €	400,000.00 €
Grandchild 1	110,000.00 €	200,000.00 €
Balance	- €

No tax paid

So now you’re in the same situation as me. 2 heirs who have to sell the parental home, even though they would have liked to let the grandchildren live there.

You have explained several times that it is not about inheritance tax itself, but about the allowance that has not increased equivalently to the rising property value. Therefore, I find some of the cheeky remarks in certain answers unacceptable!

But I still have one question.

Do the children/grandchildren know about their mothers’ plans?

Regardless of the fact that you siblings are attached to the house, I basically don’t think it’s good to keep real estate with the intention that the child/grandchild might be able to continue using it.

Maybe the child wants to emigrate to the USA with their own children, and then? Should they feel guilty because the house, which is expensively maintained by the parents, is not wanted to be inhabited and/or the money might be needed for something of their own?

Besides, you are now 2 heirs and the owner is still alive, so you can still coordinate well and surely agree on a course of action. I’m just saying, community of heirs...

I know quite a few people where the grandparents passed on to the children, and then the children to their own children. The largest community of heirs I know is my mother-in-law’s. And the high-value, very large property cannot be sold because someone always feels offended by something. This has been going on for several years now. Meanwhile, one cousin has also passed away, so her 3 children have stepped in as heirs in her place. The community of heirs continues to grow and thrive :D