What I notice: When it comes to questions about financing concepts, the forum usually bubbles with activity. Only in one case is it rather quiet – and that’s despite the fact that you have managed to fill out the form exemplary from the beginning.
The super-active threads are usually the ones where people hopelessly overreach themselves. But as a silent reader in this thread, I’ll throw in my two cents after the prompt ;) The two rented houses are hard for me to assess. A 2% return is not much, and if reserves still have to be deducted, then the return is close to the loan interest rate. There should already be prospects for further appreciation. With a house from ’25, there is also the question of how that fits with future renovation regulations, what condition it is in at all, and whether a renovation might conflict with monument protection. For the second house, no construction year is given, so it’s hardly assessable from a distance. Debt-free is only moderately good with rental properties, by the way. You lose the credit leverage that makes real estate interesting for investors only through debt ;) As for the house itself… €740,000 (just under €5,000/sqm) for a house built in ’63 that still needs €300,000 worth of renovation… I consider that an absolute bubble price. The contrast to the statement “comparable costs €1,700 warm” speaks absolutely against the house. Even €1,700 cold would be about 55 (!) annual cold rents, and warm makes the ratio worse. Even at €2,000 cold rent for an alternative, that would still be in the range of 45 annual rents. From a purely financial aspect, there is absolutely no reason to buy the house. On the other hand… you have a lot of cash and the two rental houses, so the actual burden from the loan is lower than for most here. Plus a high income. It is financeable, no question. And it will not financially ruin you, not even without an inheritance. But it is quite a luxury and a considerable waste of money to do it this way. If you want to, then go ahead. In this case, I would sell the old house and invest the cash. Depending on the condition of the second house, that too. You have already rightly recognized that by the paired transaction you reduce the risk of bubble prices.