I would also sell a house because 1. Bubble <-> Bubble 2. I don’t feel comfortable with high debts, even though there is of course an equivalent value. 3. You have an incredible concentration in regional real estate. I would rather invest in an ETF to diversify the risk 4. The return on the houses is not good Regarding the land register, that is a personal decision. Personally, I could not be happy in a house that belongs to my wife. If not married, then I would say she contributes the equity and you pay the ongoing rate. Land register half and half. But really purely subjective. I would also buy a house in your position. Our quality of life has improved enormously. I don’t care if renting would be cheaper. Even in our area the purchase prices are 50 times the cold rent and still people buy.
Thanks – I basically see every point the same way.
Seriously: given your financial situation you should quickly see a tax advisor and discuss the purchase with him. At first glance, a wealth management capital company came to my mind here, which would then buy/build your house ...
We will consider that, thanks.
That is certainly a valid argument in certain regions. And since some writers here focus more on new builds than existing properties, that may make sense. But please don’t forget that in some cities there are hardly or practically no plots for sale. Not even with all kinds of off-market tricks or even Barthel’s mercy. Then only existing property purchase remains. And if there is a house on it that is not yet ready for demolition (like in the example here), then you just have to renovate.
I would also prefer to build new, but that is really utopian in the city. There are already (very rare) plots with wreck houses on them. But so far the market situation is such that this is always still significantly more expensive. I already mentioned an example from last year above: 900 sqm plot with a very bad layout -> long, narrow and with an angle. Purchase price €580k. With realtor fees approx. ~€640k. Demolition of the existing building at buyer’s cost -> ~€680k. Subdivision from a total 1800 sqm plot on top. So in the end you are at €700k for the plot and still have a difficult house orientation because the “best side” of the plot is also the narrowest. For at least €1.2 million total, rather €1.3 million – you don’t want to buy a super expensive plot and then have to save when building the house. There is currently also a plot for sale where a prefab house provider has their fingers on it and sees a 200 sqm new build at €1.2 million – but with a wonderfully realistic house price calculation of €400k, and really right on one of the main traffic arteries. Our new build considerations then rather go towards talking to the tenant in the countryside and tearing down and rebuilding there. However, we don’t want to just kick her out (it’s anyway unclear whether this is so easy with 45 years of tenancy and age over 80 and voluntary activities in the village or if it would be a hardship case) and – and that is also the reason why we have not sought the conversation so far – we also basically prefer to stay in the city.