Find land in Barnim near Berlin

in other regions around the financially strong metropolitan areas, land prices are indeed such that the middle class cannot build

The hamster wheel of middle-class demands combined with the willingness to take on borderline debt at low interest rates has only pushed prices to this point. Wealthy people are perfectly content with a small exclusive region here and there; the prices are driven more by those who absolutely want to belong. The middle class has been unreflectively chasing after some carrots for too long. The widespread phenomenon within the middle class of stopping to think and instead giving in to wanting and believing in growth inevitably leads to the felt "decline." That's just how it is when expectation and reality diverge too far.

Well, I'll put it this way: if the building plot costs 300k, then you won't get away with less than 750 all in. That means either it's financially possible or not. If not, you have to look for alternatives. Existing property / terraced house in the middle, simply move to where the building plot only costs 100k. Meanwhile, building is, unfortunately in my opinion, a privilege for people with the corresponding wallet or also luck. Even the search for a plot of land is in some regions like finding a needle in a haystack. Waiting, in my opinion, makes less sense, unless your savings rate is very high. But very few can save against the current price increases. That's why it's better to close the deal today rather than tomorrow. Have forced auctions already been mentioned? Possibly also an option but since the market is so small, no bargain is to be expected here either.!

Forced auctions are sometimes a joke :-) An acquaintance of mine often attends forced auctions. Shacks with a market value of 90-100k€ in villages go to Berliners for 250k€+.

Building in sought-after areas has ALWAYS been expensive - just look at the houses from the 50th, 60th, and 70th where the 'middle class' lived back then - they were noticeably more frugal and much simpler than what we think we have to have today. In addition, regulatory requirements have increased enormously. Back then, a lot was still done personally / helped among friends / club members. Never before have so many people lived in single-family homes as today! In my youth, most of my classmates lived in cramped, simple, and gloomy rental apartments. And people didn’t even dare to dream of flying to the Caribbean or the Far East for vacation multiple times a year.

The fact that our ancestors had to stretch themselves to make ends meet has completely been forgotten during the growth years. I understand everyone who would also like to have a house - but covering the entire landscape with single-family home deserts really cannot be the future. Infrastructure costs for the public also rise enormously because all the pipes, lines, and roads must be built and maintained.

You are basically right, but I would like to differentiate a few things. 1. The fact that holidays and other everyday comforts have become more common is mainly because they have actually become much cheaper relative to the average income. 2. The subjective impression of whether many people are building or not certainly also depends strongly on the social environment you are moving in. 3. The costs of road construction in settlements are, to my knowledge, usually charged to the residents (but this may vary depending on the municipality). The installation of utility connections, at least to a large extent, and the maintenance of the lines are charged to the users. Only the maintenance of the roads is paid from general tax revenues.

Buying below market price is a fine art that cannot be learned with just a few tips on the internet.

As far as Barthel's tips concern buying next to the market instead of on the market, it will never be about acquisitions under conditions that take advantage of sellers, but merely about avoiding proximity to market overheating hotspots and the like; so it is more about buying from market-shy sellers, but at a fair price. No one has a moral "Christian duty" to let me be ripped off just so I get something I cannot afford.

Have forced auctions already been mentioned?

Forced auctions are top-notch +++ suitable for perfecting one's frustration as a non-finder: auctions often turn into bidding battles – moreover regularly for a pig in a poke, because many properties could not be viewed from the inside beforehand. Not a few properties are neglected shelters in ruins of fate, and it is not uncommon for the still-to-be-evicted remaining residents to transfer the model of "extended (social) suicide" to the properties and leave them in conditions from which even rent nomads "could still learn something." Having to completely chip off nicotine-yellowed wall plaster is not even the peak yet.

The classic: Move further away! How far? To the Uckermark and commute 1.5 hours each way every day?

Commuting from Bernau/Wandlitz to Berlin means standing in traffic jams through Lindenberg and Malchow, 1.5 hours of traffic jam per way, you don't need the Uckermark for that.