High construction costs with rising building interest rates

You don’t really believe that a house has been completely worn out for 30-40 years and then that continues seamlessly after purchase, do you?

I built my first house in 1990 and lived in it for 25 years, then rented it out, then sold it. After 20 years I made two smaller bathrooms out of one too big bathroom, but purely for aesthetic/practical reasons; the structure would still have been flawless. I was there recently and saw that nothing had been done there, so that’s now already 35 years. As I heard further, nothing had been done inside either, except maybe paint. The original solid wood floor is still there, just like the back then high-quality kitchen from Bax, and the original oil heating is still running. You can move in right away and live very well, only paint or wear-and-tear would need to be addressed. I was at the neighbor’s, who built a similar house next door the same year, it’s no different there. Changes in the garden or moving a door, etc., or a bathroom purely for aesthetic reasons as well, and she still lives there. I don’t know where sees it that way or why it shouldn’t be like this elsewhere.

You have a 35-year-old bathroom and even if you just tile it, etc., you quickly have 20k to pay.

Then I’m not surprised anymore if no other solution is found. It’s maybe also a matter of laziness or lack of willingness/imagination to create something nice with less money or your own resources. I gave here a prime example of a single woman and even explained exactly why; so why shouldn’t a guy in the prime of life be able to manage it too? If you want to book all-inclusive from the catalog, you have to pay for it, it’s the same with holidays where people complain about the high prices. Keeping your eyes open, not only in traffic, helps. In my example the house is near Augsburg, so don’t tell horror stories here but of course you also have to be flexible in several respects, there never was a wish concert.

The toilet bowl in the "modern" bathroom has a power connection.

Is that part of a "modern" bathroom? Yes, absolutely.

setting new accents and going with the trends

Recognizable in few words where all the money is senselessly flowing and making the whining reflex even stronger. I read out that there is especially a lack of imagination how and what one can maybe do with more limited possibilities; this here is pure catalog thinking and yes, it is expensive, in construction, traveling, eating out and elsewhere. Customers pay for it because they themselves don’t develop ideas and complain about the lack of money. So I recognize here where the general problem is – comfortable shop-window-shopping when building a house.

The living space per capita has increased by almost 40% over the last 30 years, for example (but this is not only due to preferences, but also due to an increase in single-person apartments). And hardly anyone was probably unhappy in the mid-90s.

However, age cohorts should also be considered. The 60+ generation lives in the largest apartments/houses, since they remain in their properties even after the children have moved out, and thus has the highest living space consumption of all cohorts. This is probably one of the main reasons for the increased living space consumption.

In a "modern" bathroom, the toilet bowl has an electrical connection. Didn’t you know that? You can also do a lot visually with light, the mirror has become digital, and much more. Bathrooms that are 30-40 years old don’t allow any of that. Do you need all that? Of course not. Is it part of a "modern" bathroom? Yes, absolutely.

So I am right in my assessment that the exaggerated expectations are the reason why no one can afford a new house anymore. None of this has anything to do with a "modern" bathroom, but rather they are price-driving "gadgets." Nothing more and nothing less.

Houses from the late 80s/early 90s are simply no longer affordable for the general public in some regions (e.g. Rhein-Main), as they easily cost 500k+X.

When I just enter Ffm and a little surrounding area on Immoscout, over 100 houses under 500k appear. There you have the full range from well renovated a few years ago to nothing done since the 60s. But you have endless choice. Of course, many properties drop out for individual reasons - condition, size, number of rooms, location, location, location. But if you are flexible, you can still buy well today. And in this direction, you can also get new construction projects in the Rhein-Main area. Then it's the usual suspects like Wilma, Deutsche Reihenhaus or similar, starting at prices from 420k. Exactly these properties also sell like hotcakes.

In the "modern" bathroom, the toilet bowl has a power connection. Didn't you know that? You can also do a lot visually with light,

I'm laughing my head off right now. As if light while taking a dump is modern – screw that!

I question the entire thesis that people with an 80s - 90s childhood are now often worse off. Where is that supposed to be? In my opinion, it is about something else: The leap can hardly be as big as the one their parents made from their parents. But that is a doubly relative problem, not an absolute one. Actually, it is not a problem at all.