House purchase single-family house built in 77 how to assess?

Hello 11ant,

that is hard to answer.
Put simply: On a scale from 1-10, considering all aspects, the house is a solid 6.

PRO:

[*]Floor plans are great. There is enough space on the upper and ground floor for a study, children's rooms, etc. Only the wall between the kitchen and living room still needs to come down
[*]The basement is also great. Unfortunately "only" 2 meters ceiling height but well...
[*]The plot is also good - sufficiently large (the wish at the start of the search was the unrealistic 1000m²) for the kids to play and to grow fruit, vegetables, etc. and it is flat.
[*]The location is good in that the grandparents are next door and the town has everything we need for living. We don't want to drive 10km for shopping, the doctor, pharmacy, etc. The children should be able to find friends in town, attend school there, and so on. Such things.

CON:

[*]When I read that prefab houses have a lifespan of 50-90 years, I get queasy, since we have to assume the lower end, because it was built in 1977. My parents built with Weberhaus in 1980, which still has the original roof, original pipes, original insulation, even the original plaster, etc. The difference in condition (for me as a layman) is incomparable. We would have liked to buy a solid house or a high-quality prefab house of a newer year.
[*]Therefore, we assume - God willing and if our life planning somewhat works out - that in 30-40 years we will not get more than the land value for the house (by the way according to appraisal 300€, as it is a partial development from the main town with 495€ in the newest building area) and the safe investment for retirement - which would definitely be given for a single-family house from e.g. the 2000s - is only limitedly available. One child would have to tear down the house and at most build on the basement. (Yes, I know - they are going to move away anyway :))
[*]Energy consumption - is probably high and cannot be reduced without appropriate financial effort - so:
[*]The fear of renovation effort you mentioned. We plan a little over 100,000€ for the roof including insulation (through roofing brother), windows, floors by own work, water pipes, etc. - that will be tight given the effort required.

I find the statement about the search interesting.
We have spent several hundred euros on search ads in the newspapers in recent years. Even ads with a 5,000€ finder’s fee for purchase prices up to 500,000€ were unsuccessful. We have been to about 50 houses and have always ended up at at least 600,000€ after renovation.

It is and remains, I think, a question of demands. We would have had a house with 100m² living space and 200m² land long ago.
A house in a small town (the "backwater" was not meant disrespectfully) we would have as well a long time ago. In other federal states anyway. But a house in this area in the 10,000-inhabitant town with a quiet and sunny location, built from 1980 onward, >150m² living space and >600 m² land for <500,000€ does not exist.
We fail at our demands and will continue to do so and will have to continue living in a rented house for currently 1500€, because we are not willing to lower these demands.

Why was or is 500k your limit? Last year still easily doable even with 4k HEK

Hey AndreasB.,

we seem to have had a pretty similar path with similar expectations. I really feel your words when you write that you are "tired of waiting," because it is commonly said that it will get better. We are also stuck in one place and that simply restricts us enormously.

In the end, it is probably a gut decision that no one can take away from you. When you close your eyes and think of the house, see your family in it, how you celebrate Christmas and rather smile, then go for it. But if you rather clench and feel it is more of a last-minute panic, then leave it and keep looking. And if you remain neutral, then make a counteroffer at a price you find reasonable and see what happens. Then there is not too much to lose.

If you keep looking: We actually never had a response to ads and listings, but really quite a few to handwritten/painted cards. I think we dropped about 50 cards and got at least 10 responses with the explicit remark that they found the cards so pretty and therefore contacted us. Especially the older generation seems to appreciate the handmade.

I wish you lots of success anyway :)

I think it is and remains a question of standards. We would have had a house with 100m² of living space and 200m² of land a long time ago. We would also have had a house in a small town (the "Kaff" was not meant derogatorily) a long time ago. In other federal states, definitely. But a house in this area, in the 10,000-inhabitant town with a quiet and sunny location, built after 1980, with more than 150m² of living space and more than 600m² of land for less than 500,000€ — no. We fail because of our standards and will continue to do so and have to keep living in a rental house for currently 1500€, because we are not willing to lower these standards.

Look, you have a very good and solid assessment of the market in your area. You probably are not long-term searchers because you haven’t understood "how things work." But under the conditions you mention, you have to either make certain compromises — in size, quality, or location — or you just keep looking for the needle in the haystack. But finding it will be difficult because very, very many people are searching. If that is your standard, then I would quickly consider joining the choir and the municipal council. Because these needles generally really do get sold discreetly.

My tip: Ask around in the daycare, sports club, or at the local banks and brokers. From experience, I know that the reasonably priced houses in good locations + with good features get sold discreetly. Just show some interest with the brokers. We got many offers through interested parties lists. None of them were on the internet. When there is a good residential property in a nice location, the broker just calls through the list and contacts you. Mostly, the internet had overpriced junk. And 1500 rent per month is also not little. Naturally, I would prefer to put that into repayment. But look at it positively, when the famous 10 years are over (3-13 years), then kids don't need a garden anymore and you can move with all the equity into a nice penthouse apartment in your city. But good luck with the search and greetings from the sticks. PS: Otherwise, feel free to negotiate calmly, since you have nothing to lose anyway. Just offer 295000 and wait for the reaction.

And I also recommend getting involved in a club. Be it a sports or singing club. There you will get tips and maybe snag a house that way.

I find the statement about searching fascinating.
We have spent several hundred euros in recent years on search ads in newspapers. Even ads with a 5000€ tipster commission for purchase prices up to 500,000€ were unsuccessful.

Going full throttle on the wrong paths and increasing the dose if necessary: that is the biggest commonality of unsuccessful searchers ;-)

If you keep searching: we hardly ever got any response to ads and listings, but to handwritten/painted cards quite a few. I think we dropped around 50 cards and definitely received about 10 responses with the explicit note that they found the cards so pretty and therefore contacted us. Especially the older generation seems to appreciate the handmade.

Right. Relationship and positive emotion. Sellers (or so far non-sellers) and the people through whom you get contact to them are "also just human".

And I also recommend getting involved in a club. Whether in a sports or singing club. That’s where you get tips and might be able to snag a house.

They don’t have to be clubs where you have to regularly attend choir rehearsals or similar practices (and it is correspondingly counterproductive if you don’t / can’t / won’t do so).

Most of what’s on the internet was overpriced junk.

Admittedly somewhat exaggerated and maliciously said, the portals are real estate agent garbage disposal ;-)