How I find a house that suits me within an appropriate timeframe

Type "11ant Barthel" into the forum search, then you should find my related tips. Where you do not want to go is not really a good starting point; rather, create a positive hit list of places where you would like it best (but keep in mind that half a million is not much money today for a house with land).

I have not read everything now. Has it already been asked what an "appropriate time" is? We searched for three years for an existing house (which is not that long) and in the end, luckily found a plot of land, which is almost impossible for us. What is appropriate?

I am not particularly hopeful about the search for the OP ...

What is appropriate?

Appropriate is the time I need to select exactly the house I want through systematic and maximally efficient searching. As long as my search does not stagnate or I do not fall into blind actionism, the time is well spent. Blind actionism would be driving all over Germany and knocking on the doors of every old house or throwing something in the mailbox. You took 3 years. Why not half a year? A month? Houses come back on the market again and again. Often daily. Was your approach effective? Yes, you have a house. Efficient? Certainly not. Can anyone here answer my question about systematic searching? Systematic = "following a system" = "following a principle by which something is structured, organized."

Even for us, it only works through connections, word of mouth.

And what do I get from that now? How does that help me with the search?

If you are that flexible, I can recommend Goslar (Harz) and the surrounding area. Beautiful region, reasonably priced, and you have a 1-hour drive to Hannover (airport). You can shop in Goslar; you’ll find everything there.

That is an interesting idea. How would you use "word of mouth" here? Who would you ask?

That reminds me of the question about the pattern of the flooring.
What do you want to hear?
How does one want to proceed "systematically" there?
Houses are either there or not. They are in a pleasing location or not. You like them or not. They are worth their money or not. And so on and so forth... and then when you find something, you decide.
Above all, what is "efficient"? Do you want to evaluate watts/performance like with a computer?

And since you ask that way; yes, our approach was "efficient," if you can call it that.
After three years, we experienced that something we had in mind can only be found for 700K+ € and that it also needs renovation. Now we are building ourselves, for the same money, the way we want, at our desired place and with our desired equipment.

You took 3 years. Why not half a year? A month? Houses come back on the market again and again. Often daily. Was your approach effective? Yes, you have a house. Efficient? Certainly not.

Imagine there are people who have a fixed workplace, children, or other circumstances that exclude a nationwide house search. The market in some cities is empty or unaffordable. For 500,000 € you only get a house that needs complete renovation, uninhabitable for a family. You are single, right? Ironically, you yourself are still at the beginning and have already noticed that your approach has not produced a usable property. There were many tips here that were systematic. Please get off your high horse and follow the tips. Bush telegraph means friends, colleagues, clubs, etc. Have you done that already?