Inherited equity, what to do, experiences?

Hello everyone,

my husband was a bit skeptical when I told him I was going to get some tips from the house construction forum! But we are both really thrilled about every comment! There are such great food for thought for us, even if some of you surely think: my god, she’s naive.

And to everyone from the Ruhr area: Best regards!! And thanks for the personal experiences from home!!

At some point we decided on a new build. Exactly what we NEVER wanted. For us personally, building with a general contractor was the only option. In the end, it was the "evil" .
Short and sweet: the construction time was great!

Great! I’m happy for you! We will now take a closer look at the many hints regarding the topic of house construction. There are really great contributions here in the forum. Tomorrow we will look at a semi-detached house in Ratingen Lintorf. I also find the prices in Ratingen partly quite extreme, honestly, you can feel the proximity to Düsseldorf. You said you lived in Ratingen until 2022. Would you generally consider Ratingen as “livable” for a family with small children? I’m a bit worried because of the proximity to Düsseldorf Airport. At Baldeney Lake and in Kettwig, planes dart over your head every 3 minutes.

: Too bad, we are orienting more in the other direction. The heavy traffic really annoys us. We both lived many years in a quiet little town in Baden-Württemberg and only rode bicycles. Back in the Ruhr area I think that was the biggest culture shock. But we actually also like Dortmund a lot; a cousin inherited a nice little house there. We already looked at the Bonava project in Hattingen back in January. The location wasn’t right for us. I keep checking their homepage and I think the marketing is progressing somewhat slowly. I will take a look at all the other projects, thanks very much for the list!

If anyone here is wondering by now: What’s her problem anyway? They have money, so she should just go ahead and buy a house. My parents don’t have so much, and when I talk to them about the houses we are currently looking at, I feel a bit shabby, even though we financially support them and they are very happy for us. In contrast to my parents-in-law with whom everything is great and to whom we are of course infinitely grateful, but who did not expect this much hesitation on our part.

It really feels good to hear that we should take our time and that it is really much about gut feeling (not exactly my strength, that’s what my husband is for). Also with the current interest rate situation. That it is important to seek professional advice and which houses you should rather keep your hands off or where you should plan a large financial cushion. How to negotiate (of course we want to treat the homeowners with respect). I felt a bit lost the last weeks with all the information pouring in.

Bernd got 600k for his house three years ago. My house is much nicer. I want 700k! There will be no negotiating! That’s what the realtors hear and they tear their hair out.

This comment also gave me a lot to think about. I have never considered the price question like this before! Of course, nobody likes to negotiate. We wouldn’t either!

And last but not least: We looked at the bungalow and came away from the viewing very positive. In our opinion, it is extremely well equipped and the owners apparently thought of everything. Can I post a floor plan? To the forum pros: What’s the best way to do that without making everyone roll their eyes afterwards.

Thank you very much

The heavy traffic is really annoying. We both lived for many years in a quaint little town in BW and only rode bikes. Back in the Ruhr area, I think that was the biggest culture shock :D

I can absolutely relate. When we moved here, I was also surprised at how many people do almost everything by car. I’m not really a bike person, but we’ve already looked carefully from the house to see how we can get where and if it can work with as little car use as possible. But my husband actually suffers the most from having to get to Essen, though he’s at least determined to manage most of it by bike and train, but we’ll see how that settles in (Pun intended). We also have the option to work from home, which makes it less painful (whether with a car or not). Otherwise, it’s not a dream location, but for us, many checkboxes were ticked with this location (supermarket within walking distance, downtown and hobbies by bike, at least one workplace reachable by public transport), though exactly what those checkboxes look like can vary individually ;)

If anyone here is wondering by now: What’s her problem anyway? They have money, she should just go ahead and buy a house

Oh nonsense, I think most people carefully think through such an investment. You only realize what’s important to you and how this stuff even works right now. And maybe also that the jack of all trades doesn’t exist (or it would be too expensive) and you have to make compromises. And then someone on the forum says, “that compromise, that’s just NOT acceptable,” and you get insecure again. So here’s a tip: in the end, you decide what’s important to you.

Can I post a floor plan?

Well, whether you can or not, I don’t know :p Just kidding. Some don’t like to post them (because, like, maybe the seller doesn’t want that or I don’t want that). I don’t think there are really any generally accepted rules. The forum always likes to look at floor plans, but often also doesn’t like more specialized solutions (just a heads up). Links are forbidden here, uploading pictures is okay, or also “references” like “on portal xy ID 12345” are quite common. If you want feedback on the floor plan, also take a look at the questionnaire in the floor plan section: It is basically meant for new builds, but some questions also just go in the direction of “what do you actually need” in terms of space requirements etc. A floor plan can be very nicely arranged but simply not fit your needs (because you find a closed kitchen totally awful or you necessarily need a home office or something like that).

Take a look at the videos from @fertighausexperte on YouTube. There you will find many good tips for building new homes.

On the topic of purchase prices. Of course, as a seller it is difficult to set a price just right to catch the one buyer who is still willing to pay that price. On the other hand, I also find it absurd when properties remain unused (!) on the market because the seller has unrealistic price expectations.
Here with me is probably an epicenter of crazy real estate prices – here a terraced house with a towel garden from 1985 was actually sold for 1.2M, the renovation-needy 1960s mini single-family house for 1.7M. You certainly wouldn’t get either for those prices anymore. Large developers keep putting various types of properties on the market because financing fell through. I just find it responsible not to simply say "oh well, whether 600 or 700 that is only 16% more" - it is still 100k more for which you probably have to work a long time.

Therefore: take the time to also look at different concepts! For me, the "click" happened when I visited friends at the other end of the republic and was so thrilled by the sense of air and space that I told myself: Yes, exactly that fits me. For me, it is the prioritization of floor space, ventilation, and efficiency that makes me happy. I simply need the cabling of a medium data center for myself – since it would have been too expensive from the developer, I did it myself. That can be completely different for you – and the buyer’s market currently developing offers every opportunity for that.

Better to finance 600k at 4.2% than 700k at 4.0%. And the best thing always is to buy a house that makes you happy because it suits you.

Just now I drove from the above Family B to the above Family A. If you ask them whether they want to swap – not for all the money in the world.

To the forum pros: What is the best way to do this so that not everyone rolls their eyes afterwards.

You can use the questionnaire that linked in #38. There you explain that it is an existing property, not to be renovated (or accordingly), then you will receive answers. Some will of course question the whole house or not answer the question, others will give tips on whether or how you could be happy in the house, with an objective assessment, blue glasses and without fancy changes, if you also demand that in the question. It will be fine ;)

You said you lived in Ratingen until 2022. Would you generally consider Ratingen as "livable" for a family with small children? I'm a bit concerned about the proximity to Düsseldorf Airport. At Lake Baldeney and in Kettwig, planes fly over head every 3 minutes.

So Ratingen is actually a collection of smaller villages plus Ratingen City. We lived in the city... and it’s really great. Connected to Düsseldorf by S-Bahn and tram and a lovely small town center with a weekly market, etc.

Lintorf is a bit further out. But also nice! We always went to the all-weather swimming pool there and the Lintorf wine festival is a must for all Ratingen residents.
Definitely check out the departure and landing corridors of DUS airport (available online) and don’t rely on the impression during a visit. Depending on the wind direction, the takeoff and landing directions change and the corridors can be completely different. Here, too, it can already make a difference exactly where in Lintorf the house is located.

Also make sure to keep in mind that Ratingen wants to reactivate the Westbahn. Advantage: an S-Bahn stop will be created in Lintorf.
However, that could be a disadvantage if the house is near the currently quiet railway line. Construction work will probably also be necessary in Lintorf.