Is building a house becoming cheaper now?

Of course, everyone has to find the best solution for themselves that makes them happiest. But it is a fact that many are overwhelmed by a house in the long run, as the mentioned reasons naturally also burden the homeowner. People just don’t want to get help and move into an appropriate apartment because, logically, as you get older you are always afraid of change. Professional help is needed to improve living conditions. Everyone should do what they want with their house, but I see some who have sold their houses and moved to the next larger city and are so enthusiastic about the possibility of doing everything on foot that they regret not taking the step earlier. But this realization only comes later. From the perspective of one’s own house, every other living situation seems subjectively much worse, even though people are acting as if any life that doesn’t take place in a large detached house on a 1000 m2 plot isn’t worth living. What use is a house with 10 rooms if I only stay in 2 rooms, to save costs, interest burdens, and spend the whole day on 2 m2 of the 40 m2 terrace? Is the psychological view of the garden worth the stress? In a house-building forum, you mostly find users who agree with this. For me, it would definitely not be an option.

The house actually overwhelms almost everyone who believes it is a good provision for old age or cheaper than renting an equivalent house.

Especially with the technology that goes into it nowadays. My gas heating lasts 20 to 25 years, the oil boiler even longer. Heat pumps, if they are properly designed, about 20 years, most are calculated too tight, so a replacement might be necessary after 15 years... and that quickly costs 15,000... which retiree has that in the bank?

Edit: sorry for the off topic!

But due to a lack of self-reflection, of course, they keep living in it and complain about all the cleaning and weeding.

I don’t believe that. I don’t believe that older people generally complain about their weeds or things they can no longer do. The elderly have experienced far worse times than some weeds in the garden. And they can usually adapt very well to situations without immediately seeing them as a grievance.

Professional help is needed to improve living conditions.

Why? Why should someone interfere there? We are surely talking about still responsible, independent seniors?!

Better to move into a modern barrier-free new apartment in the city center. On the ground floor, you even have your own garden area, which is mowed by the property management.

Apart from the fact that city centers are full of empty and affordable housing with garden areas… why does a young person say what’s better for the senior?

Many just compulsively cling to it and don’t want to downsize in old age.

…it’s probably less about downsizing and more about being attached to what they built with their spouse. Often the seniors or the surviving partner have lived in the house for well over 50 years. The house represents the connection to the deceased spouse and… yes… in their eyes, the meaning of life. Center of life and home where they raised their family. The older generation has completely different values than young people today. While the children tend to pity grandma’s life, how she only heats 2 rooms, grandma is content… even without self-reflection. The 2 heated rooms are probably more than what she lived in with her family during childhood. Older people aged 70 and up (of course also younger) have a completely different life experience and measure many things differently than younger people… the wealth of knowledge is completely different… that’s something “you” tend to forget quite often.

What some people report here about our "old people" and how they supposedly "tick" is really hair-raising. The statement about the WP, which are allegedly calculated too tightly (undersized), also fits well. Shaking my head greetings...

And no, house construction does not get cheaper. Neither in one, nor in two... five years...

I think one has to be realistic after all. Taking care of a large house alone at an old age is just a torment for many. But due to a lack of self-reflection, people continue living in it and complain about all the cleaning and weeding. Better to move to a modern, barrier-free new apartment in the city center. On the ground floor you even have your own garden area, which is mowed by the property management. That is the ideal solution. Everything can be reached quickly (supermarket, doctor, restaurants) and still with a small garden. Yet many clinging compulsively and don’t want to downsize in old age. That is certainly understandable on a human and emotional level, but it is definitely not sensible.

yep, I have been dealing with this "theater" for weeks/months because of my daughter. Four attempts to buy a property with 400-600 m2 living space. ALL owners are retirees, mostly widows. Yesterday the son of the 86-year-old mother (seller) called, saying she should be given one more week to sign. The property has been listed since May 23rd, there was only one (1) bidder, my daughter’s offer was accepted at the end of May, handover end of September. There were no other bidders. The lady lives in a dilapidated house, it smells everywhere of dog piss, the boiler upstairs drips down to the ground floor, etc. It is 100 years old, plot 4000 m2. There are no shops nearby, you need a car or delivery service.

So, the lady broke her hip joint in her place (bed is upstairs) three weeks ago. She caught Covid in the hospital, the family drama is huge, panic, what do we do with her now. No idea what her relationship with her three children is, or how stubborn the woman is. Nobody knows what they should do now if she refuses to sign the final contract and set a move-out date. She has to go somewhere. Not exactly sure which papers have to be signed when.

The family was told in May that the signature must be submitted at the latest by Friday, August 29th, 5 pm. Now this apparently is not enough for the family, so my son-in-law informed the family that they are no longer interested in the purchase. That’s it. If the old lady had as much sense as my parents had back then, she would have been out long ago, with 3 million in her pocket, and could spend the rest of her life on the Queen Mary II.

And yes, the market is dead, no offers, no buyers. The few houses that have been listed for months mostly have a problem, bad location, etc.

Yes, and my daughter and her family have practically been homeless since mid-June because the old people won’t get off their butts. I am over 70 too, but my brain cells are still active enough to know when it is time to leave and not be a burden to others. Well, I’m not attached to the patch of land and haven’t spent my whole life in the same village, which to me would be the true nightmare, a village AND always the same surroundings, it doesn’t get more boring than that.

But you must not allow yourself such a devastating judgment about that?? Just because your daughter now has to live on the street, does that mean the old lady is missing a few brain cells?? What did they do wrong to be "homeless"? Maybe the old lady simply doesn't want three million.... what should she do with it? The last pockets are empty.... Across from us, an over-80-year-old woman also lives alone in a large house. In the evening hours, she really tends her garden excellently. Next door lives a middle-aged couple in a "hut" where you can hardly get to the front door because it is overgrown. I know some seniors who live in houses that are too big. Even if they wanted to move, there is nothing suitable available because it is not affordable or significantly more expensive than the incidental costs of the paid-off house. With the new incidental costs, that might change now, but the state will probably step in first. ....so I also do not believe in a discount.