Is building and renting a semi-detached house reasonable as a capital investment?

You cannot get rich with real estate, only richer. A greenhorn first needs play money to digest the bloody noses he gets from seemingly good opportunities. By the way, at auctions you have to be able to pay immediately, i.e. you should actually already have the financing in your pocket when you go.

Nonsense. With 10 units you simply earn 10 times as much in case of doubt. No more and no less.

If you are the (proud) owner of an apartment and end up with a rent nomad, the return on this apartment is negative for decades. You can only minimize this risk by diversifying broadly. Many apartments, different buildings, sizes, locations.

By the way, I would generally have apartments managed. Privately managed buildings almost all eventually reach the verge of collapse. (Oops, heating broken, new roof and two water damages in one year?! And the building is only 40 years old...)

And since you mentioned cash flow: you just have to have one tenant who stops paying for a couple of months and at the same time a second tenant moves out and the apartment is empty for three months due to renovation and searching for a new tenant, and then the cash flow is done. Nothing flows! Only the bank debit.

Therefore, I disagree with your claim that I write "nonsense."

If you are the (proud) owner of an apartment and end up with a rent nomad, the return on this apartment is negative for decades. You can only minimize this risk by diversifying widely. Many apartments, different buildings, sizes, locations.

I minimize the risk with my apartments by thoroughly screening the tenant. Whoever doesn’t like that should rent elsewhere.
For 20 years only short-term vacancy due to fluctuation. There aren’t that many rent nomads either.

By the way, I would basically have apartments managed. Privately managed buildings almost all end up on the verge of collapse at some point. (Oh dear, heating broken, new roof and two water damages in one year?! And the building is only 40 years old...)

This is about managing apartments, not buildings. The building itself is managed anyway for the homeowners’ association. Normally, it doesn’t collapse because reserves have to be built up. Then the new heating is paid from the reserve. That’s quite normal.

And since you mentioned cash flow: If only one tenant stops paying for a couple of months and at the same time a second tenant moves out and the apartment stands empty for three months due to renovation and searching for a new tenant, then cash flow is gone. Nothing flows anymore! Only the bank debits.

What do you want to tell me with that? That has nothing to do with location, tenant, or number of apartments. Tenant changes always happen.
BUT: I pay less purchase price and have less financing for an apartment in the normal or simple segment – relatively compared to an expensive apartment. I’d rather buy a 10% yield apartment than a 2% one in a top location, where I don’t really earn money and rather speculate on value appreciation.

But I agree with you, whoever wants to buy a rented property (whether a small apartment or directly a residential complex) should be aware that real estate also costs money during ongoing operation and that extraordinary expenses can always arise. So the buyer’s creditworthiness must be good.
Saving taxes with real estate only pays off when you pay a lot of taxes – i.e. once you have reached the top tax rate. Then I also like to renovate and let the state pay 42% of the costs. By the way, this also applies to temporary vacancies.

Nordanney, you apparently have several apartments. So our opinions are not that far apart. And if it has been going well for you for a long time, you obviously have experience and a good touch. But this thread is also somewhat about avoiding blue-eyed young fortune seekers, right?

By the way, can you explain this to me? I want that too:

Dann renoviere ich auch gerne mal und lass den Staat 42% der Kosten bezahlen.

(Gladly by PM, it doesn't have to be everyone’s business