Land prices and standard land value and tips for land search

You won’t make locals extroverted by just having a club membership. That’s coming across wrong here – at least that’s how it reads.
The purpose of the local resident model is precisely not to give priority to people like you.

I just read about the local resident model on Wikipedia... So the policy also wants outsiders not to be able to settle here. On the one hand, municipalities like to have large local companies – but the employees who contribute to trade tax revenue are preferably allowed to commute from the surrounding region, while apparently living in the town itself is undesirable... And all this fuss about climate change and CO2 emissions... Whoever wants to understand that, can.
The same goes for the new development area in Verl-Kaunitz, which Jean-Marc brought to my attention. There you are only admitted to the lottery if you live in Verl or have lived in Verl for at least 10 years. At least there is an exception for people who work in Verl... Since this applies to my partner, we are fortunately qualified for the lottery.

But you don’t conduct business from a moving car, nor do you make contacts that way.

Now honestly: when you want to find out whether there are vacancies in a town 20 km away, do you really walk through the residential areas just to be disappointed in the evening that you only covered a quarter of the town and your search was fruitless? Sorry, my time is too precious for that. If I had found something interesting by car, yes, then I would have also looked for ways to find out more. That would certainly have involved a walk in the area including asking neighbors. I really find it ridiculous that everyone keeps harping on me making exploratory drives by car...

Maybe in an emergency the radius should not be drawn too narrowly?

The radius is determined by the distance to our workplaces, family, and friends, and I thought my search radius of around 600 km² was already big enough... Sure, we could move to Kalletal, where there is super cheap building land. But nobody wants to be dead hanging over the fence there. If our commuting times and fuel costs then triple, not much is gained...

There is also a lot to read in the construction costs subforum ;)

Yes, there is a lot of helpful information here in the forum; I haven’t read anything else for days...
I’ve already found the construction costs subforum and am reading a lot there too. For a realistic cost estimate, however, a lot of contradictory opinions are also to be found there, which is certainly due to regionally differing cost structures. That’s why I’m grateful when additional input from people in my region regarding costs comes in. In my rough estimate of building costs, I’m not too far off compared to OWL residents. Only with the ancillary costs, I had counted on significantly less, so I’ll have to educate myself further there. Before it gets serious, of course, we will calculate as precisely as possible. But when it comes to the question of how much a plot of land may cost, you have to make do with estimates and experiences from others – without a specific plot, the construction calculation is pointless.

Thank you for the assessment. For the house, my estimate was about €2500/sqm. Are the additional costs really that high? I would have expected about half. I would have estimated the rest just like you, of course without any experience, just a gut feeling.

Well, anything is possible. With a construction price of €2500 per sqm, you should be "future-proof" in terms of calculation.

Additional costs depend on the plot and the soil report of the building ground. With very fine Senne sand, it may be that you only have to pay for a few hours of excavator work and the disposal. But it can also be that you have waterproof clay/loam that has to be replaced and deposited for €20,000. With a slope, for example – which is very common between the Wiehen Hills and Teuto – you might run into significant problems with a bungalow.

Also, the local utilities usually cover a flat rate for 3 meters of pipeline/street to the house connection in the development costs. If you have a 20-meter installation distance, it will become considerably more expensive.

As always, it depends. We were lucky that the general contractor estimated our earthworks for financing at just under €20,000 (for the basement), and it ended up costing less than €14,000. However, we still have to raise the garden significantly because half of the basement still sticks out due to the slope.

I just read about the local resident model on Wikipedia... So it is also politically desired that outsiders cannot settle down. On the one hand, municipalities like local large companies – but the employees, who contribute to the trade tax revenue there, are gladly allowed to commute from the surrounding region to work; however, living in the town itself is apparently undesirable... And all this amid all the fuss about climate change and CO2 emissions... Whoever wants to understand, let them. The same applies to the new development area in Verl-Kaunitz, which Jean-Marc brought to my attention. There, you are only admitted to the lottery if you live in Verl or have lived in Verl for at least 10 years. At least an exception is made for people who work in Verl... Since this applies to my partner, luckily we qualify for the lottery.

This is a very one-sided view. On the other hand, the established families complain that they cannot get an affordable building plot in their hometown because "outsiders" are taking the places. People who grew up there, have their social ties there, parents, grandparents. They would have to move away if they want to build something. "Politics" has an ungrateful task here because someone always feels treated unfairly. And honestly, most point allocations also take into account that someone works locally.

First of all, I wish you much success in your search – and patience – and luck.
Your approach is logical. You have identified an area and are working through it – taking into account a certain efficiency regarding time (on foot – for that you lack the time. This approach can be compared to trawling.
Another option would be the counterpart to fly fishing – after all, you don’t want as many as possible, but exactly one property. It’s a question of intensity, of careful research where exactly you want to live, and then comes what criminals call "social engineering." Suddenly, walking or biking becomes effective. You build small connections, go to the baker, the town hall, and so on. Of course, this only works to a limited extent during Corona times – but it is much easier to achieve good quality contacts with fewer contacts. Maybe you’re not the type for that – I consider this alternative method very promising. In a short time, you can also build a network that keeps its ears open for you and searches latently. In this way, you combine intensity and effectiveness.
The component of luck always remains, of course. But you can choose which "lottery" you play. Give it a try.

This is a very one-sided view. On the other hand, the long-established families complain that they cannot get an affordable building plot in their place of residence because "outsiders" take the places away. People who grew up there, have their social ties there, parents, grandparents. They would have to move away if they want to build something. "Politics" has an ungrateful task in this regard because someone always feels treated unfairly. And honestly, most point allocations also take into account that someone works locally.

I can understand the reasons, but there are other solutions to the problem. Housing shortage is not tackled with distribution policies. The municipalities also have the power to designate more building land. I still remember well the development area in the mid-90s where my parents built. Back then, an entirely new district was created, with hundreds of plots. Why is something like that no longer done today? When a new development area does emerge nowadays, you can be glad if there are more than two dozen parcels. And those probably are not even enough for the locals... Apart from work and "birthright," there can also be other reasons why settling in a place is legitimate. And these reasons can certainly also be an enrichment for the place.

The employees, however, who contribute to the trade tax revenue there, are gladly allowed to commute from the surrounding region,

Ideally, employees can be found in the vicinity, that is, also nearby. Ideally. Only in this way does a municipality benefit from a company that settles there.

Since this applies to my life partner, fortunately we qualify for the lottery procedure.

That’s already great.
A colleague has been living with his wife in his municipality for 7 years, also works within 5 km in the public sector, but doesn’t earn enough points for the building area in his corner...

That would certainly have also included a walk around the area including asking the neighbors. That everyone keeps harping on me doing reconnaissance drives by car is really ridiculous....

That’s how it’s meant, too: get out and knock on doors. Driving by has never established any contact.
Good luck!