Look for low budget options: Renovation obligations? New construction?

Hello everyone!

CURRENT SITUATION:
small 3-room city rental apartment (in a 1950s multi-family house), 2 km from the office, in a city where I live only BECAUSE of the (current) job

OUTLOOK:
I will be free to choose my place of residence from around mid-year

WANT TO HAVE:

- Place of residence:

1st choice along the Moselle from the French border - Possibly also from Metz? - to Trier or another 10 or 15 km downstream
(the Luxembourgish side would be great, if there unaffordable there then alternatively in Germany or Possibly France
--> does anyone know where I can find good information about the French tax and social security system?)

other areas/regions I might like:
along the Saar from ~Sarreguemines to ~Saarlouis
along the Rhine/Rhine Rift from about Rastatt/KA to Koblenz/possibly Andernach/Neuwied
maybe along the Main from Miltenberg to Hanau

- Space/desired property:

as much as possible and as cheap or affordable as possible
--> 30 to 50 sqm barn/shed/warehouse/well-accessible dry basement room, about 2 garage or carport spaces or the option to build a carport onto the hut
(if applicable, a "spare" garage could replace a 10 sqm shed)
preferably including a ground-floor workshop area accessible from outside

Bathroom and kitchen(s) usage, and 1 to 3 habitable = heated rooms
extra rooms welcome too, if I can easily sublet them
--> ideally in the catchment area of a university, so that I can rent out rooms not currently needed semester-wise, e.g., to Erasmus students

my own need for living space will fluctuate over the next few years:
sometimes overwintering in the sunny south or longer trips = then I basically only need an 8 sqm sleeping corner for occasional "home visits" for 1/2 year
maybe project-based freelance work, where a second room as a home office would be convenient

HOW TO REALIZE?
generally I don’t care whether purchase or rent
whereas rental apartments usually don’t offer many outbuildings/non-residential usable space...

Plan A would therefore be to buy some old hut (1930s settler house? small farmhouse?) with sufficient annexes

1st question:
what legal renovation OBLIGATIONS might come my way?
(an oven heating system would be sufficient for me ;) )

2nd question:
since the current offer of – "outdated," but still usable! – "junk properties" seems quite meager to me ... or I get the impression that old renovation projects are currently overpriced for their condition ...
are there CHEAP approaches – preferably unconventional – on how best to get new low-budget living and usable space on suitable building land?
and are there guideline values on what the sqm cost of living space or covered/dry usable space (at least) is?

in other words:
is Plan B = looking for a building gap/an unfavorably shaped leftover plot and, if I find one, buying and building new also a reasonable alternative?

PS:
my previous activities

for the first market exploration – mainly to also see the real selling prices – I selected four suitable foreclosure auction properties
two were withdrawn before the auction date
twice I was clearly outbid with my cautiously calculated limit = by about 30% and 50%
in one case at a partition auction by one of the two heiresses, who naturally had an information advantage over me, only exterior viewing ...

as an "alternative" solution, on that occasion I looked at an abandoned and for sale old gas station that offered suitable premises
I discarded it when I found out that the property has a "contamination problem"

and planned further approach:
as soon as no more night frosts are to be feared, I want to spend some extended weekends in the desired area (with a camper van) ... and look offline for suitable properties – or also (depending on your answers to Question 2) for infill plots/land ...

(luxembourg side would be great, if it is priceless there alternatively in D or possibly F
--> does anyone know where I can find good information about the French tax and social security system?)

Can you speak French? I would always advise against another country, since you inevitably have to subordinate yourself to a completely different system than in Germany. I see this with acquaintances who live in Belgium and work in Germany. Houses are cheaper, but taxes are higher.

as much as possible and as cheap or affordable as possible

--> optimally in the catchment area of a university, so that I can rent out rooms I don’t currently need semester-wise for example to Erasmus students

and 1 to 3 habitable = heated rooms
surplus rooms gladly as well, if I can sublet them easily

"outdated," but still usable! - "junk properties"

I think you have a wrong picture of students. They are not willing to live in habitable junk properties. Student cities are generally more expensive. They also don’t want to commute from a farmhouse in the countryside to the university. This idea is somewhat absurd.

If it is supposed to be as cheap as possible, then only buy what you really want and discard your rental plans. That doesn’t work.

hang out in the desired area (with a camper van) … and look offline for suitable properties – or depending on your answers to question 2 also look for building gaps/plots of land …

Have you ever been here in the forum? That sounds familiar to me ;)

You are looking for the cheap jack of all trades.

If you want to live in a dump, then this is the simplest and cheapest solution.

Renovation obligations could lie in pipe insulation and roof insulation/top floor ceiling. Possibly with the heating as well.

But since you live in a sought-after area, even that will only be relatively cheap. You have already found out the initial prices yourself. There are no bad plots for little money either, or only with massive problems (building rights, contaminated sites, development, etc.). New construction will not make sense with your modest requirements or absence thereof.

Student cities are generally more expensive. They also don’t want to commute from a farm in the countryside to the university.

concrete example: in SB-Dudweiler, 4 km from Saarland University, an auction of 950 m² of land built with a 2- to 3-family house was scheduled in mid-January in the basement 100 sqm rented --> the tenant was just on the terrace, I learned from him that the place belongs to an inheritance community, and he only wants to stay for a limited time = 3 or 4 years in the upper floor and attic approx. 160 m² have been vacant for a long time so presumably the care case / nursing home --> death --> inheritance dispute process chain land value according to appraisal 110 €/m² (for 600 m² building land) and 25 €/m² (for the remaining garden) --> market value for everything around 160,000 € so there are ALSO university towns that are cheap in terms of real estate ;) (the only annoying thing was the appointment cancellation 10 days before, the email came in just as I was filling out the transfer for the bidder’s deposit)

Rent a mobile home on the campsite and then a garage nearby?