Wo1z3rl
2023-10-26 22:51:45
- #1
Hello everyone,
I have been a (mostly) silent reader in this forum for several years. My husband and I moved from the city to the Bavarian countryside about four years ago, and we have been looking for a suitable property for three years now. Unfortunately, we never really found the right one – sometimes we were a day late, sometimes the desired property went to the neighbor, and so on.
We are a family of four, our two children are 2 1/2 and 5 years old. I work full-time, while my husband is a stay-at-home dad and homemaker. We have good savings and an additional net income of about 4,500 euros, including child and family allowances, but excluding possible bonuses.
The situation is as follows: My grandmother owns a plot of land in our town, about 1200 m² (about 300 m² of this is a private road, so 900 m² could be built on). About a year ago, she offered to give us this land for free (the standard land value in the new development area is 135 euros per m², to put things into some perspective). After talking with my grandmother, I spoke with the potential heirs, i.e., my father and my three uncles, and initially, none of them seemed to have any problem with it. However, at least one uncle seems to have some underlying concerns, as he started talking to my grandmother about her possible will (there isn’t one), which she did not find funny at all.
The land is located right in town, has no specific development plan, and is designated as a mixed-use area in the land-use plan. The neighboring plots mostly consist of gabled roof houses, ranging from single-family homes to multi-family houses. There was an approved building permit process for this plot in 2003 for a house with a granny flat by one of my uncles, but he ultimately decided against building. The floor plans are no longer quite state of the art today (pellet heating with a large tank in the basement, etc.), I have seen them from my uncle. To make it short, my husband and I decided after all the drama (and because I am picky and would actually prefer a south or west-facing slope) to continue looking for renovation projects instead.
Now the situation in our region is such that only run-down properties are available for at least 250,000 euros, while decent houses, mostly from the 1980s, cost around 450,000 euros. In the neighboring town, there were also new semi-detached houses for 430,000 euros, but these are too small for us (missing a study), and the neighboring town is remote and has no conveniently reachable local supply facilities.
My father-in-law currently lives in the apartment next to us. If we can afford it, we would like to include him in a granny flat. Most of the older existing properties had really large living spaces with 220-300 m², so it seemed logical and reasonable to us to somehow integrate him into the planning. Of course, we would also try to do this with a new build.
The big question now is whether we should continue trying to find a renovation project or seize the opportunity and build on grandma’s land? We are thinking of a house with about 160 m² of living space, a 40 m² granny flat, and a double carport – all with a budget of about 500,000 euros plus 10% buffer? According to the rule of thumb of 3,000 euros per m², that is going to be very tight. :-( My husband usually has some free time in the mornings, but in my opinion, he lacks significant handicraft skills, so I would really try to commission all trades.
I have already compiled a list of construction companies within a radius of about 50 kilometers. The question currently occupying me is the financial stability or liquidity of the construction companies: These are usually GmbHs – How does one assess such a thing as a potential future builder? Would it be better here to avoid smaller companies and choose a larger one?
Thank you very much for reading!
I have been a (mostly) silent reader in this forum for several years. My husband and I moved from the city to the Bavarian countryside about four years ago, and we have been looking for a suitable property for three years now. Unfortunately, we never really found the right one – sometimes we were a day late, sometimes the desired property went to the neighbor, and so on.
We are a family of four, our two children are 2 1/2 and 5 years old. I work full-time, while my husband is a stay-at-home dad and homemaker. We have good savings and an additional net income of about 4,500 euros, including child and family allowances, but excluding possible bonuses.
The situation is as follows: My grandmother owns a plot of land in our town, about 1200 m² (about 300 m² of this is a private road, so 900 m² could be built on). About a year ago, she offered to give us this land for free (the standard land value in the new development area is 135 euros per m², to put things into some perspective). After talking with my grandmother, I spoke with the potential heirs, i.e., my father and my three uncles, and initially, none of them seemed to have any problem with it. However, at least one uncle seems to have some underlying concerns, as he started talking to my grandmother about her possible will (there isn’t one), which she did not find funny at all.
The land is located right in town, has no specific development plan, and is designated as a mixed-use area in the land-use plan. The neighboring plots mostly consist of gabled roof houses, ranging from single-family homes to multi-family houses. There was an approved building permit process for this plot in 2003 for a house with a granny flat by one of my uncles, but he ultimately decided against building. The floor plans are no longer quite state of the art today (pellet heating with a large tank in the basement, etc.), I have seen them from my uncle. To make it short, my husband and I decided after all the drama (and because I am picky and would actually prefer a south or west-facing slope) to continue looking for renovation projects instead.
Now the situation in our region is such that only run-down properties are available for at least 250,000 euros, while decent houses, mostly from the 1980s, cost around 450,000 euros. In the neighboring town, there were also new semi-detached houses for 430,000 euros, but these are too small for us (missing a study), and the neighboring town is remote and has no conveniently reachable local supply facilities.
My father-in-law currently lives in the apartment next to us. If we can afford it, we would like to include him in a granny flat. Most of the older existing properties had really large living spaces with 220-300 m², so it seemed logical and reasonable to us to somehow integrate him into the planning. Of course, we would also try to do this with a new build.
The big question now is whether we should continue trying to find a renovation project or seize the opportunity and build on grandma’s land? We are thinking of a house with about 160 m² of living space, a 40 m² granny flat, and a double carport – all with a budget of about 500,000 euros plus 10% buffer? According to the rule of thumb of 3,000 euros per m², that is going to be very tight. :-( My husband usually has some free time in the mornings, but in my opinion, he lacks significant handicraft skills, so I would really try to commission all trades.
I have already compiled a list of construction companies within a radius of about 50 kilometers. The question currently occupying me is the financial stability or liquidity of the construction companies: These are usually GmbHs – How does one assess such a thing as a potential future builder? Would it be better here to avoid smaller companies and choose a larger one?
Thank you very much for reading!