No building plot can be found in the southern part of Schleswig-Holstein

In the Düsseldorf surrounding area, one feels very insignificant as an ordinary mortal building a house

And you immediately get two things from the Munich people by the boatload: envy because of the land prices and pity because of the wasteland :-)

And they are getting two things from the people of Munich by the shipload: envy because of the land prices and pity because of the sticks and stones :-)

True :) Again on the topic of finding land. We were just on our plot again, which we found through searching for building gaps on tim-online (online cadastre) and knocking on doors on weekends. My wife’s former teacher came by today and told us that her son has been unsuccessfully looking for a plot exactly in the area for 3 years. She was quite surprised that we got it now. The former owner lives directly across the street. In 10 years she was approached twice about it. No more. It’s not a prime piece due to the border development either. But now everyone thinks it’s really cool because we are already starting to remodel it. Since the construction sign has been up (about 2 months), the former owner has already been approached countless times, as people didn't even know it was for sale. They definitely would have been interested for their children/grandchildren, etc. This simply shows: the vast majority of people are comfortable and just want to buy the land on the market. That means huge opportunities for anyone who gets involved to beat the others to it. Especially if the owner lives directly in the neighborhood, sympathy plays a huge role. After all, they want nice neighbors. The price obviously has to be right too. But we’ve always had good experiences with that... nobody wanted to rip us off.

This simply shows: the vast majority of people are lazy and just want to buy the property on the market.
That means huge opportunities for everyone who gets involved to get ahead of the others.

The deer should just voluntarily shoot itself and lie in front of the hunting stand, otherwise, what is the internet for ...

Especially if the owner(s) live directly in the neighborhood, sympathy plays a huge role. After all, they want nice neighbors. Of course, the price must also be right. But we always had good experiences with that... no one wanted to rip anyone off.

If the chemistry is right, the price can be agreed upon together - at least from private individuals.

It simply shows: the vast majority of people are comfortable and just want to buy the property on the market.
That means huge opportunities for anyone who is committed to get ahead of the others.

Especially if the owner lives directly in the neighborhood, sympathy plays a huge role. After all, they want nice neighbors. Of course, the price must also be right. But we have always had good experiences with that... no one really wanted to rip anyone off.

Well, when I read and see how horrified owners of building gaps/grandchildren’s plots react to an officially announced building obligation, I honestly don’t believe that the majority of owners are just waiting to be approached about possible sales intentions. And it is no secret that private land prices are usually significantly above what the municipality requires. Exceptions prove the rule. I would also rather wait for the next new development area than pay 100% over the standard land value. When financing, the bank doesn’t care how much you paid over value. They calculate the property with the comparative value.
Sure, if I have the money lying around, making an offer the owner cannot refuse can massively shorten the search time, possibly. Every owner has a pain threshold somewhere. But the majority of prospective builders nowadays have to watch every euro. And the so-called “cream” of building gaps usually aren’t really that great, often lying dormant in the heart of the city for 20 years or more. And even if significantly more people used this form of acquisition, there would still be too few plots for too many prospective builders in the end—with even higher prices for private building land than already.

The thing is this. You would find building land in South Holstein and Central Holstein if you were willing to live in a village setting. And if you abandon the idea that the opn Dörp, as the Hamburgers somewhat disparagingly like to say, are stupid and therefore sell for next to nothing.

Well, when I read and see how appalled owners of building gaps/grandchildren’s plots react to an officially announced building obligation, I honestly don’t believe that the majority of owners are just waiting to finally be asked about potential sales intentions. And it’s no secret that private land is usually priced well above what the municipality demands. Exceptions prove the rule. I would also rather wait for the next new development area than pay 100% above the standard land value. The bank doesn’t care how much you paid over value when financing. They calculate the land at the comparative value. Sure, if I have the cash lying around to make an offer that the owner cannot refuse, that can massively shorten the search time. Somewhere almost every owner has a pain threshold. But nowadays, most prospective builders have to watch every euro. And the prime spots are usually not the building gaps that have been lying dormant in town for 20 years or more. And even if significantly more people pursued this form of acquisition, in the end there would still be too few plots for too many prospective builders – and even higher prices for privately sold building land than there already are.

I cannot confirm the shock. We have always had a nice chat with the neighbors. If they themselves were the owners, it was 99% a relaxed conversation. So I can absolutely not understand the OP’s experiences.

They are rarely prime spots – you’re right about that. For us, the disadvantage is the boundary development. But as I said: once it was clear that the plot could be sold in principle, quite a few wanted it. We got it below the standard land value. Another plot we could have gotten exactly at the standard land value.

And your tip to wait for a plot from the municipality is only halfway good here in the area for two reasons:
1. About 20-50 applicants compete for a municipal plot. You often hear of 2-3 years of searching for a plot here without finding one. So maybe they're still searching for 2-3 more years.
2. The municipalities here have almost completely switched to bidding procedures. You can imagine the prices when looking at point 1. Far from bargains ;)

You’re right: if everyone did it that way, the system wouldn’t work. But: hardly anyone does it yet. We have already given the tip to some people in our circle. They all thought it was good at first. But no one has really seriously done it yet. It’s very abstract at first: searching for plots using a map. At first, you don’t see if it’s really nice. And then it becomes time-consuming and frustrating. It swallows at least one day of the weekend. You drive to the plots, ring neighbors’ doorbells and get 90% direct rejections. You try to research the remaining 10% afterwards, with another 90% rejections.

So for me, it doesn’t sound like everyone will be doing this soon ;)