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

Now, let's keep things in perspective. Those were absolutely nice conversations. We took a few minutes beforehand to look around the neighborhood to see if it was even an option for us. Then we rang the neighbors' doorbells. They were mostly very nice—we politely asked if they knew who owned the property. They found it more "exciting" than disturbing. As supplicants who should feel ashamed in some way, we certainly did not feel.

Again: the real estate market doesn't have to be super tense to the point of blockage. When we're searching with our one-year-old daughter, I personally don't want to wait 10 years for a plot of land. And then another 3 years to build and move in, including formalities. Then my daughter is 14 and I can slowly start planning her moving out. I personally see no point in that...

You can also put it another way. You're either a doer or a waiter. We took our fate into our own hands. You and many others just prefer to wait.

As I have already written, of course the combination of more courage and money leads to the goal faster than character-related restraint and a limited budget. Everyone sets certain limits for themselves in what they are willing to do for a plot of land or a house. Personally, we have always limited ourselves to putting notes in mailboxes, but I also know some people who would have no problem making an approach a few days after a funeral or the move into a nursing home. Someone with such chutzpah probably gets rejected 9 times and accepted once. And probably says afterwards: "Serves you right if you just sit on your hands." - That's still not my thing. Entering someone else's property and ringing the doorbell is not quite the same, but it's also not for everyone. Fortunately, we were spared that; we could buy directly from the city. The market was still somewhat relaxed then. But I also understand that in areas where the market is under considerable pressure and almost everything is done off-market, more creativity is required.

I have the feeling that the market has been going crazy since the beginning of the year. There is hardly anything offered anymore (Corona???) and junk shacks that last year were left to rot on the portals for weeks or months are now gone from the portals within a few hours or marked as reserved. I think all the city slickers are now spoiling the market for us "locals" here. Suddenly a little house in the countryside is acceptable after all... And for normal people, nothing is left. That really makes me think and gives me the feeling that we are probably at least half a year too late :(

I don’t want to add too much to that. Just one thing again: you see it as if plots from the municipality are cheaper than from private owners. I absolutely cannot agree with that for the Düsseldorf surrounding area. There is nothing from the municipalities here regarding the standard land value. Here, bidding procedures happily drive prices up. From private owners, sympathy and payment of a reasonable price count more from my own experience. And that is often the standard land value with private sellers. Please do not compare with private sellers who actively advertise on real estate portals. They are selling for a reason. And they want to achieve the highest possible profit. By knocking on doors, you rather reach those who have not yet thought about selling.

But of course it always depends on whether
- the municipality had to (expensively) purchase the building land itself,
- it already owned the land but has to make a contractual additional payment upon conversion to building land,
- or has always owned it and does not have to make an additional payment