Plan the house first and only then buy the land?

Yes, but that is exactly what I don't want. What good does it do me if I buy a 600 sqm plot now and nothing fits on it because of the development plan due to max. ridge height, plot ratio, floor space index, everything is limited. That's already a few sqm of living space plus a large terrace and garage, etc.

Yes, but that's exactly what I don't want. What's the use if I buy a 600 sqm plot now and due to the development plan nothing fits on it because everything is limited by max. ridge height, floor area ratio, floor space index. That's already a few sqm of living space plus large terrace and garage, etc.

That, of course, is useless. You have to buy a plot with 1500-2000 sqm. Then there shouldn't be any problem with floor area ratio and floor space index. Hmm... ridge height... It's best to buy a plot near venerable villas. They are usually quite tall (the villas, of course) and the plots are mostly large as well. Give your desired architect the commission to find a suitable plot; for a small commission of 5-10 percent of the plot price, he will surely be happy to do it. Or place an ad in the real estate section of FAZ with clear wishes. You'll see, for a bit of money, you can get everything...

I want the 5m distance from the terrace, not from the garage.
I roughly come to 250-300 sqm of living space without including the terrace. A basement is not necessary. I am open to anything, whether ground floor/upper floor, or converted garage, or converted attic, or with upper and lower ground floors. But the architect should bring all our wishes together. Equity capital 450-500k. We want to take out a loan of a maximum of 200k. Maybe we won't even need a loan. We don't know exactly yet. So in any case, we will have 700k available, maybe even more.

700k€ sounds like a lot at first, but with the fittings and a 2000 sqm plot, this barrier could also fall. Nevertheless, this is the best equity to debt ratio I have read here so far. Congratulations on that.

Well, I wouldn't say rural. Highway A66 right on the doorstep, 1 km to the ramp. Train station, shopping facilities, school, kindergarten, doctor, dentist, restaurants all available. Residential area between Fulda and Frankfurt. Not exactly in the middle of nowhere.

And are there that many plots of land?

Regarding heating and hanging laundry, a question for everyone. Is that still the case? I know that you should definitely not hang laundry in the heating room because the heating system is too sensitive for that.

Is that still the case?

Was it ever like that?
For us, it was always said that the boiler room is the warmest, driest room in the house and also forcibly ventilated. Sounds actually ideal for drying laundry. We also followed this later in apartments in multi-family houses. The laundry was always very quick to dry.

I just think that our house doesn't even fit on the plots in the new development area. The largest plots are 680 sqm and have a maximum ridge height of 9.5 m.

That rather doesn't sound like up to four floors (for what?), and for example with a floor area ratio/site coverage ratio of 0.2/0.4, about 136 sqm of built-up area - let's say around 215 to 230 sqm of living space. Read the development plan with all the bells and whistles - then you'll know what's allowed.