Plot with some special features - various questions

Hi!

I am looking for a plot of land for a single-family house in the western part of Cologne. The supply of plots, especially good ones, is scarce. The demand far exceeds the supply. This results in very high prices per square meter, if you can even find something suitable.

Therefore, I have already come to terms with the idea of perhaps buying a plot with an existing house, demolishing it, and then building new. During my research, I came across a plot with an old house.

The plot can be divided, and the seller would be willing to bring two interested parties together so that the plot can be divided as part of the planned sale and used for two separate single-family houses.

I now have the following questions:

1) The private driveway including a small turning area, which the plot has, is included in the square meters. Effectively, with a plot division, you would therefore not have 800m² available but about 700m² + driveway & turning area. Is it usual in such cases to charge the same high price per square meter for a driveway? The plot as a whole is priced at 750 euros per square meter. The location is certainly good, but it is not a top location.

2) Assuming I continue to pursue this issue, do you know of any forums/portals where people search for plots and where I might possibly find a second interested party?

3) I hope the 800m² plot will fit our plans. We want to build a modern Bauhaus. The planning is still at an early stage, but we are planning about 200m² of living space (couple + prospectively 2 children). We like it generous and above all private. Visibility and sitting right next to the garden fence is not our thing. The house will probably be in the direction of ground floor, 1st floor + attic floor / large roof terrace. The garden does not have to be very big, but we like a generous driveway in front of the house and ideally the plot should be surrounded by a 1.80m high wall (at least the front side), as we know it from our currently rented semi-detached house. We think that is just great. If I were to build such a house as described, would the house itself roughly cost another 600,000 euros, so that the entire project could be realized for plus/minus 1,200,000 euros?

4) The demolition of the existing house would have to be carried out by the buyer(s). Is anything mandatory to clarify in advance here?

5) How do you assess the further development of plot prices? Are we at the peak here or will prices continue to rise steadily in metropolitan areas? Of course, none of us have a crystal ball, but I would be interested in your thoughts. To be honest, I have been waiting quite a while to buy and had long hoped for falling prices. But that is probably like stocks - not predictable. And we are 35 and 32 respectively, and if not now, when should we build? At some point in the not too distant future it probably won’t be worth it anymore.

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link removed, please observe forum rules.

Thank you very much!
Building expert

Hi! 1) The private access road including a small turning hammerhead that the property has is included in the square meters. Effectively, in case of dividing the property, one would therefore not have 800m² available but about 700m² + access road & turning hammerhead. Is it common in such cases to charge the same high price per square meter for an access road? The property as a whole is priced at 750 euros per sqm. The location is certainly good but it is not a top location either.

First of all: The seller sets the rules. Secondly: Yes, that is normal. The property owner(s) are responsible for maintaining the access road themselves. By the way, for us, the transfer point for the water and sewage connection would be at the front where it transitions to the public area. Thirdly: what one calls a B location, another might already call an A+ location, and a third person might call it unsellable. And tomorrow it will look different again.

4) The demolition of the existing house would have to be carried out by the buyer(s). Must something necessarily be clarified in advance here?

Of course. Is demolition even allowed, and what is allowed to be newly built? But the estate agent does not know that (or there are enough estate agents whose words carry negative value on a gold scale), but the building authority does. And one should clarify such things early on.

5) How do you assess further property price developments? Are we at the peak here or will prices keep rising actively in urban areas? Of course, none of us have a crystal ball but I am interested in your thoughts.

So: I do have a crystal ball – it forecasted blue times. I’m just not yet sure if that means blue water in a tropical lagoon or too little blood in the alcohol. At least the prices are what the market currently allows. And we are probably not yet at the peak; there is still too much money in circulation. But 10% price increases per year – you won’t see that nationwide...

, you were faster again

Regarding 2) the portal you linked here. So the one that was deleted.

P.S. I am against demolishing intact houses. That’s not proportional at all. It’s kind of like putting down a limping dog to get a healthy puppy that can keep up when jogging.
However, I could be wrong, since in large metropolitan areas it is common practice to demolish houses from the 60s.
But then the brochure also recommends building a house with up to 10 residential units.

Good morning,

That results in very high price per square meter, provided you can even find something suitable.

That is true; however, the statement relativizes again if the seeker is willing to expand their search radius.

In my research, I came across a plot with an old house.

A rather expensive house with land, mind you!

The plot is divisible and the seller would be willing to bring two interested parties together so that the plot could be split as part of the planned sale and used for two separate single-family houses.

With the price expectation – 1.2 million – he will hardly have any other choice; plus, the plot is so nicely tucked away.

1) The private driveway including a small turning area, which the plot has, is included in the square meters. Effectively, in the case of plot division, you would not have 800m² available but about 700m² + driveway & turning area. Is it usual in such cases to charge the same high price per square meter for a driveway? The plot as a whole is at 750 euros per square meter. The location is certainly good but it is not a top location.

The seller holds the upper hand ... maybe "only" for now.

2) Assuming I continue to pursue this matter, do you know of any forums/portals where people search for plots and where I might find a second interested party?

In every portal, you will find people looking for a plot. However, the circle of those willing to put half a million on the table and also finance a demolition and new construction is, in my opinion, rarer to find on these portals.

3) I hope the 800m² plot fits our plans ... We want to build a modern Bauhaus. The house will probably be something like ground floor, first floor + top floor / large roof terrace.

We are currently planning something similar for Refrath, so I know the costs. Are you aware of the total amount we are talking about at the end of the day if you buy the plot in halves?

Whether this type of development is allowed is determined by a look at the development plan or, if there is no development plan area, by looking at the surrounding buildings.

If I were to build a house like described, would roughly 600,000 euros for the house be enough, making the overall project feasible for around 1,200,000 euros?

You know it; good! Yes, that is roughly correct.

4) The demolition of the existing house would have to be carried out by the buyer(s). Is there anything that must necessarily be clarified in advance here?

That depends on the age of the existing property => was asbestos used? Otherwise, obtain offers from demolition contractors.

To be honest, I have been waiting quite a while to buy and have long speculated on falling prices. But I guess it’s like with stocks – not predictable. We are 35 and 32 respectively, and if not now, then when should we build? At some point in the not too distant future, it probably won’t be worth it anymore.

Unlike stocks, plots can only lose value if, for example, a nuclear power plant or similar is built next door. Otherwise, prices tend to stagnate rather than fall.

The basic idea is right to look for an existing property. The interesting question, however, is which potential building investor is also willing to invest at least 1.2 million? Since I hardly consider this easy – at this sum buyers want a lot of space around the house – I would look for another existing property but with a smaller plot share.

Rhenish regards

Of course, I am not eager to demolish a house. The costs are said to be around 20,000 to 25,000 euros. If you split that in half, it’s manageable. Who would still want to live in such a house today? Far too much space and then such a large plot of land. Spend 1,200,000 euros on the plot with an old house and then several hundred thousand on renovations to meet the demands of people who are willing to invest seven figures in a home? I think they would rather build new.

It’s simply the lack of plots. The few new development areas that come up often have more than suboptimal locations. When something does come up, they are often 400m² plots where you look directly onto the neighbor’s terrace, everything is built close together, and the front door / garage is just a few meters from the street and sidewalk. If you want a generous plot that you can wall in, etc., that becomes very rare, and you can basically only go for used plots / gaps in the built environment if you don’t want to move to the outskirts. Even this plot here is in Cologne’s westernmost district, so to speak at the edge of the city. Building a house in the more central districts is not even to be considered....

Regarding the comment about the building authority. I have the documents from the seller. They show that no development plan exists and that building planning must be oriented to the usual surroundings. That roughly matches what we imagine. Of course, it must then be approved in detail, but in principle the starting conditions are quite good.

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Expanding the search radius is out of the question for us. In the worst-case scenario, we are even willing to continue renting and stay living where we are now (which is roughly the same location as the plot). The location is actually perfect for us. S-Bahn and alternatively tram connections to the city center. A huge shopping center less than a 5-minute walk away, yet still surrounded by greenery. An important NRW traffic hub (not unimportant for my fieldwork with constantly changing destinations) is right at our doorstep with the Cologne West motorway junction. For example, we have locations in the south of Cologne that are traded at a similar price level but require a fifteen-minute drive to the motorway and have significantly worse public transport connections (for those familiar with Cologne: I mean the area around Cologne-Weiß / -Sürth....).

For me, it was mainly interesting to find out if anyone has an idea about what I could do to find another interested party. Then you can still negotiate with the seller regarding the purchase price, demolition costs, etc.

He is open to the idea of two single-family houses, but he has not yet followed my suggestion to openly convey this idea in the exposé. Allegedly, negotiations are already underway with a developer who wants to build a multi-family house there... we’ll see.