Pre-contract to use the provider's land service

I have already found a few topics about preliminary contracts here, but most referred to something else, so I am opening a new topic about this. If I have overlooked one, I apologize.

We have been looking for a plot of land to build on for some time, but have not found anything suitable yet and were yesterday at a general contractor (no idea if the name is allowed, but I think it doesn’t matter for now), because on their homepage it was stated that they have plots of land in the area we are looking for (the district, size, and price were mentioned).

In this first conversation, the topic of land came up and the salesperson said that in this area, the plots of land one finds as a private person (portals, etc.) are the leftovers that no one wanted before, and that the good plots are traded beforehand through "Vitamin B" (connections). The general contractor has a land service through which one supposedly gets access to these "Vitamin B" plots, but only if one commits to building with this general contractor for one year via a preliminary contract.

What makes me a bit suspicious about this is, on the one hand, that the salesperson always evaded questions about the plots mentioned on the homepage and referred to their land service, assuring that one would certainly find a suitable plot that way. On the other hand, I can hardly imagine that really so many (all?) good plots are snapped up before a private person gets to see them. Somehow, I also have the feeling of signing a "cat in the sack," since you get no insight into this service beforehand and the search only starts after signing. There is no guarantee that they don’t just copy the contents of the portals and then present them as their own search results to me.

We will only receive the exact contract after the second meeting in which the exact costs of the house will be calculated, but I wanted to ask whether such a procedure is normal or if others have had any experiences with such a land service? Thanks in advance.

For me, the "real estate transfer tax applies to everything bell" rings very loudly because quasi-developers.

It is quite possible that prime locations disappear faster than they come on the market. This mainly affects metropolitan areas and B/C cities. Those who are well connected get significantly further there.

Others should comment on the rest.

For me, the "real estate transfer tax-applies-to-everything-bell" is ringing loudly because quasi-developer.

Well, sometimes you have to buy the worm in the apple along with it.

Nevertheless, I would certainly not sign such a contract. Because: the developer now already has your data in their database (if you show interest in building with them when a suitable plot of land is available). This means that you will be among the first to be informed when suitable building land is available. For the developer, short paths to get buyers -> via phone or email.

At least that was the case with us: they did not try to slip a contract to us, but the seller kept calling us whenever they had an appropriate plot available. Only when we told them we were building with someone else did they remove us from their list. That's basically how it should work with every seller.

Best regards Yvonne

So... apart from the real estate transfer tax on everything and having already bought a pig in a poke, there is probably not much to the seller's statements. They probably only work with the local brokers or access the same data pool and possibly cover part of the broker fees. They look much further at most, just to be able to recommend a few plots for sure.
Here with us: the A plots in private ownership rarely change hands informally. B locations go directly to the developers, C locations end up with the brokers.
To get an A plot - you need a lot of luck.
B plot: luck needed - then it sometimes goes through a broker if the plot is too expensive/complicated for the developer with additional costs.
C plot: you really don't want to build there.

For plots in municipal ownership it's different - here you only help yourself by regularly expressing interest with the respective municipality and studying the municipal council meeting calendar.

Here with us: the A-properties in private ownership rarely change hands informally. B-locations go directly to the developers, C-locations end up with the realtors. To get an A-property - you need a lot of luck. B-property: luck needed - then sometimes it also goes through a realtor if the property is too expensive/complicated with additional costs for the developer. C-property: you really don't want to build there.

I have the same feeling here. The seller probably knows that too, which is why he also raises certain hopes.

What I forgot to mention above is that he said they are "actively" looking, he explained it like this: the company has people who are exclusively occupied with searching for properties, among other things by trying to find out who owns building gaps (inquiries at building authorities and neighbors) and then exclusively mediate these to their clients.

We also cannot find any property that meets our expectations.

Under no circumstances would I sign such a blank contract! If he has a property, he can gladly offer it to me without obligation. Then we can take it from there.

What I don't quite understand is that the good things are always sold under the table, even though one should actually be able to achieve a higher price on the open market (or?). If I were the owner of an A-property, I would try to get the best price. And not sell "under the table" to a developer. Of course, a sale within the family is a different matter.

Developers often have a larger supply because they can also handle bigger projects. For example, within the framework of the Stadtumbau Ost, panel buildings are being demolished, and the properties freed up are not parceled out by the owner and sold to the average consumer, but these properties go as a whole to "investors" (who, in turn, of course, have to make money). Therefore, it makes sense that developers/property services can still offer a property even when there is nothing available on the open market for the average consumer.