Preserving and increasing the value of existing real estate, what is important?

I think it depends, with [Speckgürtel]. Within the [Speckgürtel], we lived 5km from the city limit in a small village, there was a bus connection, but only hourly, the nearest S-Bahn, supermarket, doctor, pharmacy were 3-4km away, with a car/bike all no problem, in old age without a car and without the possibility to ride a bike anymore, it could/would be difficult there. We moved away from the [Speckgürtel], now live very rurally, a completely different area. Our place, however, is larger than the previous one, train & bus hourly, doctor, dentist, hairdresser, pharmacy, various supermarkets from discount to organic market, clothing and shoe stores all within walking distance.

*LOL* I would also like to be such a "stingy saver," to call something like that "developer standard."

I would put it more drastically: every unnecessary expense for the interim house is plundering the savings book for the dream house!

Moreover, I would not set the remaining stay in the current property that long. After five years, you only have another five years left until the speculation-tax-free sale. Adding another ten on top of that, the house then turns thirty: even an interim house is no quick turnover anymore. And at some point, you miss the exit point and get stuck in the interim house. As a step on the property ladder, it is only as good as you use it accordingly. You are still young enough to be able to change properties twice more before retirement. Draw a timeline and enter the financing end and your son's expected graduation year there. And don't forget the election periods for a sale in stable times; Scholz will not stay as long as Merkel.

Maybe we are talking about two different things, but the design of the staircase is really... let's say, not so nice, and was definitely the standard option the developer included back then. We know from the neighbors who stayed with the same variant. It has these weird balls as joints on the railing, and is only veneered, so sanding and staining is not an option. There may really be fancy cantilevered bolt staircases, but ours simply isn’t one of them :D

I find your remarks about the next rung on the property ladder convincing. I just can’t imagine that something on the "next level" will be possible for us here in town in five years. We could have afforded the difference due to rising property prices since our house has also appreciated in value and our incomes have developed well, but the current interest rates make a move impossible right now. Whether that will be different in five years? And moving further out while our son is still not mobile would seem unfair to him — we would then have to play parent taxi, which we would probably regret soon.

After five years you only have another five until the sale is free of capital gains tax.

There is no capital gains tax at all if you have lived in the property for 3 years.

I find your explanations regarding the next rung of the real estate ladder convincing. I just can't imagine that anything on the "next level" will be possible for us here in town in five years. We could have still afforded the difference due to the increased property prices since our house has also gained value and our incomes have developed well, but the current interest rates make a switch impossible at the moment. Will it be different in five years?

No, if you can't imagine it, the explanation hasn't fully resonated yet. As I said, your property as an intermediate house is a real estate class of its own, targeting a very specific and narrowly defined group – similar to rompers, strollers, training bikes, and the like. Or nearly new cars – but even there, some people miss the point to pass them on and end up driving those cars until the scrapyard. An intermediate house is ideally passed on after ten and twenty years, and then either after twenty-five or forty: if the fourth hand is skipped and the house reaches its fortieth anniversary, the potential buyers are no longer young families but the "textbook cliché pole with the all-round handyman" (who might turn it into a gem but with god-knows-how-much work, not economically feasible if outsourced). Intermediate houses never compete with dream houses; these are two completely different market segments.

No, if you can’t imagine that, the realization hasn’t fully sunk in yet. As mentioned, your property is a special asset class as an intermediate house, targeting a very specific and narrowly defined audience – similar to rompers, strollers, learner bikes, and the like. Or nearly new cars – but even there, some people miss the optimal time to pass them on and end up driving those cars until the scrapyard. An intermediate house is ideally passed on after ten and after twenty years, and then either after twenty-five or forty: if the fourth owner is skipped and the house reaches its fortieth anniversary, the potential buyers are no longer young families but the “textbook cliché guy with all-around handyman skills” (who may turn it into a gem, but with who-knows-how-much manual labor and outsourced work, economically not viable). Intermediate houses are never in competition with dream houses; these are two completely different market segments.

However, prices for single-family houses have risen even more dramatically here than for semi-detached houses, so the difference between the two is now even greater than it was back then. Add to that the current interest rates. We can no longer afford the difference between today’s value of our house and the purchase price of such a property in a comparable / somewhat worse location. Therefore, we will probably stay in the “intermediate house” until we eventually need something else (smaller) and are no longer dependent on the central location. Or how would you see the next step being financed from your point of view? Maybe I’m missing something here.

When the time comes, we will probably sell

So rather a heat pump than new stairs, as suspected (a pity :)).

I just wonder if it’s worth investing several tens of thousands in heating and insulation if we say, for example, that we’ll sell about ten years later anyway.

With the room under the roof, it would probably also be interesting for families with two children and home office.

But the logic of installing something beforehand so you have something functioning, presentable and verifiable, instead of having to convince potential buyers of something,

So, I understand it as you wanting to reorient yourselves when the child is grown up and out of the house. Until then, you live in a house that meets your needs and is nice in itself – except for the stairs. And now you’re thinking about what you can already do for potential buyers…

My answer is that you can’t do anything at all. If you live in a house that suits you, a loft conversion is useless if you don’t want that attic space yourselves. You don’t even know what will be in 10-15 years. Maybe there will be a completely new regulation, different heating systems, etc. If you bet on having a larger target group with an additional room, then point out the potential for expansion. Everything you don’t do for yourselves now is wasted money, except for repairs.

And on the subject of _value_ preservation: I personally think that our life is far too short for some things. This means that I make the best out of the present time in my life, the time I can influence. For me. For my loved ones. So that I feel comfortable and realize my wishes. And if I want the stairs changed, then I do it, as long as it’s feasible and affordable. I would never think of those who might buy the house later. That is _worth it to me_ And our _value_ appreciation when something new can come into the house, whether a piece of furniture, a new flooring or treating yourself to a painter once in a while. I don’t believe in postponing life to later, in 15 years. Later is far away. Then there are other needs. Probably you give up so much then because you convinced yourself that you don’t need what you gave up for the last 20 years.