Questions upon questions: Beginner seeks first input in house construction

Hello dear community,

My name is Ralf, I am 39, married, have a 3-year-old son, rent a place to live, and am an absolute novice when it comes to the keyword homeownership.

I have a number of questions and hope to find help, hints, suggestions in this forum, and I would like to thank you in advance for the support.

The following initial situation:

My family and I rent. My wife’s family owns a plot of land on which both a single-family house and a multi-family house stand. What I believe I have understood is that everything is in the same [Flur] but they are different numbers.

My wife’s grandmother lives in the single-family house. My wife’s mother, her aunt, and uncle live in the multi-family house. Since the grandmother is very old, she is moving in with the mother and we can have this old building.

My mother-in-law is registered in the land register, while my wife’s grandmother, according to a notary contract, has a lifelong right of residence for the old building (single-family house).

I would like to demolish the house and have a new one built.

What would be the first steps?

I think first the ownership of the land and house would have to be transferred? Gift? Purchase? The goal is that my wife and I both appear in the land register. What would you recommend and why? I would like to pay as little tax as possible (gift tax vs. real estate transfer tax). Furthermore, according to a new contract, there should no longer be any right of residence for the grandmother.

My mother-in-law has a very old plan showing the [Flurstücke] and numbers. Where can I get a current plan? From the land registry office? Does it cost anything? How do I do that?

Then the next fundamental question: after the ownership has been transferred, do I look for an architect and commission them (demolition, rebuilding, etc.), or do I turn to a large provider (let’s say for example DFH Haus, because they are in my region)...

I am a business administration graduate. I feel confident about financing and everything connected to it, but not the other topics.

I would be very grateful if someone could sketch me a rough roadmap here. Feel free to ask questions at any time.

Thank you very much.

Best regards, Ralf

Lifetime right of residence means lifetime. Even if you acquire the old house, you also acquire Grandma with it. That's how it is. Your mother-in-law can give something to her daughter, not to you! with significant tax exemptions. I mean, it's 400,000. Ask the tax office if in doubt. But then nothing belongs to you. However, your wife could give you something later... I think it was a 500,000 exemption. An alternative is a very inexpensive acquisition. That keeps the property transfer tax low. Compensation for value possibly at the back end via cash payment. But I think gifting is the royal road, whether you then give something to your parents is another question.

If everything is still one plot, first divide the plot into two separate plots and properties: single-family house and multi-family house. Then transfer the single-family house to your wife with the deletion of the right of residence (possibly with compensation payment, as otherwise it may be considered a gift and the social welfare office might claim money from you if the grandmother has to go to a nursing home and there is no money left). Afterwards, marital donation of a share from your wife to you.

Plan: land registry office and land register excerpt at the land registry office

What would be the first steps?

The first step would be to clarify with the building permit authority whether a new building is possible at all after the demolition and if so, under what conditions (development plan, other local statutes, floor area, location, number of floors, height, infrastructure, parking spaces).

Where can I get a current plan?

That depends on the purpose. For preliminary planning, an excerpt from geoportal.rlp.de -> Basic cadastral map is sufficient. That would be free of charge.

From the cadastral office?

That is also possible, it costs something and is necessary anyway for the building application. You can pick it up in person or order it online from the State Office for Surveying and Geobasis Information.

My mother-in-law has a very old plan

Let me see.