Rent out or sell a condominium? Decision in times of crisis?

Everything is correct, but people have to live somewhere, and Berlin is estimated to already have over 4 million inhabitants (3.8 according to the official statistics from 2019). Construction is happening, but not mainly for the normal population, rather primarily luxury buildings and office buildings. With rising construction costs and interest rates, less and less is being built, and thus there is no relief in the rental market. So I can hardly imagine a crash. And for me, it's less about being able to sell with higher profits in a few years. Rather, it's about the possibility of having a central residence in old age and not having to maintain a little house in the middle of nowhere with knee and hip damage. The question is rather, will I still be able to afford the rent of a city apartment in 40 years?

Actually, this also somewhat affects my well-being and my "happiness" of living in my own house.

not for a second do I think about "unlaid eggs." That reduces quality of life

... The advantages still outweigh for me, but an important point for me was that nobody can "evict" me, I have influence on the ancillary costs etc., and will "always" have a roof over my head ...

Take that with you, let the "others" out of your head ;)

The right question was probably already asked. What will you do with the 60-90K that remains?

If you have a meaningful idea (motorhome, travel, other luxury, or investment in your children (education, stay abroad, etc.) -> sell.

If you simply cannot think of anything to do with the extra money (except ETFs or similar) and the pressure of the annual mandatory event is not too great -> rent it out

P.S. I have already "left" significantly more money on the table because of circumstances/tasks I disliked. For me, this freedom of choice to increase my personally felt quality of life cannot be replaced by anything (not even a lot of money). If I really don’t want something, no amount of money helps ...

I do not understand the discussion about the value of the property during the rental period. It is not about speculation, but about a cash flow that pays for the property and ideally generates a little extra. Likewise, it is possible to refinance and use the resulting capital to purchase another apartment. Especially now is a good time, as financings will be collapsing.

We faced a similar situation and decided on the renting option. The condominium is in a good location in Cologne, we could partially invest the proceeds from a sale into our house or its further renovation, but what about the rest? With normal inflation, it already loses a lot of value within, for example, 10 years. I prefer to have a reliable tenant, regular income, and in case of emergency, a rent guarantor insurance for €300 per year. Just as a thought experiment…

And for me, it's less about being able to sell with higher profit in a few years. It's more about the possibility of having a central residence in old age and not having to maintain the little house in the sticks with knee and hip damage.

If that were my thought, I would keep the apartment and rent it out.

I don't understand the discussion about the value of the property during the rental period. It's not about speculating, but about a cash flow that pays for the property and ideally yields a bit more.

But if you see the property as an investment, it has to compete against other investments. Return, risk, liquidity, effort. And keep in mind that a single property does not have the same characteristics as the asset class real estate, keyword concentration risk. In addition, other asset classes, especially stocks, can be invested in with significantly less effort than a rented property. But if the main point is to move back in during old age, then the investment aspect is somewhat in the background.