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

But if you see the property as an investment, then it has to compete with other investments. Return, risk, liquidity, effort. And you have to keep in mind that a single property does not have the same characteristics as the asset class real estate, keyword concentration risk. Also, 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.

But this is often not discussed here at all. The suggestions then range from "investing" in gardening, motorhomes, world trips, etc. The best case would be to have even more equity to make less debt. In everything else, I completely agree with you, it is just hardly ever advised here.

If I'm honest and look at the past year, I would spend the money on unimportant things. The most sensible thing would be a photovoltaic system, but I can actually finance that through a loan. Isn't there even a KfW-funded one?

But if you see the property as an investment, then it has to compete with other investments. Return, risk, liquidity, effort. And you have to 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 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.

That is also just a prejudice against renting. If you don’t only search for tenants online but also through personal contacts, you will find good tenants who pay their rent on time for years and with whom you never have problems but even casually exchange private SMS. Then the tenants will sometimes beautify the garden with lawn edging stones and plants. However, you also don’t max out the rent down to the last 50€ and trust the tenants by not requiring credit checks, etc. Through trust and respectful interaction, you have already gained a lot. But if the tenants are trusted through acquaintances, that helps immensely not to take the wrong ones. And the return is not to get rich immediately. But whoever wants to get rich quickly won’t either. Because 4% return in real estate or 6% in stocks, which can quickly become worthless (see Wirecard), makes no difference. You can always take the extreme examples, but real estate is a safe and good investment if you buy it at the right price. And moving into a downtown apartment instead of a house outside the city is, as you already say, simply worth its weight in gold in old age. Because who says that I will be able to afford this apartment in that location later from my pension and that it will also be available at my desired moving date?

I have a case in my personal environment right now. So far (over 5 years) the tenant was unproblematic, now he was supposed to get a new bathroom. He was even allowed to help choose. Then his girlfriend got pregnant and things started... the construction site in the apartment would be unbearable for a pregnant woman, so he wants to withhold the rent (not just reduce it!). Then the company worked on it for 6 weeks instead of 3. And obviously did a lot of botched work. As a landlord, you are nice and invest something in the apartment and afterwards you are the fool of the day. The whole thing is at the previous place of residence half across Germany, so no "quick trip over there". Of course, this is again a "one-off case". I know several people who rent out and haven’t had any problems so far. Although statistically it is to be expected if - let's say - every 20th tenant causes a problem. Then with 10 known landlords you have a good chance that none has had a problem yet ;)

Exactly, that's it. There will always be some who have problems, but never the majority. You just have to follow a few rules.

1.) Treat the tenant as respectfully as you would expect to be treated yourself.
2.) Do not rent below value, but also do not squeeze every last € out, then the tenant will have understanding if there are problems. Because when the underground parking in the building was unusable for a week due to construction work (which we did not know), the tenant did not even personally complain to us but simply showed understanding and paid the full parking fee. What do you learn from that? If you deal fairly with the tenant, the tenant will deal fairly with you too. Others might have made a scene out of such a situation and even reduced the rent because the apartment was rented only because of the parking space, etc. It is good to have a functioning landlord-tenant relationship.
3.) Living more than 30 km away from the investment property is too far if there are problems. Because never trust a property management! Check everything yourself!
4.) Anyone who buys a property at more than factor 30 needs very good reasons for it to be worthwhile. This can almost only mean owner-occupation.
5.) Look at the clientele! The 30m2 apartment in the university town will cause more problems than the 90m2 senior apartment in a well-kept residential area.

I can only confirm this as a tenant. In the last 35 years, I have had rental agreements in 5 rental properties with 4 different landlords. Except for the rental property where I was only for 1 year, I have always handled the utility cost statements in the rental houses; they were and still are always good communities and always relationships on an equal footing. My current landlord (2nd property in 22 years) is also not out to get the last euro, but is also happy that he has very low turnover. In the current rental property, in 13 years, out of 5 apartments, only one tenant has ever changed. However, it was also the smallest apartment, where turnover is usually to be expected due to the rather young tenant age (relationship, children, job as reasons for moving).