Sell old house and build new one in a different location

We did it in such a way that we lowered the purchase price a bit, received our money immediately, and lived in the house for another 9 months, so not as tenants, but rent-free. Insurance and utilities remained in our name. This can be recorded in the notary contract.

We did the same, it is the better solution for all parties ...

We also exchanged our old building for a new house in a different location. My personal experience is:
House purchase contracts are not really meant to be split, i.e., a simultaneous transaction is generally not suitable for a temporal separation of the parts. For example, a seller— even if he moves out later— wants certainty that the negotiated purchase price will still be secured in the future. Ensuring this costs money and usually also financing interest for the buyer. The buyer often needs a place to live and doesn’t want to wait long. However, if he waits, he wants the sold property to be in exactly the same condition at the time of handover as when the contract was signed. Furthermore, a handover date is then also binding, which would have been a disaster for us with Heinz von Heiden anyway.

Our plan: sell the old building first, then stay in it until the new house is finished. Purchase price parked in a notary escrow account.
Implementation: old building sold, then shopping tour for the new building. Moved out into a rental apartment, rent added on top of the sales proceeds, standard procedure all within a short period.

It was very advantageous not to have to worry about our listed building as long as we had a construction project running. We also got a very secure financial calculation basis. The disadvantage was that prices then increased significantly afterwards.

Many greetings Gabriele

Oh, that was a matter of mutual trust in our sale. There is also the clause “Handle the property with care... preserve the condition, etc.” ... and honestly: whether there is one more dent in the door frame or not, it wouldn’t have been noticed at the time of sale anyway. An old house is simply not something you inspect for “minor wear and tear” – that is reflected in the valuation of a used property: sqm land + sqm living space for almost new, used, or old. That is all to be viewed more generally. You don’t worry about a thousand euros either.

Treat real estate properly

Rude - no, better not. Preferably with a "p" in front :-)

Boorish - no, better not. Better with a "p" in front :)

Hahaha :D

Hello everyone,

thank you very much for your answers! It is nice to see that there are actually many who have already realized this project! We always feel like we are planning something quite utopian. If we were to tell people here in our small town, NO ONE would be able to understand. Then I thought, let’s rather use the anonymity of the internet ;-)!!

I don’t know exactly how to best reply here, so I am writing to each individual here in the text....


You are right that potential buyers would probably not want to wait that long. Other participants in the conversation fear that as well. We also see this as a critical point. Unfortunately, it is not possible to redeem the loan free of charge, since we had already "secured" and fixed a favorable interest rate two years ago, and the loan is therefore still running. We would thus have to pay a prepayment penalty. We basically want to carry out a pledge exchange and have the loan continue on the new house.


You used a bridge loan. What would you have done if your old house had not been sold? Would you have been able to afford it financially? We could not afford to keep both houses! Then you would have the existing loan for the old house, the bridge loan, and the financing for the new house, or am I mistaken?

and nordanney
We currently live in a prefab house and were very satisfied with it back then. However, for the second time we would like to build solidly because we expect a better climate (which could probably also be a big topic of conversation ;-)). The demand for real estate here in the town and the surrounding area is very high. All houses, even in very poor condition, have been sold within a very short time. With the real estate agent, we have set a price range for our house of around €300,000. This range is rather high for this area. However, the agent, who has been active in the area for 25 years, says that it will not be a problem to sell our house. It is very well maintained and there are no defects yet. Nevertheless, we have concerns about whether everything will work out. Otherwise, we would have a shell construction in another town and would not manage to sell our house. Then you would have to have everything done little by little over the next few years as the budget allows. We want to avoid that at all costs!

and lastdrop
The agent also mentioned your option as an alternative to us. That is, to lower the purchase price and then continue living in it. However, in recent years he has often experienced the scenario where the seller paid rent to the new buyer. We will then see what the new buyers agree to. Lowering the purchase price probably sounds more tempting to most people, doesn’t it!?


The rental apartment option is unfortunately not an option for us. Firstly, we simply have too much furniture, a workshop, 2 cars, one of which is an electric car, so our charging option must be available immediately. We therefore do not want to park our cars without a garage. Secondly, it is so difficult to find a rental apartment in this area that has enough rooms/parking spaces. They hardly come on the market; they are often sublet under the table. If the rental option would work with our old house, of course, it would be natural to treat the house carefully until the buyers move in. Fortunately, we have handled it that way in recent years. I don’t think we even have a dent in a door or something similar. For me, that would be obvious as a buyer and seller, but you also hear about many other incidents. There’s nothing that doesn’t exist!

Thank you all very much! These answers always give new food for thought! Surely no one pays attention to commas and spelling mistakes here ;-)

Have a nice Saturday!