Situation in the real estate market... madness

Well, I think the panic about a new roof, heating, windows, etc. is massively exaggerated. Of course, you should generally keep it in mind, but when does it actually happen?

Roof? Are today's materials so bad that you can forget about them after 30 years? In our area, roofs are only redone when dormer windows are added later. Otherwise, roofs in our area are not redone.

Windows? They can be replaced but don’t have to be. Nowadays, they are all triple-glazed anyway.

Heating? I don’t know anyone whose heating has lasted "only" 15 years. Or are today's heating systems so bad that you can just throw them away after a relatively short time?
You only ever read about the extreme cases where things went wrong, but you don’t hear anything about the 99% where everything goes smoothly and well, because no one cares about that.

Best regards

How do you come up with this very bizarre value and why do you base it solely on this?

Hi Bookstar, I arrive at this value because I base it on the perceived average salary and the average equity of potential homebuyers and then describe these as "normal circumstances." In other words, it feels like people who seriously consider buying a house have an income between 4-6k. The equity is roughly around 40-70k. Based on these numbers, I can't recommend anyone to confidently buy a single-family home for 650k. If these people then have to finance, for example, 230k, that is still extremely much... but at the same time much more manageable than, for example, financing 400-500k. At the same time, the risk of loss is lower if you eventually have to sell the house in case of emergency. (Sure... Location Location Location. But a house 120km away from the nearest bakery in Germany also doesn’t cost 300k). And the monthly burden for financing, for example, 230k, is much more relaxed than for a 500k financing. That can also withstand unemployment, illness, divorce, etc... Edit: Of course, if you inherit 400k or have an income over 8-10k, then the figure of about 300k is obviously irrelevant. But for "normal" people, I think that's already a pretty solid statement.

Paying off a place for 35 years and then still paying €340 monthly in housing fees to "improve"/"repair"/"replace" things you actually don’t want.

Just two remarks:
1. why doesn’t he move out if everything is so terrible?
2. of the €340 housing fees (which actually means the maintenance fee), €250 are operating costs like heating and others, the rest is the reserve for maintenance. He also has to pay the operating costs as a tenant. The alternative as a tenant would be €700 cold rent (not in a metropolitan area or special location) and €250 additional costs. Which is probably financially more attractive?

Well, that depends. It may well be that he is only talking about the maintenance reserve here. That means additional costs could be added. Then it could be that the €700 apartment is more modern and renovated. His is not, because he simply did not do that. And hand on heart. Germans do not like to change their situation. They would rather complain until the doctor comes. And especially older people find change difficult. Yes, their own fault. But human. Whether it is really like that, I do not know. But it can well be. I personally have the attitude that I adapt to life. When I settled down at 24, I bought the first house. It became too small at 32 because of the family. So I bought another house, sold the old one. When the children are out, we are already thinking about selling, investing the money in a holiday apartment, and renting a nice apartment close to the city. The rest is just money. It comes and goes. As long as you can feed the family and no one has to beg, everything is fine.

I personally have the attitude that I adapt to life.

I can fully agree with that! In my mid-40s, I am already on my fourth own property and already looking for number 5.

Well, that depends. It could very well be that he is only talking about the maintenance reserve here.

I have never seen such a high reserve formation in my entire professional life. The €340 monthly fit perfectly in amount with the house money.

Then it may be that the €700 apartment is more modern and renovated. His is not, since he has not carried that out.

Personal bad luck. Keeping his apartment nice costs money - either you invest it as part of renovating your own condominium or you invest it through the rent if the landlord carries out renovations. You have to pay one way or another.

Here are some really absurd arguments. I only wanted to clarify with my post that it makes no sense to compare rent with ownership, as this is not only possible through the monthly payment amount. Unfortunately, many do not understand this.

Another example: we once bought a condominium. The apartment was great, but in a building with 6 apartments there was an owner who made everyone’s life hell. After a long period of suffering, everyone sold their apartments, including us. Overall, it was a losing proposition. With a rental apartment, you could have just moved out after 3 months...

So don’t always just consider the aspects that suit your own argument at the moment.