Thoughts on property purchase - your opinion

Hello everyone, after it had been rather quiet for us in recent weeks regarding the search for a plot of land, since there are hardly any new offers, we have now come across a plot that is actually quite good. We are a bit unsure about this and can’t really assess the situation, maybe you can help us. Maybe we are just so uncertain because so much money is involved and the plot will be your place of residence for the next few years.

The following situation: In our preferred location, plots go like hotcakes, today on the internet, practically sold by tomorrow. About 5-6 weeks ago I saw a plot that didn’t really interest me at first glance. It was probably because of the 17m frontage of the plot. I always wanted at least 20m. In addition, the street is unpaved and according to the plan not much will happen there until 2018. Clearly paved is better, but we have moved away from that as well so as not to restrict ourselves even more – we already have so many criteria that are much more important for a life without worries. Especially since the costs can still be covered. Now we looked at it again and are actually quite taken with the plot. The street frontage is no longer so bad – we want a garage and carport at the front and then the house behind that. We would nicely pave the driveway and a path to the house. There is enough space at the back, ok you can never have enough space :), but the plot is about 1300sqm.

What is occupying us now:

Why is the plot still available? Because otherwise they go like nothing... are there reasons or are we just driving ourselves crazy and being overly cautious? Can you even be too cautious when you want to build a house... :/
According to the real estate agent, the plot is overgrown but not as bad as thought. If I now want to have a soil survey done, the plot must already be cleared, right? Or at least where the house is supposed to go, because I believe the surveyor wants to drill at the exact corner points of the house. Am I correctly informed or can that also be done on overgrown land?

And could you tell us who we could contact if we want to know what was on the land in the past? At the municipal office they can’t say for sure but say that nothing was ever on it before, since the municipality only grew after the reunification because of Berliners moving to the outskirts. But maybe there really is something with the land and that’s exactly why it’s still available after 5-6 weeks. The real estate agent also tried to sell it to me as “great price per sqm for the region and then also the size of the plot.” And the location is actually quite good, diagonally opposite there is a free space or field. Behind it then forest.

What do you think? Let us hear your first thoughts please. Maybe we are overreacting, but let’s see what others think.

There can be a lot of "defects": - Who pays for the road to be built later ==> possibly the residents = you - Is the plot developed? - Development plan maybe unattractive (can you build what you expect?) - Contaminated sites? - Expensive foundation due to poor soil conditions? - Burdens to be taken over in the land register? - ...

I would inquire at the various authorities (building authority, contaminated sites register, etc.) to gather as much information as possible.

First of all, thank you for your response. Some points from you are already clear:
- yes, the residents take over the street or the construction
- connectivity: utilities are not on the property but in the street. This seems to be the case for almost all properties in the area. I believe that is normal, right?
- no development plan, but according to §34

I still have to check the rest; I have already thought about it. Hopefully, they can or WANT to provide the information.

Regarding soil conditions:
Are they documented somewhere? You only find out about them with the soil report, right?

- yes, the residents take over the street or the construction
- development: utilities are not on the property, but in the street. This seems to be the case with almost all properties in the village. I think this is normal, right?

The question about the street arises – do you (at least roughly) know what costs will come your way – have you asked about this already?
Are you bearing the costs alone or partially the municipality or together with other homeowners? If the property is at the end of the street – you may have to cover the last (e.g., 10-15 m) entirely on your own.
You wrote above – nothing will probably happen until 2018 first. But the question here is – will it start in 2018 or could the municipality delay it for another 5 years?
We have not paved our driveway yet and are annoyed every day by the dirt we carry into the house (even though it is already gravelled).

Utilities are in the street: In the street which still has to be built or in the first "proper" adjacent street? What about water/sewage? Do you possibly have to build your own septic tank?

You urgently should find out what was there before. Was there once an LPG nearby that always disposed of its slurry on the property? Were other things "disposed" there (soil contamination)? Brandenburg was, as far as I know, once one of the favorite playgrounds of the Red Army. Could the site possibly be part of a former training ground (danger of ammunition)?

Those are my first spontaneous thoughts.

If you get nothing out of the authorities (or possibly the wrong authorities) and maybe do not come from the village yourself, you should possibly try talking to long-established neighbors. They often know things that are not even registered with the authorities.

Yes, regarding road costs we have already inquired. Roughly, they could give us a price, which can change both positively and negatively. Logically. Well, currently planning is off the table until 2018. The road is not planned there; it could be that it starts right away in 2018, but it could just as well be that nothing happens for now and they only start in 2022. According to the realtor, the utilities are in the street, I had assumed so far that the street in front of the [property] was meant. Thanks for the hint, so it’s not a crossing street or something like that. I’ll check again on Saturday. Single-family houses are already opposite and next door. Water and sewage are supposed to be properly connected, no septic tank. I specifically asked about that. But I will get more detailed information from the responsible office.

We have already thought about what might have been there earlier. Where can you find out best? I called the office, they said nothing was there before except fields and farmland. But that didn’t sound very convincing, more like they themselves don’t know and just assume. I just called the contaminated sites register, they will give me information, I just have to send a request by fax. So we have that already.

Current status:
- Regarding building a villa, I will call the building authority again to check if it is even possible under §34. The statements are always somewhat ambiguous.
- I will have the contaminated sites checked, request will be submitted. I spoke with the contaminated sites register.
- Utilities should be in the street. No septic tank says the realtor. I will get more detailed info from the office on Monday.
- What was there before, I probably have to make some calls. Maybe I can find something out somewhere.
- I will probably ask the neighbors on Saturday about the three points above.

Remaining uncertainties:
- I would like to have a soil report done. Do you know if the plot needs to be cleared for this? Or is it possible in its overgrown state? I read that the soil report is supposed to be done at the four points/corners of the future house. That would mean I could only have it done shortly before building. But I don’t want to prepare everything and then have the soil report tell me that there will be an extra 30,000 EUR on top because the soil is so bad. What do you think?

Just read in other subforums, but can't the notary do all of that too? As someone else already wrote, they get a ton of money and then they could just do a bit more instead of just wildly copying together a contract, right?