Beyond the lard belt

Seriously cheap German real estate.

City dwellers in Germany, as elsewhere, justifiably complain about soaring rents and ever higher real estate prices. Berlin, the capital city, has biting gentrification issues in the formerly dirt cheap hip areas that once belonged to East Germany.
Local councils in Berlin are even fighting gentrification by modifying building ordinances, making a second bathroom or a bidet next to impossible to approve.

At the opposite end of all this is the world outside of the suburban "lard belt" (Speckgürtel).

Smaller cities are seeing an increasing number of empty houses, much of this due to an aging population. In some places, you could think you are in Detroit, Michigan, although nothing around here comes even close to the disaster areas of Detroit.

Cities and towns buy derelict properties that simply won't find buyers and turn them into parking lots or green spaces.

In the center of our town, we have identified four buildings bought up for next to nothing by the town. One lot is now a small, cute green space, two are parking lots, the last one - torn down just weeks ago - seems to be awaiting a decision.

One of the nice effects of this is that we get decent sidewalks. Many small town have pretend sidewalks, or "sidewalks in name only". Only the skinniest of citizens can take them. And, guess what, the Germans are not getting thinner. The population numbers remain more or less the same, but the gross weight of the population is creeping up -- so there is a real need for better sidewalks.

Why would I want to buy something like that, you ask?

You wouldn't.

What you do want are the houses that are real bargains, solid construction, in good shape but just a few minutes off the beaten path.

We recently came across a listing that features a 1960s villa overlooking the scenic canyon part of the Rhine River. It was offered for around 120 K euros (150 K USD) and came on about 2 acres of land.

Take into account that zoning in that area has been tightened to the degree that no amount of money will get you a permit to build on undeveloped land, and you have an incredibly sweet deal with a view to kill for.

After seeing this, we looked around a bit and found many, many more bargain houses.

Now, we are wondering why all the Chinese money goes to Canada or the US. Okay, that is rhetoric, we know why. Still, bargain real estate in Germany is there for the taking.