The course is set.
Finally we were lucky to find a property for sale we could afford, that has a good size (for German standards) and is located, where we could imagine to live and build our dream. Not an easy task in Germany, where way too much is regulated, forbidden and unwanted by the authorities. We also found a buyer for our half row house, where we still live in. Unfortunatelly we will get much less money that we had hoped for, but that’s how the market works. We are also not willing to waste another year before starting this long anticipated journey to a better life.
Only weeks from now we will sign the contracts that will seal the deals. Our future has already begun – and that feels great!
Unfortunately life’s not a picnic.
We will loose money by not putting in the right amount of patience to the selling process of our current home, but we want and more important we need to move on. Our current situation feels no longer bearable and we think we had good luck in finding this new property for it’s price and it’s location. So now it’s the time to grab what destiny offers us and also just accepting the downsides that comes with that. It’s always going with what’s possible and what’s reasonable. Obviously we would like to leave our country and set sails to the promised land and persue our happiness more likely in the Mid-West of the USA, but for now (and very likely for ever) our money and our imaginations only lasts to the “Wild West of Germany”. At least we will do our best to make this “Wild West” into our very own Promised Land.
And look at the view from what we are about to call our new home!
We have to adapt our building plans.
The layout of our future property is at first glance unfavorable, because it’s in the shape of a long but narrow and kind of stumpy wedge, with only about 20 Meters (about 65 ft.) on it’s broadest and roundabout 7 Meters (about 23 ft.) at the narrowest side with an inbetween stretch of about 170 Meters (about 558 ft.). And because we are in over-regulated Germany only the first 30 Meters (about 99 ft.) of the property are allowed for building, the rest is beyond the binding land-use plan.
Not the most convenient shape for a piece of land, but making it fit our demands will be the challenge we are willing to take. We are anyway forced to size down our former building plans, because of the lesser price we get for our row house. Unfortunatelly we also aren’t eligible for construction financing by German bank standards, so we have to go just with what we get. The best way to save costs will be using our own working power as much as possible.
A needful intermediate step.
Another way to cut expenses will be buying a used trailer home as a temporary living space on site and place it just outside the future construction area, which will be a whole adventure by itself. This is Germany, so you need a permit for each, everything and beyond. As off grid isn’t allowed in Germany we have to run all kinds of utillities to our provisory residence. Water, electricity, sewage and a landline to get connected to the world. As there are no local trailer home dealers, because on most parts trailer homes aren’t a thing in Germany, we have to search the adjacent Netherlands for such a very uncommon dwelling in German eyes. Even on German camping sites trailer homes are still a very rare and a quite recent occurrence.
Our very own American Way!
Our in-migration to this small town in the “Wild West of Germany” will teach the folks there very soon how American to the bone we truly are – admittedly not American by birth or naturalization but American by the bottoms of our hearts.