Land at a German foreclosure auction: how to check and value undeveloped plots, building land and farmland

Every ninth property at a German foreclosure auction has no building on it: fields, meadows, woodland, building plots and garden land. It is the cheapest segment in the stock and at the same time the one with the widest spread, from strips of farmland under 10,000 euros to Berlin building plots in the seven figures. The question of viewing does not arise here; three others do. May I build, who pays for the infrastructure, and what is in the ground? This article shows which plots actually come to auction, how experts value them and which seven points you should check before bidding.

Which plots of land come to a foreclosure auction?

On 05.09.2026, Klaava listed 394 undeveloped, agricultural or forestry plots with an upcoming hearing, 10.9 percent of all 3,609 dates. Three out of five are agricultural or forestry land with a median appraised value of 16,986 euros. Genuine building land is rare, with 29 properties, and costs a median of 159,000 euros. Across all plots the median is 27,163 euros.

Klaava is a German platform for forced-sale auction dates and evaluates the public notices and appraisal reports of current proceedings in a structured way. The classification below follows the property description in the documents.

The square-metre value is calculated only for the 98 properties where both the appraised value and the area are available. Between arable land and a building plot, the current cases show a factor of 18. That factor is the key question behind every bid on land: which stage is this plot on today, and can it reach the next one?

Where the plots are

Of the 307 properties listed as land, 53 are in Bavaria, 39 in North Rhine-Westphalia, 38 in Thuringia, 36 in Hesse, 35 in Rhineland-Palatinate and 26 in Brandenburg. The values differ sharply: the median is 58,193 euros in Bavaria, 42,500 euros in North Rhine-Westphalia, 12,330 euros in Thuringia, 12,688 euros in Hesse and 10,000 euros in Rhineland-Palatinate. 71 plots have an appraised value below 10,000 euros, and 63 are above 100,000 euros. The state overviews show the current dates, for example Forced-sale auctions in Bavaria and Forced-sale auctions in North Rhine-Westphalia.

The trigger stands out: 39 of the 394 plots are being auctioned to dissolve a co-ownership, 31 of them agricultural or forestry land. Inherited fields that none of the heirs wants to use are a typical case for a partition auction.

How is undeveloped land valued in the appraisal report?

The land value is determined primarily by the comparative method, starting from the standard land value published by the local valuation committee (section 196 BauGB, the Building Code) and adjusted for location, shape, size, infrastructure status and development stage (section 40 ImmoWertV, the Valuation Ordinance). For woodland the value of the standing timber is added, and where old structures remain, demolition and clearance costs are deducted. The asset and income approaches play no role without a building.

In 79 of the 102 evaluated reports on land, or 77.5 percent, the expert names the standard land value explicitly. How the valuation methods relate to each other is explained in Asset, income and comparative value.

The four development stages

Section 3 ImmoWertV distinguishes four stages, and a standard land value always applies to only one of them:

1. Agricultural or forestry land. No prospect of building. In the current stock, 4.71 euros per square metre at the median.
2. Land with development expectation. Building is expected in the foreseeable future given the location and planning, but is not yet secured. The value sits between farmland and building land and depends on the time horizon.
3. Raw building land. Designated for building under planning law, but not yet serviced or not adequately shaped.
4. Ready-to-build land. Serviced and buildable by location, shape and size. In the current stock, 85.12 euros per square metre at the median.

The expert assigns the plot to a stage and justifies this with the land-use plan, the development plan or its position inside or outside the built-up area. At least one of these terms appears in 89 of the 102 reports (87.3 percent). Where the justification is missing, the classification is an assumption and the value rests on soft ground.

Seven points to check before you bid

Land has no building fabric to inspect. Instead, seven questions decide its value: planning permission, infrastructure charges, contamination, building encumbrances, land register rights, leases and standing crops, and shape and access. Each can be settled before the hearing, mostly at the municipality, in the appraisal and in the land register, and none can be undone after the award.

1. Planning law. A plot may be built on if a development plan designates it as building land (section 30 BauGB) or if it lies within an unplanned built-up area and fits its surroundings (section 34 BauGB). Outside the built-up area, building is generally inadmissible (section 35 BauGB), whatever the shape promises. The municipal building office gives information, and in many states development plans are available online. The outer area is named explicitly in 37 of the 102 reports.
2. Infrastructure. Road, water, sewage and electricity must reach the boundary. For the initial provision the municipality levies development contributions (sections 127 ff. BauGB), and they are owed by whoever is the owner when the assessment is served (section 134 (1) BauGB). A buyer can therefore pay for a road built before their award. 47 of the 102 reports address development contributions, usually with the words exempt or liable. Where the statement is missing, ask the municipality.
3. Contaminated sites. The owner is liable for remediating harmful soil changes even if they did not cause them (section 4 (3) BBodSchG, the Soil Protection Act). The district's register of contaminated sites gives information. The word contamination appears in 83 of the 102 reports, and for 48 of the 54 properties with a clear statement the expert describes the plot as free of contamination. Former commercial, filling-station and railway sites call for caution even where the report is silent.
4. Building encumbrances. Obligations towards the building authority, such as separation distances or access for a neighbour, are not in the land register but in the building encumbrance register of the building supervisory authority. Bavaria has no such register; there the equivalent obligations are entered as easements. Building encumbrances are recorded in the documents for 34 of the 307 plots.
5. Land register rights. Rights of way and utility easements in section II survive the award if they are older than the enforcing creditor's right. An overhead line or a neighbour's right of passage across the building plot can halve its usability. The municipality's right of first refusal under section 24 BauGB does not apply at an award, because no purchase contract is concluded. Which rights survive is explained in Land charges at a foreclosure auction.
6. Leases and standing crops. An existing lease passes to the buyer (section 57 ZVG, the Forced Sale Act). The special right of termination under section 57a ZVG helps only to a limited extent with agricultural leases, because long statutory periods apply there. Standing timber and crops belong to the property and are auctioned with it, as are accessories such as fences and wells (section 55 ZVG). On the prevailing view, an award over agricultural or forestry land needs no approval under the Land Transactions Act, because it is not a legal transaction.
7. Shape and access. What is auctioned is the property in the legal sense, which may consist of several cadastral parcels. Check in the cadastre which parcels are included and whether there is access to a public road. A plot behind others without access has only a claim to an emergency right of way against an annuity (section 917 BGB), and that reduces the value considerably.

How to work through the rest of the report systematically is covered in Reading and understanding the appraisal report.

What a low price on land really means

The value limits apply to land as well: below 5/10 of the appraised value there is no award at the first hearing (section 85a ZVG), and between 5/10 and 7/10 a party may have it refused (section 74a ZVG). At small amounts the ancillary costs weigh more heavily than with houses, and banks are more reluctant to finance undeveloped land because it produces no income.

Three particularities matter at low appraised values:

• Real estate transfer tax. It is charged on the winning bid, and not at all on bids up to 2,500 euros (section 3 no. 1 GrEStG). 71 of the 307 plots have an appraised value below 10,000 euros; for them the state's tax rate helps decide whether a bid is worthwhile.
• Court and land register costs. The 0.5 award fee under the Court Fees Act and the land register entry are relatively more expensive on an 8,000-euro field than on a 300,000-euro house. The full list is in Ancillary costs at a foreclosure auction.
• Financing. Undeveloped land without planning permission has a low lending value for banks. Anyone intending to bid should be able to cover the amount from equity or obtain the financing commitment before the hearing.

The standard land value is the best market reference available for land. It is derived by the valuation committees from actual transaction prices and can be looked up online in every state. If the appraised value set by the court is well below the standard land value for the same development stage, the report should say why. If it is above, the classification of the stage is the first question to ask.

Which plots are coming up is shown in the property overview, where land can be filtered by property type, state and date.

Frequently asked questions

Can you buy land cheaply at a foreclosure auction? The median appraised value of all 394 plots with an upcoming hearing is 27,163 euros, and 16,986 euros for agricultural and forestry land (as of 05.09.2026). But a bid is only cheap relative to the development stage: a field outside the built-up area stays a field, however low the price. The 5/10 and 7/10 value limits apply just as they do to houses.

May I build on land I bought at auction? Only if planning law allows it. The award changes nothing about the development plan or the position inside or outside the built-up area. A plot is buildable under section 30 BauGB with a development plan or under section 34 BauGB within an unplanned built-up area. Outside the built-up area, section 35 BauGB makes building generally inadmissible. The municipal building office will tell you before the hearing.

Who pays development contributions after a foreclosure auction? Whoever is the owner when the assessment notice is served (section 134 (1) BauGB). If the road is finished before the award but the notice arrives afterwards, the buyer pays. Many reports state whether a plot is exempt, and the municipality can confirm it.

Am I liable for contamination as the buyer? Yes. The owner of the land is obliged to remediate under section 4 (3) BBodSchG, regardless of who caused the contamination. Before bidding, check the district's register of contaminated sites and look for the statement on freedom from contamination in the report.

Do I need approval under the Land Transactions Act for farmland? On the prevailing view, no. The Act covers disposals by legal transaction, whereas an award in auction proceedings is a sovereign act. Existing leases do pass to the buyer (section 57 ZVG), and agricultural leases carry long notice periods.

Where do I find land at foreclosure auctions near me? The dates are published by the local courts in the states' justice portal. Klaava consolidates them nationwide and allows searching by property type, state, local court and date, with evaluated appraisal reports where available. On 05.09.2026, 394 plots at 169 local courts were listed.

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How the appraised value comes about is explained in The appraised market value in the report. The complete process is described in How a foreclosure auction works.

This article is for general information only. It does not replace legal advice from a qualified lawyer.