Assessment of Financing New Construction 425k € / Overall Financial Situation

I will definitely take a look at that. I have to see if it could be realized in terms of costs. If you could maybe save €50,000 by eliminating the top floor and relocating those rooms to the basement - just throwing that out there, then we would already be a small step further...

If you approach the project the way you imagine, you really have to plan down to the smallest detail and be careful as fuck!

The lack of cost transparency due to so much self-performance that you can't accurately quantify now and probably not even during construction can throw your entire financing overboard. That's the downside of so much self-performance... So be careful!

If you approach the project the way you imagine, you really have to plan down to the smallest detail and be careful as fuck!

The lack of cost transparency due to so much own work that you can't properly quantify now and probably also during construction can completely ruin your financing. That's the downside of so much own work... So be careful!

Our family mason has a herniated disc, the electrician had Corona. With a construction company, I could have said, "Sorry, but then send me someone who is healthy." So we have postponed our completion date by a good 6 months again.

Hot tip: Just start with child number 1. You’ll be surprised at how much comes together financially. Diapers can really hit the budget hard, and if you have a bottle-fed baby who only tolerates Aptamil HA, you’ll end up paying a fortune. I’m exaggerating a bit, but stuff like that happens. If you have child number 1, you’ll also get a feel for the time you still have and the money left at the end of the month. Until then, you can save diligently and gather everything you need. Ask the usual construction companies what your build would cost (they’re usually better at estimating). Then build significantly smaller. I grew up in a 120 sqm house (a classic single-family home with a basement). My parents paid 120k for it 12 years ago. Our rooms were big enough, my parents didn’t have a dressing room. No smart home, etc. Just build about 120-140 sqm into the hillside and convert the attic into storage space if there’s still room. Have the rest done by tradespeople and then, if needed, calculate individual costs in EL (laying tiles, painting, laying flooring, plastering the facade—all the stuff that only looks bad if you mess it up).

I will definitely take the tips to heart and schedule another appointment with our architect. I will explain the situation to him and ask him to create a draft with the sleeping/bathroom area in the basement and the rest on the ground floor. In my opinion, having the sleeping and children’s rooms at the front would not be a problem at all. We would need to see how to get at least some daylight in there, since the bathroom, for example, would then be completely underground. At the same time, we will ask what kind of change in the construction cost he might expect. 145 sqm living space, keeping usable space as low as possible. Unfortunately, it’s not that simple before the first child :) because we have to comply with a building period that expires in 18 months. Construction must have started by then.

Hot tip: Start with child No. 1 first. You’ll be surprised at how much money is involved. Diapers can really hit the budget hard, and if you get a bottle-fed baby who only tolerates Aptamil HA, you'll be paying a fortune. I'm exaggerating a bit, but it does happen. When you have child No. 1, you’ll also get a feel for the time you have left and the money that remains at the end of the month. Until then, you can save diligently and gather everything you need. Ask the usual construction companies what your build would cost (they are usually better at estimating). Then build significantly smaller. I grew up in a 120 sqm house (classic single-family home with a basement). My parents still paid 120k for it 12 years ago. Our rooms were big enough, my parents didn’t have a dressing room. No smart home, etc. Just build about 120-140 sqm into the slope and convert the attic as storage space if it’s still enough. Have the rest done by craftsmen and then calculate out individual tasks yourself if needed (tiling, painting, laying flooring, plastering the facade—basically everything that just looks bad if you mess it up).

Diapers cost about 25 euros per month (with 6-7 pieces a day). Without clothes and toys, we were at about 50 euros in the first 5 months (changing mat, washcloth, almond oil, creams, etc.). In the 6th month, with jars or homemade food, about 80 euros in total. Clothing and toys are too individual and don’t always need to be new. The rest of the 219 euro child benefit was saved (ETF) or invested in clothing. I understand daycare etc. as an argument for costs, but certainly not diapers.

As I said, the family background is such that the child doesn't have to starve ;-) My little nephew is also quite spoiled by grandpas and grandmas. They pay for the stroller or the nursery. Not because I am holding out my hand, as was once implied above, but because they like to do it that way. So I don't really see that as a big problem now.

I expect the financial additional burden on the cost side to really hit when it’s time to go to kindergarten.

But my point was about the basic feasibility in context with our financial situation. The reactions were usually very clear on that. So for me, that means now planning smaller and seeing if something reasonable can be achieved and looking at what the costs will be.