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

Not unsolvable … but there is more on top.

You have the reason, you have a very affordable rent, you have no children. But you (still) do not have the income nor the capital.

160m² with a basement, double garage, hillside and everything around will quickly bring you toward 500,000€. For the house alone. That will be difficult with your income, with children added in the first 3-5 years it's really tough. Stay in the rental apartment, keep increasing your savings rate and start strong in the new job and wait. Maybe prices will be a bit more reasonable in 1-2 years.

Hello everyone,

nice to receive honest and mostly very factual feedback here.
That was exactly what I wanted.

I’ll try to answer as many questions as possible and hope to gain some insights here :)

There is already a certain background on the family side and in an emergency they would certainly help out. But of course, it’s not the intention to burden my family with my problems, and they are the absolute last-last-last resort.

The fact that we are (still) not married is not something I see as a big problem, to be honest.

I come to the 425k euros when I deduct subsidies/grants from the calculated construction costs and, of course, the own work worth, say, 30k euros. We do plan to put everything else aside during the construction phase within our possibilities to really contribute. You have to say that we live here in the countryside, construction costs are probably not quite as high as in metropolitan areas, and we are very well connected with people who can sometimes do the earthworks for a small price in various ways.

A financing conclusion has not yet been made, but construction is not expected to start until around May 2022. By then (hopefully ;-) ) the probation period will be over.

Regarding building smaller or possibly bedrooms and bathroom in the basement: I am actually considering that. However, the architect is still a bit resistant. I have already said several times that 150 sqm living space, for example, is more than enough. The summarized reaction was always: only saving 15,000 euros and therefore 10 sqm less is not worth it in proportion.
But yes, I also have Plan B with two floors in mind.
Fortunately, we are still flexible there and could still switch.

Of course, one hopes for better salaries in the future and I also consider that likely, but it’s all speculative and you never really know.

Well-intentioned advice from personal experience!
€12,500 for outdoor facilities is not... our general contractor once mentioned €15,000 in an overall calculation and the neighbor’s was €8,000.

The fact is that for “the very basics” we ourselves did not receive any offer under €45,000. We are currently having about 80-85% done, meaning that until the truly “finished garden” we still have to do quite a bit ourselves gradually over the next 2 years. For this, we are currently paying around €70,000 based on prices from autumn 2020!!! If we had done without all kinds of “luxury,” it would probably still have been at least €55,000. And we do not have a slope (super expensive for outdoor facilities) but “only” 1m in front of the house for support and 70cm in the back.

and of course the own contributions amounting to, let’s say, 30k euros.

What do you mean by "of course"? You are two office workers and want to save 30,000€ in labor costs from craftsmen. How many craftsman hours do you think that is, and how much longer will it take you as inexperienced office workers... alongside a full-time job? Who pays for the materials? Which trades do you even want to take on as own contributions? Do you have friends and family who are trained craftsmen? How far has your architect planned, up to turnkey? If yes, then replace the 30,000 with a 0 and increase your budget for materials.

What do you mean by naturally? You are two office workers and want to save €30,000 in labor costs from craftsmen. What do you think, how many hours of craftsmen that is, and how much longer you two inexperienced office workers will need for that... alongside your full-time job. Who is paying for the material? Which trades do you even want to do yourself? Do you have friends and family who are trained craftsmen?

The plan is to help with masonry after work and on Saturdays, all electrical work to be done by my brother-in-law (a trained electrician), drywall, painting, flooring, interior doors (my girlfriend’s dad is a carpenter). Earthworks are done by a buddy who works in road construction. That is the current plan.

With “naturally” I just wanted to express that it is obvious to me to also invest a lot myself during the construction phase.

Of course, all of this will take longer than if a contractor did it. But we could temporarily move into my father’s house, which is planned anyway. Therefore, additional costs for a rental apartment are actually not an issue.