Budget 600-800k with approx. 10k net household income?

Thank you very much for the great answer. These are many of my thoughts, and it is motivating that you have/had similar thoughts.

You're welcome.

The worst thing is that most of us (including probably/hopefully me) build only once and basically start from scratch.

Reading a lot here has helped me immensely over the last 1.5 years.

Admittedly, I also have to smile a bit because I recognize so much.

Bonus points: We also only looked at existing houses first and then ended up with a new build. And we also ended up saying "okay, we'll take roughly 100,000 more than originally thought."

Whether everything will go well remains to be seen. Construction is just starting. However: Detached single-family house, terraced houses/semi-detached houses— we never even considered those (we live in the countryside, land is really cheap here). So I can't say anything about that.

I also need to clarify again that the examples and sums shown were mostly the "outliers" in the real estate offerings and usually had a catch. So, 600k in a B location is basically the lower end of the B location (maybe not such a nice street, very small garden, etc.) and 800k in the A location as well.

And that's where it starts.

The question is where and how do you want to live? And especially if, like you, you seem to be very connected to the place and will probably live there until retirement (or longer), that also makes a huge difference.

Now, vastly smaller amounts:
At that time, we had 3 plots to choose from. We chose the most expensive one. With the others, we could have saved about 60,000—but we would by no means have had such a nice view and residential area (somewhat higher land price, but especially additional costs due to the embankment and the development plan requirement for a clinker facade).

60k is a lot of money. It was worth it to us.

Here are the (financial) key data:

[*]Purchase price: 880k, excluding painter and flooring work, excluding garden (but terrace, etc.)
[*]Approx. 130 sqm living space
[*]Turnkey, KfW 40 QNG (photovoltaics, heat pump, etc.)
[*]Eligible for funding: about 2.8% through KfW 297 and NRW.Bank "Sustainable Living"
[*]Location = We would be very happy and certainly a great basis for our long-term "family future"
[*]We are not keen on the KfW 40 and QNG topic. The main driver would be the location.

I roughly tried to calculate:

Financing:
(Assuming a total requirement of about €960,000 including ancillary costs)

• Equity: €250,000

Loans (total €710,000):

• KfW 297: €150,000 at 2.8% (35 years term) -> installment: approx. €760/month
• NRW.Bank: €260,000 (maximum funding amount, 35 years term) -> installment: approx. €992/month
• Bank loan: €300,000 (assumed 3.7–4.0%) -> installment: approx. €1,535/month

• Total rate: approx. €3,287/month

Funny. That's even less than in my previous rough estimate (however: longer repayment period!).
However, that will probably not be a problem.

Also something I only realized consciously last year.

Money loses value over two decades. Since real estate loans are debts, they become easier and easier to service (if your salary development keeps up somewhat with inflation) and special repayments become increasingly possible.

Example 2005 -> 2025: In that time, money lost just over 30% of its purchasing power.

That would be manageable. You also have 1-2 years repayment-free period with the subsidized loans. At the same time, long-term nothing must go wrong. It is a lot of money, and after 10 years you still have about 400-500k debt.

If we assume inflation from 2026-2036 is about as high as between 2006-2016 (intentionally excluding the inflation shock of 2022 here), then those 400k only correspond to 345k in "2025 €."

Of course, nothing must go wrong in the long term. This risk always exists with real estate acquisition.

Monthly saving/investing (for repayment after X years): €3,000
Annual bonus payments to invest/save/specially repay: €10,000

As long as you make less return after taxes than the interest rate, I would think more about special repayments there (of course only once a comfortable financial buffer is reached again).
The interest savings, especially with early special repayments, are really huge.
(I calculated it once for us. For every euro we repay early in the first ~2 years, we save about one euro in interest over the term.)

Unfortunately, I am absolutely inexperienced when it comes to new builds. We have always assumed buying an existing property (and that was already a big deal for me, as it was never a big topic for us). What am I missing?

Developer or builder business?
Developer business: Consider taxes (real estate transfer tax applies to house + land, not just the land).
Builder business: Definitely plan a buffer, some things can be more expensive than initially thought!

What do you think? Too expensive?

Absolutely within your financial frame, see above or previous post.

So if you have to sugarcoat something with inflation, purchasing power, etc. with a net income of 10k per month, then I don’t know either... It doesn’t work that linearly anyway. Certainly, there is currently a housing shortage, but there are also no more strong birth cohorts. The problem will solve itself in the next 10, 20 years. And whether the German (automobile) industry will still exist in the same form and size in 10, 15 years, I strongly doubt that. The electric motor is quite simple compared to the straight-six, and the battery development was completely overlooked. The factories that are now being built for batteries ultimately only assemble what is developed in China, Korea, and Japan. The relationship between technology leader and license manufacturer is currently reversing. The next wage rounds by IG Metall, IG BCE, etc. will no longer be about salary increases, but about job and location guarantees... But why worry about that if you still have a good 6,500 EUR left after deducting the mortgage rate and assume that the job is above all crises? Exactly, there is absolutely no reason for that. 6,500 EUR is what my wife and I have available with 2 kids in good months (lots of overtime, many bonuses) before a single cent goes out. The rate should not exceed 40% of the net income, but that applies more to middle incomes. With the 3,200 from the example, you’re well below that, so that fits. Take the house in a good location, stay grounded when it comes to furnishings and outdoor facilities, and that’s it. Honestly, with that income I would just do it and not ask in a forum...

Over the budget and there are still costs to come (garden etc)

Is that Rodenkirchen with 200sqm plot?

Certainly, there is currently a housing shortage, but there are no longer any strong birth cohorts. The problem will resolve itself in the next 10, 20 years.

That was also thought until 2015, and since then, a small town moves in every year. Even if some hick towns die out, no one will want these old houses without any infrastructure.

Certainly, there is currently a housing shortage,

That is nonsense in general. There is much more housing available than demand. BUT: the housing is not where the demand is. Hence the repeated attempts to promote rural areas. But that does not work, so the cities remain magnets. And here there is a massive housing shortage. If you want to live in a rural area, that is not a problem. Plots of land and especially existing houses in good quality and at affordable prices are sufficiently available.

Is that Rodenkirchen with a 200sqm plot?

Yes, exactly :) Are you familiar with the offer? If you have an assessment/opinion, I would be very interested.

Currently, I don't have much new to report. Except that we have slightly expanded our search radius and might possibly make compromises on the distance if necessary or if it "pays off". Not many offers actually come in through the portals.