Build or buy a house - land available

Hello everyone,

I am new here and have just introduced myself a bit more closely in the appropriate section. Now to our problem: We are currently renting a 107 m2 (2-room) apartment with a warm rent of 750 €. This apartment has been affected by mold several times since the year we have been living there. So far, we have always been able to remove it ourselves, but due to the old building and the aluminum windows, a lot of moisture is accumulating especially at the window. This problem apparently existed before we moved in and is not due to our ventilation. Long story short, my boyfriend (32) and I (23) are now considering buying or building a house. However, since the "advisors" we have dealt with so far always only lure you with the best offer but cannot clarify the financial situation, I am now asking my question here. We have the following income: I earn 1300 € net and my boyfriend 1900 € net. So a joint budget of 3200 €. We do not have children yet; that will take a few more years. We want to get married in the foreseeable future. Now it is very difficult in our desired city to get a nice plot (500 m2) for under 150,000 €; prices are around 320 € per m2... Unfortunately... Also used houses cost between 200,000 € and 300,000 € and often require a lot of work. Now we are considering building an extension on the plot next to my parents. This might be sold to us. But nothing is certain yet. If that is the case, a 2 1/2-story extension must be built. What do you think our general budget for house + land looks like? We would like to build new since an already existing house is also very expensive and always only a compromise. You are never 100% satisfied. Which companies would you recommend? Prefabricated house, solid house, architect from the area? How much should this fun cost us approximately? We would be very grateful for your answers!

Best regards Anke

First, you should clarify whether equity is available. Then 3,200 euros is not your budget, but you have to deduct living expenses. The difference is then your budget, but without equity I see this very skeptically because you would have to restrict yourselves a lot.

Hello Anke,

ich bin neu hier

Welcome!

Lange Rede, kurzer Sinn, nun überlegen mein Freund (32) und ich (23) uns ein Haus zu kaufen bzw. zu bauen. Da man aber von bisherigen "Beratern" immer nur zum tollsten Angebot verlockt wird, diese aber nicht den Finanzstand aufklären können

THAT is a good thing too. Building/buying a house and financing are two different matters, and you’re wise to internalize this!

It happens more often than you might think that statements from sellers or their closely affiliated financiers do not necessarily result in the best financing option for a prospective homeowner being developed. Instead, similarly to most banks, an in-house "offer" is sold as the "best possible concept"; preferably combined with one or two insurance policies or a newly to be concluded building savings contract.

Before you embark on the house-building adventure, you should first fundamentally—regardless of any provider (whether prefab or solid construction)—inform yourself about your financial possibilities. This can be done initially through your house bank, but secondly through an independent mortgage broker. When I say independent, I mean it literally! An independent mortgage broker looks at your personal situation and not at the sales targets to be met by year-end (which packages still need to be sold), considers KfW funds (which only cause work for the bank and generate little to no margin), finances themselves from the commissions of the mortgage financiers considered (so you do not have to pay extra for their advisory service), and very importantly: they are liable for advisory errors. Such a consultation usually lasts a good 3 to 3.5 hours (you have to provide quite a few documents), afterwards you receive a possible financing amount based on the documents and the conversation, and no later than 48 hours later the verbal confirmation of whether and with which mortgage bank at which terms your financing can be guaranteed (in this period your creditworthiness is also checked, so cheating doesn’t help). Equipped like this, you are in the comfortable position of knowing how much money you can put in and can calmly decide how much money you want to put in!

If you don’t know an independent financier near you (and I’m not referring to insurance brokers either), I can gladly provide you with a contact nearby; if so, send me a private message.

Dieses wird evtl. an uns verkauft. Da steht aber leider noch nichts fest. Sollte dies der Fall sein, muss 2 1/2 geschossig angebaut werden. Was meint ihr, wie unser allgemeines Budget Haus + Grundstück aussieht?

How you can clarify your budget I have already answered. Answering the above question is more difficult since I don’t know anything about the framework conditions of the existing property (i.e., the house to which the addition is to be built).

I currently have a plan for a semi-detached house on the table, which fits the requirement of having to add to an existing house; therefore, I’ll simply use the values from this to give you a first impression of where the journey could lead.

Dimensions 7.50 x 11.50 m, two-storey on a slab, attic fully developed (the original interior staircase leads to the attic, which is calculated as living space) — so what you call 2.5 stories. The fixed price for this is EUR 218,000 as a KfW 70 efficiency house; included in this are underfloor heating throughout ground floor and attic, blinds throughout ground floor and attic, some bathroom gimmicks – e.g., floor-level shower, all ground floor windows per leaf with 7 security locks, drill protection and lockable handles, decentralized ventilation system, and air/water heat pump; excluding painting and floor coverings. You must still calculate about EUR 30-35k in typical incidental building costs plus the cost of the land. Assuming the parents’ land costs you EUR 50k, this results in a financing volume of about EUR 300k minus equity.

HTH

PS: I almost forgot, sorry. If the in-laws’ house was built with a cellar, an additional EUR 8-10k will be due to the so-called stepped foundation (the existing house is supported this way), if you want to build without a cellar. Otherwise, the costs for the cellar are about EUR 40k under normal soil conditions.

Best regards