Building a Single-Family House - Your Independent Opinion

Hello,


Do you know that too?

They don't know about their luck yet... :D But seriously. Yes, they are informed and have offered me that as well. ;)

I hope you don't mind if I send you a private message sometime this week?

No problem, bring it on.
We appreciate suggestions and comments.

Regards,
Dirk

I actually planned to have only the shell built and finish the rest with family, etc. I have a master electrician, painter, tiler, stove builder in the family =)

I am always VERY skeptical about that and partly my experience here has proven me right.

Our electrician from our circle of friends was supposed to "just" install our lamps. However, at that time he was freshly in love and suddenly had absolutely no time anymore. OK, I then installed the lamps myself.

Our acquaintance, who was supposed to help with laying tiles, had exactly one(!) day a week to help us. Accordingly, progress was reaaaallly slooow :rolleyes:

The painter we had, we paid. However, he needed a whole week for the entire house (sanding, priming, painting). Do your friends / family really have that much time and desire to help you?

Sure, if it’s about helping for an afternoon, they’re probably all on board, but to do the work regularly and efficiently (mostly unpaid)? When you need the people, they’re usually working themselves and working hard at a foreign construction site every evening?

I would make sure to agree on everything firmly and reliably.

The two of us, 25 years old, earn a total of 3800€ net without my Christmas and vacation bonuses.

Now a few facts: We already own the land and it’s already paid off.
I have a regular building savings contract with 23000€ on it, as well as a Riester building savings contract with about 6000€. My fiancée has a building savings contract with 15000€. Additionally, we have our savings book with 5000€.

We have already discussed the household budget book and I even downloaded an app on my phone, but unfortunately we are not very reliable yet with entering data into the app.

But with this equity, we shouldn’t have any problems getting a loan, right?

Without knowing how much your land is worth – I would say the equity looks pretty good.
Banks often do an evaluation using flat rates:
For example
Living expenses 1st person 700 euros
Living expenses 2nd person 250 euros
Car 200 euros
etc.

With this calculation, you will probably show enough income surplus to obtain an appropriate loan.
However, the fact that this calculation might not reflect your current reality is another matter and could become your downfall if you don’t change it.
The bank always makes a current assessment (IST-Bewertung). That means future changes (e.g. having a child) are not taken into account when determining the loan.

Using a household budget book via app is a good start. I don’t know exactly how it works. But wouldn’t you both need an app whose results are then “aggregated”? I personally keep the household budget with Excel. That means nagging my wife every day about receipts and entering them, but over time it settles into a routine.

Others have already written about building with helpers from friends and acquaintances.
Somewhere (here in the forum?) I once read a list of how many hours each trade requires. For certain trades, helpers would have to be on site for dozens of days at 8 hours each (if it’s just one person) and then have no free weekends for the next six months. Does a friendship last that long? Don’t underestimate the time required.

I have a regular home savings contract with €23,000 on it, as well as a Riester home savings contract with about €6,000 on it. My fiancée owns a home savings contract with €15,000. Additionally, we have our savings book with €5,000.

What just came to mind: Ask the building society if you can even withdraw the money without any issues. We wanted to use the paid-in amount of a home savings contract for our kitchen. It was fully paid in already – but the valuation points were missing, so the home savings contract was not ready for allocation. We could have gotten the money early – but only with the loss of various interest earnings and the housing subsidy. Therefore, I have to get the money for the kitchen from somewhere else.

One thing about building with family/friends: We did it the same way. The big catch is, you must not be in a hurry to move into the house! During the construction phase, we live rent-free with the parents, admittedly in cramped conditions, but it's only temporary. This way we avoid double financial burdens, and it basically doesn't matter if we finish and move in a month earlier or later. Since you also live very cheaply, the extra time effort should not be the critical issue. We are now moving in October, not after half a year like the owners who had the house built turnkey, but after 1 1/2 years, because not every helper could come to the construction site every day and we also managed a lot just between the two of us. But I am happy every time I look at the bank account. Whether the savings are worth your nerves is another story...