We also had to accept that; however, in our case, the city would have at least registered 70% of the construction plus land costs in the land register. That doesn't help us because we don't have 30% equity, so the bank is now in second position. Disadvantages for us: the otherwise cheapest bank did not provide the financing (because they only go along with such arrangements up to 80%) and with the second cheapest, there is a small interest surcharge because the loan-to-value ratio is overall worse. Additionally, we end up just over 400,000 in loan amount, which is annoying because the bank requires an appraisal above that threshold. If we had known this earlier, we might have reconsidered whether we could have managed with 1,000 € less in one place or another, but well, that's just how it is now. We also tried to open a pledged savings account, but none of the banks wanted to do that. Ultimately, it would have been more expensive anyway because then you have to borrow the money more, which also worsens the loan-to-value ratio, but then you also have to pay interest on the money. TL;DR: Alternatives are not more attractive either and it's not really that terrible.