Building with a small budget feasible?

Morning,
what would be so bad about that?
It doesn’t have to be everything at once and immediately.
Better a small, not so perfect house that you can improve little by little than something way too big that doesn’t fit financially.
see with Jana...
Regards Olli

Believe me... we have weighed all that in every variation. But the living space is simply too tight. It was built back then with 65 sqm... and I still think they cheated a bit on the measurements upstairs. Next door, an older couple completely renovated 7 years ago. Conservatory and dormers upstairs... we should actually ask them what they invested.
The price here is mainly calculated from the large plot of land. I’m just afraid of an unpredictable project.

What is your actual goal? Wouldn’t a property further out, somewhere on the edge of the village, be interesting? You are only three, the child is no longer that small, the budget is tight. I can understand that you don’t want a house without a garden. I would keep looking. I would refrain from new builds.
At your age, I would definitely try to keep the loan as low as possible and assess the whole thing realistically. The question should never be: What does the bank give me? But: What can I really afford in the long term?

I fully agree with you. I’m a security person. It all has to be doable. The outskirts would even be our favorite, and we still have a property in mind, but contacting them is difficult because there is a legal guardian.
The goal is definitely to get out of our living situation. And ideally, that will happen through purchasing a property.

With the stated numbers of repayments vs. rent, you must not forget that maintaining a house does not only consist of the repayment in monthly expenses. Additional costs are significantly higher alongside electricity, gas, water, trash, taxes, chimney sweep, maintenance, and co.

I am aware of that.

: "Daydreaming"? Um... No... I didn’t even write here that we want to build at all costs or want to overextend ourselves. I just like to weigh all (possible) options to get a broader picture of what actually fits us afterwards.

And what good is a sparrow if I don’t like it or it’s too risky for me. After all, it’s too expensive for that.

And what use is a sparrow to me if I don't like it or if it's too risky. For that, it is still too expensive.

I can quite understand you there. Renovations have their nasty surprises, especially when enthusiastic DIYers were the previous owners. And if the rooms don't fit, that's also bad, and it can make sense to wait for something else with less backlog of renovations. My comment was mainly referring to the "only a semi-detached house." But building is also risky, and if your own budget is tight and in the best case the financing framework is already fully utilized... then nothing must go wrong, otherwise you’ll be stuck with an additional loan at the bank even though everything has already been maxed out.

And what's the use of a sparrow if I don't like it or if it's too risky for me. It's too expensive for that.

Then it's fine. It just sounded a bit dissatisfied with the semi-detached house.

want to build out or take over. I just like to weigh all (possible) options to get a broader picture of what actually fits us afterwards.

Exactly. You mentioned earlier that if the child is out of the house, you want to take in foster children. In Germany, you only get one foster child if you are not financially dependent on the foster care allowance, meaning you do not go to work.

I can only repeat myself here and fear that we simply won't find a common denominator. My already retired parents-in-law live in a terraced house built in '79, where almost simultaneously the oil heating had to be renewed and the flat roof had to be renovated. If I imagine that they wouldn't have been able to form sufficient reserves due to ongoing repayments, it would have been financially tough with his electrician's pension and her housewife's pension. Shortly afterwards, something happened to the car as well, another roughly 2,000 euros gone. You get into a tight spot faster than you can blink.

Tough or impossible? The money is tied up in the house... so they definitely wouldn't have been penniless. They would just have had to make changes.

It's simply a matter of opinion, and the best option is certainly the paid-off house in old age + a good pension to cover the rest.

I can definitely understand you there. Renovations have their nasty surprises, especially with enthusiastic DIYers as previous owners. And if the rooms don't fit, that's also bad, and it can be sensible then to wait for something else with less renovation backlog. My comment referred mainly to the "only a semi-detached house." But building is also risky, and if your budget is tight and, in the best case, the financing framework is already maximally used... then nothing must go wrong, otherwise you'll be stuck with additional financing at the bank even though everything is already stretched out.

Maybe you shouldn't hang on to the "only" too much. Here, a semi-detached house built in '53 is certainly something different than in many other areas. My sister-in-law also has a semi-detached house... it's great, but also bigger.

You mentioned earlier that if the child leaves the house, you want to take in foster children. In Germany, you only get a foster child if you are not financially dependent on the foster allowance, meaning you don’t work.

Foster child or social pedagogical life community is then the crucial difference. In that case, you don't necessarily have to be employed, as the rate is correspondingly higher.

Nice that the tone has changed a bit. Now I’m interested in the topic again. A house actually has ongoing costs.
Here property tax 400 plus x per year. Rainwater fee 60 per year. Insurance 220 per year. Gas, water, electricity around 1600 per year. Maintenance and repairs, chimney sweep 1000 per year.
It is also wise to save about 5% of the construction sum per year for larger expenses later.