Calculations on the annoying topic of buying/building vs. renting

You can ignore the interest factor, the landlord also wants to make a profit....

With two comparable properties, the question actually doesn’t arise. After a certain period X, during which your loan runs, the big chunk of repayment disappears, whereas with rent you pay your whole life and get nothing in return at the end. It’s possible that renting is cheaper in the first 20 years, but after 20+x years, certainly not anymore. Besides, you then live in your own house, which you can design according to your wishes.

But that’s exactly why I made my calculation. If for the same property I end up with a significantly higher cost amount due to too little equity and possibly higher interest rates, then I have to consider whether the homeownership is worth it to me, knowing that after a new heating system and wear and tear I might be left with a minus of 200,000 euros in the end, or whether I’d rather rent and stay more flexible. In my case, with 30,000 interest and a saving compared to rent of 200k over the entire financing period, it’s already clear, but that’s not always the case for everyone, judging by what I read here. And so I provide a calculation method by which everyone can determine a value for themselves, whether it’s worth it to them or not. In the end, everyone still has to decide that for themselves, and there is no right or wrong...

Fry Kobe steak and cover it with gold leaf and eat a currywurst at the fries stand for comparison. Then I also come to the conclusion that eating out is cheaper than cooking yourself.

Not necessarily Here in Berlin, you can also have the currywurst covered with gold leaf directly at the fries stand. Then it all becomes relative again :-P

over the entire financing period

but that's exactly where your calculation error is. After the end of the financing in 20 or 25 years, you have no additional burdens apart from repairs, whereas with renting you still have to pay rent for another 20 or 30 years.

In that case, with a rental house with for example €1200 cold rent despite €200,000 interest, you are still worse off than with building/buying.

Well, 200,000 interest and less value and flexibility and an older house. I think you really have to weigh what is worth what to you. Honestly, I couldn’t afford to pay 170k more interest, nor would it be worth it to me. But of course, everyone has to decide that for themselves.

So I couldn’t afford to pay 170k more in interest, nor would it honestly be worth it to me. But everyone has to decide that for themselves

So you’d rather pay €300,000 more in rent?

No, not necessarily, but maybe I would prefer to live a bit smaller in a rental for a few more years, save up a bit more equity, then look around again or buy something smaller and pay off less. It's not just a or b. Given the current construction prices, for example, I wouldn’t want to build anymore but would probably continue renting and use my saved six-figure equity for a luxurious life or continue to grow it before throwing it to the developer or the bank. For example, we had a show house from a regional construction company slightly modified. The price of the show house in the basic version has increased by 25% compared to four years ago, from 157k to 196k. Still very cheap compared to others, but still really intense, in my opinion.