Construction costs are currently skyrocketing

Above all, the air-water heat pumps have an order time of almost 8-12 months, some are only available again from 2023.

It always depends. Some are "lucky" and come from the countryside, where their family is, and want to build there too – then maybe you still have home office and so on and get around quite well. Some are also lucky and come from the city, where the family may already own real estate and can sponsor a bit of equity, and then maybe it works out at least with the condo or a little house on the family’s property. Everything is highly individual.

We are also both the first in the family to have studied and earn good money – we also moved near a very big city to work there. Both employers now allow 100% home office and that was the jackpot – bought a cheap plot in the home countryside, finally back in the home area where you have club, friends, family, etc. On LinkedIn and so on I basically only get job offers with 100% home office, meaning even with an employer change it’s safe. If things get really tight, then it’s just a 35-minute commute to the next big city.

Thanks to our DINK status in the last 3-4 years and extreme frugality, of course, we were able to build up extremely good equity. During our construction phase, we continue to save 60% of our income. The child is now born, and 1800 euros is quite a good amount of money you get in Germany plus child benefits and so on. Look around in other countries, there you have to rush back to work 4 weeks after birth. Because of the tax progression, it’s also cool if you work part-time, e.g. 60%, because you don’t have 40% loss but maybe only 30%.

Everything extremely individual and depends on people’s lifestyle. We as a small family are happy with family, friends, clubs – without expensive cars, branded clothes, 5 vacations a year, etc. If I were to continue renting, I would keep living like this and save a lot for the future but also treat myself well if I want. Then there wouldn’t be any saving ;)

I’m curious what’s still coming – the shell including fills, retaining walls, etc. is done and now it’s on to the interior finishing, so far we haven’t been affected by price increases. But it’s already expensive enough, if necessary you just do some "downgrades." I can think of many things you don’t need at first, but already it feels very good to pay off your own home monthly without continuing to throw money to the landlord. They would probably throw us out in 3-4 years due to personal use, since the daughter is slowly at the point where she and her husband need a house ;) And then look for something with a kid in 2025 to rent? Oh boy, that will surely be cheap.

I cycled past the site of a large brick factory again today. It was impressive to see how much space they have in stock there. My first thought was: "Alright, I don’t need to worry about our two missing floors."

Last week I ordered a Weishaupt Biblock, which will be delivered next week.