Construction costs are currently skyrocketing

Yes, it's hard to compete when it comes to gardens. Although some of the old gardens are more of a problem than an advantage. There are so many trees that were planted way too close to the houses and are now 20 meters tall just 2 meters away from the house. First, you'll have to spend a lot of money to get the lumberjack to come.

I have decided to cheat a bit when it comes to shade and partially put the hedges on a mound. Then they don't have to be quite as tall to sit underneath in the shade ;)

That also happens elsewhere. Rhine-Main area, FFM commuter belt. There, developed plots are sometimes priced up to 1000€/sqm. I recently saw such an offer on a portal. That not particularly large plot costs more than a well-equipped medium-sized house. Really crazy.

Here in Cologne too. By the way, the skilled worker hour here costs around 55-60€ net. Just as a reference.

The advantage of older houses: the interior doesn’t look like everywhere else. I freeze up when I enter new houses and the floor plans are all the same with the same color scheme and the same furnishings.

well, I agree with you 200%. You can walk into the houses blindly and you can’t get lost. The kitchens have the standard size of 3.2 x 3.2, which is hardly furnishable, large window fronts, table, chair, couch, TV stand and TV above it, no corners or edges, white walls, nothing, done, BUT, on the other hand, almost every design that is a bit different, that has a little detail somewhere, is being demonized and seen as a waste of money, especially in this forum. I think just yesterday.

well, I agree with you 200%. You can walk blindly into the houses and can’t get lost. The kitchens have the standard size of 3.2 x 3.2, which you can hardly furnish, large window fronts, table, chair, couch, TV stand and TV above, no corners or edges, white walls, nothing, done,

BUT, on the other hand, almost every plan that is a bit different, that has a little detail somewhere, is demonized in this forum and considered a waste of money. Just yesterday, I think.

That’s how it is. You have to look at the threads there and you understand why everyone with floor plans that deviate a bit from the norm would rather not post anything at all.

What details do you mean? The advantage of old houses that I see is that practically all of them here in the south have basements. I don’t really find any arbitrary projections and recesses in the building shape charming ;)

Yes, basements. Large plots. Shutters. Mullioned windows. Turrets. Conservatories. Large trees in the garden. High ceilings. Real parquet flooring. ... My step-son even has a small bell tower or bell tower feature on the roof of his house. :) You just have to like that; new buildings also have their advantages.

But basically you are of course right, if personal contributions are the only way to make financing possible, one should seriously consider them. But even then, don't overestimate yourself. I think the two can really tell a story about how much easier certain tasks sound in planning than in reality ;)

I don't follow this thread otherwise, but yes. Doing work yourself demands a lot. Just the coordination alone—when do you buy what, where do you store it. What can I do myself and how sensible is that regarding saving money and time, etc. Our situation is certainly a bit special because we only have one person financing and actually not that much money available. Even if it takes much longer time-wise to do it yourself, the money also has to be there to pay for it. At least we can take the time because we don't have children and are sacrificing our free time for it.

If we had known beforehand how exhausting it would be, I don't know if we would have dared to do it. But now I’m glad. The only thing we would do differently is to order insulation much later (because then you never know what’s happening in the world and whether suddenly there's no more insulation...) and to schedule the appointments with the tradespeople much more generously.

Anyone who wants to contribute personal labor must be able to work hard, be clear that free time is over for now, and that coordinating all trades is very exhausting. If that doesn’t scare you off—go for it.