Financing a house alone or already building/buying one!?

I didn’t. I wrote "Ultimately, household income says absolutely nothing about the ability to service debt and thus creditworthiness."

And that’s exactly right. I like to illustrate with simplified examples:

Family 1:
Household income 8,000 EUR
fixed expenses incl. heating costs: 6,000 EUR
= debt service limit: 2,000 EUR

According to your calculation possible loan amount: 8,000 EUR x 108 = 864,000 EUR

Family 2:
Household income 5,000 EUR
fixed expenses incl. heating costs: 2,500 EUR
= debt service limit: 2,500 EUR

According to your calculation possible loan amount: 5,000 EUR x 108 = 540,000 EUR

Although creditworthiness is better for Family 2, according to your calculation they get a much smaller loan. Family 1, on the other hand, completely overextends themselves...

Whatever. Discussion over.

That’s correct. That’s why I corrected it. Net income - liabilities/loans *108. If Family 1 has a warm rent of 4,000 € per month, that doesn’t affect the loan amount because the warm rent is eliminated with the new build. But if they pay maintenance money of 1,000 € monthly, then that 1,000 € is deducted. If, however, they buy a watch for 3,000 € every month (because it’s their hobby) then that’s their problem.

Ultimately, it is about the (freely) disposable household income, BEFORE consumption. Private health insurance is always already deducted here, even if it does not appear on the payslip. And the maintenance mentioned in the examples is also already deducted from that, because in case of doubt, it can be made visible on the payslip through garnishment.

Then it quickly becomes clear that in this consideration a higher income (in this sense) is often better after all. Because in case of doubt, when things get tight, Family 1 can adjust their lifestyle to that of Family 2. The horse, fitness, and household help can all be canceled to bring in funds for the bank. For Family 2, the cushion is smaller.

Overall, however, I do not understand why people do not take rules of thumb as what they are – simple, quick estimation tools. Not the formula for everything.

Buying a plot of land now is, in my opinion, really a good idea. That still gives you a lot of flexibility.

Hello , one thing is what or how much the bank would give you, another is whether it makes sense for YOU to take on the money and thus the almost lifelong payment obligation at this amount now and alone. In my circle, a bank would have given a retiree with a little over €800 pension a loan for a condo (she had good equity), for which she would have had to repay €200/month. How should that work? Sure, the bank is also in the land register...- . Why should you create a living situation for a family NOW when your life is currently different. If you want a house for yourself, then you can start thinking about whether it could work. But in anticipation of a life as it might come, now creating such unchangeable facts that could ultimately prevent you from finding a partner.....No, better don’t do that. Save up, invest, or buy something for yourself and live nicely, something you can easily finance alone now (e.g. a nice condo) and above all an investment that you can immediately turn into cash when it really is as you wish, to then build together WHAT you want to do together THEN. But....there are millions of different life plans........don’t stress about it. Together it is also more fun to build it from the beginning as a shared "dream house". And until then......buy yourself a nice apartment that fits your current life.

We originally wanted to build in Oldenburg and the surrounding area, but with the income you describe, that is hardly affordable. In Oldenburg itself, the city no longer offers plots outside of lottery procedures, and the chance of getting a piece there is low, as some people participate in the building lottery. However, it certainly doesn't hurt to register there if you are not in a hurry anyway. Maybe you will be lucky. In the immediate vicinity of Oldenburg, the municipalities have now also introduced this lottery procedure for new building land. However, you hardly have a chance there unless you either already rent or work in the municipality. This also did not apply to us, so we would lose already in the point-based procedure and would not even get to the lottery. So the only way out is "building land from the realtor," which in Oldenburg is now hardly affordable anymore (even not as a couple with two good incomes). Or moving far enough away from the center so that commuting is still reasonable, but you can buy a plot directly from the municipality. We chose the latter option. If I were you, I would perhaps look for a condominium in OL city (which will also be difficult/expensive), or maybe in the nearby area, and try to build some equity through this property, while also saving money monthly on the side as equity so that you can cover the additional costs for a house. If a few years pass with this solution, maybe something will also have developed in terms of a partner/children. Then you won’t regret having bought a house that might no longer meet your (joint?) needs, but you still won't have wasted money on rent.

With an income of 7.4k, 750k is definitely doable. That still leaves well over €4000 to live on. You would have to have an incredibly high standard of living to not manage anymore. And that with 4%, mind you. The rule is actually 2-3 for most people. The 100 times factor is generally pretty accurate. If you can and want to make compromises, you can do more. If you still want to go on South Sea holidays and drive an expensive car, then not.

That might be a coincidence, but I just calculated it for us and the story with net income*108 fits us pretty exactly. Even less than a €1000 difference with a six-figure loan. Crazy, that surprised me a bit.