Financing comparison: past vs. today

Ok, understandable. Although I couldn’t sleep without checking on the "construction site" every day. Construction managers and inspectors are, in my experience, at most there weekly. I check every single evening...

I also sincerely appreciate that you apparently earn very well. I get 3x EUR gross per hour and have calculated that hiring a painter doesn’t pay off for me. I can do it almost as well if I put in the effort... and the 4 weeks that would cost me more... if at all (lack of skilled workers)... don’t make up for the savings.

I’ve never calculated my hourly wage and don’t want to. Annual gross salary is the only thing that counts ;) Do you have children, by any chance? That changes the subject of doing it yourself tremendously. On the one hand, time with children is incredibly valuable, and as a working person, you can already spend far too little time with small children. On the other hand, you then no longer have two adults who can contribute but only one. A construction site is totally exciting for children... and full of dangerous metal scraps, holes, etc.

Construction time is one thing; having it done may save just a month. But final cleaning, moving, landscaping quickly eat up your vacation time, not to mention all the appointments you have on site, which for me mean taking half a day off again due to the commute. Then you have to consider whether it really pays off. For example, for the floors, the cost of having them installed and the general contractor’s margin is less than €20/sqm. You need materials anyway in both cases. That is not much compared to the house but saves me a lot of time.

Things were certainly quite different in the past (with "in the past" meaning more like 30-50 years ago than 20 ;) ). Back then, most building was done in the hometown, so short distances. It was also normal for the father to go straight to the construction site after work and hardly see the child during the week. Fortunately, things are different today.

I guess it depends on the region. My parents built around the turn of the millennium

I thought it was about the PAST and not “the day before yesterday.”

Whether hands were laid or only moved in, that existed just the same in the past.

And whoever builds and complains, complains at a high level.

So our parents-in-law built a 320 sqm single-family house with a granny flat 20 years ago …. They were always on holiday by plane and the cars were also new. However, there was one person permanently at home! We built in the same village one street further, both work full-time and will have to continue to do so in order to be finished by retirement. We don’t even have (expensive) children. We are doing well, that is not the point. But none of us can stay at home permanently. Therefore, I somehow don’t understand when it is said that it used to be more expensive. However, the parents-in-law worked on the house for 10 years, we have now been at it for 3.

I thought it was about EARLIER and not "the day before yesterday."

The OP compares the current situation with that in the year 2000 in the first post. And the user Prager91, whom I quoted, will probably mean the time around the turn of the millennium with "earlier," assuming that 91 stands for his birth year.

So our parents were able to build large beautiful single-family homes on big plots 25/35 years ago. Both were able to pay them off before they turned 60. Our single-family home is much smaller, has no more luxury for me except for the energy rating, and might not be paid off by 60. We did a lot ourselves, so there can't be that many differences in this regard. And my mother was at home her whole life, which is not possible with our financing...

I just have to look at the fact that my parents paid €80,000 for their 1000sqm plot. We paid €250,000 for a third of the plot size. And that was already a few years ago. The last such towel-sized plot was offered for €400,000. That has nothing to do with demands on the house or doing it yourself when I have to pay €400,000 for a 320sqm plot.

I have never calculated my hourly wage and don’t want to. Total annual gross income is the only thing that matters ;) Do you actually have children? That changes the topic of personal contribution quite a lot. On the one hand, time with children is incredibly valuable, and as a working person, you can spend far too little time with small children anyway. On the other hand, you no longer have two adults who can contribute but only one. Such a construction site is totally exciting for children... and full of dangerous metal scraps, holes, etc.

Construction time is one thing; having someone else do it might only save one month. But final cleaning, moving, outdoor facilities quickly eat up vacation time, not to mention the many appointments on site that, with my commute, mean taking half a day off. You have to consider whether it’s really worth it. For floors, for example, the cost for having them laid and the general contractor’s margin is not even 20€/sqm. You need material in both cases. Compared to the house, that’s not much, but it saves me quite a lot of time.

It was certainly quite different earlier (by earlier I mean more like 30-50 years ago than 20;) ). People mainly built in their hometown, so short distances. It was also considered normal if the father went straight to the construction site after work and didn’t see the child during the week. Fortunately, that is different nowadays.

So my children were always around construction sites. No one got hurt or worse. Well, I didn’t, the children didn’t. Not even at 3 years old and partly unattended. I wouldn’t leave chemicals around, but otherwise... well...

Apart from that, if I can save 2000€ by having the floor laid, that’s half a month’s net salary. For me, that does add up.