Financing / Equity / Granny Flat - Fundamental Thoughts

A cooled ceiling in a single-family house is as new and innovative as a wall heating in the bathroom to cover heating output. That is to say, not at all. These are partly proven methods. Just like an air well for controlled residential ventilation.
Nothing new, nothing exciting, only especially unknown or unwelcome in the corporate world, as it requires updated expertise.

When you see how companies already mess up designing underfloor heating, you shouldn’t be surprised.

That’s how it is.
This is not a highly complex, trendy gimmick, but simple physics. Robust, efficient, sustainable. But your local plumber will 99% advise against it. Simply because he doesn’t know it. He wants to sell his gas condensing boiler and install underfloor heating. The energy consultant will then calculate it with 18 sqm of solar thermal to make it fit....

So I need >5000,- € income to finance 500k. Aha...

Older post, but I just wanted to briefly address it here. Generally, max 100-110 times the monthly income is not uncommon as a recommendation for maximum loan amounts. On the other hand, you are probably rather far from the standard case, which is why this might only help you to a limited extent. Very few people are in the position to say "if in doubt, I can also pay myself more"... which is why it is indeed true that most would not be able to finance the amount with their salary alone. Just for context, explaining why many comments are as they are. I myself can’t assess whether a bank would still do it. The equity definitely reduces the overall risk. Likewise, rental scenarios can surely help. Overall, however, it is very special and far from a standard financing. For that alone, some will probably decline. I think the question of how "the banks" factor in certain things cannot really be answered in a general way.

Older post, but I just wanted to briefly comment here. Generally, a maximum of 100-110 times the monthly income is not uncommon as a recommendation for maximum loan amounts. On the other hand, you are probably further away from the standard case, so this might only help you to a limited extent. Very few people are actually in a position to say "in case of doubt, I can also pay myself more"... which is why it is quite true that most people probably would not be able to finance the amount with their salary. Just for context, this is why many comments are as they are. I myself cannot assess whether a bank would do it anyway. Equity definitely reduces the overall risk. Likewise, rental scenarios can certainly help. Overall, however, it is very special and far from the standard financing. Just for that reason, some will probably reject it. I think the question of how "the banks" factor things in cannot really be answered so generally.

Thank you for your answer! That is also my learning after a short time. It is simply too special and hardly matches the conditions and experiences of most users here. However, the sometimes condescending, sarcastic tone of the reactions did irritate me a bit. I had hoped to get more constructive input instead of just flat "won't work" reactions. But well, I probably should have presented my situation more differentiated and precise. Many thanks!

I (as a real estate financier) see a bursting soap bubble here. Mini income (after alimony) faces a large financing. I see exactly 0 reasons why you should get the loan. The equity is nice, but too low.

From my point of view, the alimony payment kills the plan with that salary. Without it, one or another broker would try to get it approved. But it would still be very far from healthy financing. Even 1% repayment would not be granted by the Ing-Diba. It’s not that suicidal. With 250k€ equity after a forced sale because something went wrong, Ing-Diba would hardly make a profit / only costs and you’d have a butt full of debt. But fundamentally an interesting topic :-)

I also think you have to be insanely careful with special architecture and special building services when it comes to the resale value. That can backfire quickly. That will increase the cost of the house. At the same time, 120m² main apartment + 60m² granny flat is not suitable for families and thus already limits the buyer group.

Today I had to think a bit more about renting out the study. It’s really difficult to say if that could work, as it is often required that you no longer have a workplace at your job. Google "FG München Urteil vom 07.10.2008 - 13 K 1037/06". I would say it probably won’t work. In the case mentioned, the rent is to be treated as wages.
At the end of the day, isn’t it more or less irrelevant whether you tax rental income or income? Social security contributions are capped and do not increase further. Both will also be considered in maintenance.

What might be interesting for you: You can offset part of the repayment as private retirement provision when calculating maintenance. You can credit 4% of your gross income this way. That definitely makes a difference. Also consider the corresponding residential benefits. Read the guidelines of your responsible higher regional court.

I also think you have to be extremely careful with special architecture and special building technology when it comes to resale value. That can backfire quickly. It will make the house more expensive. At the same time, 120m² main apartment + 60m² granny flat is not suitable for families and thus already limits the potential buyer group.

I had to think a bit today about renting out the home office. Really difficult to say whether that could work, as it is often required that you no longer have a workplace at your job. Google "FG München Urteil vom 07.10.2008 - 13 K 1037/06". I would say it probably doesn’t work. In the mentioned case, the rent is treated as wages. In the end, isn’t it more or less the same whether you tax rental income or income? Social security contributions are capped and don’t increase further. Both will also be considered for maintenance payments.

What might be interesting for you is that you can count part of the repayment as private pension provision when calculating maintenance. You can credit 4% of your gross income this way. That probably makes a difference. Also consider corresponding housing benefits. Read the guidelines of your responsible higher regional court.

Thanks for your input! As I said, the building technology is very robust and technically not demanding. And the additional costs will remain manageable during construction. Primarily, it’s also about saving consumption costs during the period of residence. I want to calculate tightly and plan above all. I don’t want to engage with unforeseeable price developments in the energy sector. And energy efficiency, sustainability, and self-sufficiency will still be in demand in 20 years. Probably even more than today.

I work 100% from home remotely. We will also not need an office in the medium term and are anyway spread out throughout Germany. Currently, the company is registered at my address. That can, but does not have to, remain so in the future. So it would be plausible if the company paid rent here. The difference is quite simple: basically, it doesn't matter whether the company pays or I do. With the difference that every euro I spend net has already been taxed and subjected to social security contributions. For the company, on the other hand, it is an expense, VAT is offset, and it reduces the profit, ergo the taxes as well. It doesn’t make much sense to withdraw more than about 5,000 euros per month as salary from the company. Therefore, I am consciously looking for, of course legal, alternatives. The maintenance calculation assumes flat rates in certain areas. Example car: the flat rate surcharge for a company car is 300 euros. The actual value is not used. And ultimately, a lot is also a question of negotiation with the youth welfare office. But a high net income is hard to argue away. And before comments come: I have been paying my maintenance on time for years, my children lack nothing.

Thank you very much for the tip regarding pension provision! That sounds very exciting!

Best regards