Financing: How much did your house cost?

It's an interesting story. Search for "Financing with ING feasible" or "variable loan" Allegedly top opportunities for own contributions (construction company in the family, huge support, cheap materials, husband is a civil engineer, etc.) but it is not being used...

Of course, it is possible to build with a lot of EL. Two brothers in my circle of friends did that too. A grown place, many well-known craftsmen with heavy equipment, good friends. I also helped a lot on both construction sites. Both took about 1.5 years in a row until moving in. Brother 1 also spent almost 3 years, every weekend until the end, building something. Then it was paved. Also in EL. Large yard with long driveway. It was really hell.

I am also a vehement advocate of EL. I do almost everything myself, both on the house and on the car. But spending 1.5 to 2 years every free minute on the construction site... THAT I personally would not want to accept. For that, my free time with my family is much too important to me. Then there is the time for reading up, sourcing materials, and so on. And not everyone has talent in such trades. I once had an acquaintance at my place. He never had to help again because he was no help.

You have to know that if you embark on such a project.

216 sqm flat roof 2 full floors, with basement 105 sqm, 46 sqm double garage with photovoltaic system and smart home 580,000,- turnkey, unfortunately only standard equipment, there were also numerous surcharges, such as
- Excavation 24,000
- Embed spots 100,- each
- Sanitary surcharge 15,000 for 3 bathrooms
- Windows 30,000,. Additional cost with blinds and electric
- Glass railing 12,000,-
Q3 puttying still pending...
Folded staircase 7,500,-
- Larger tiles on the ground floor 9,000,- euros more...

We also want to share, probably not representative:
145 sqm, Kfw40+, timber frame construction and modernization of a 65 sqm double garage (roof, ring beam, exterior/interior plaster) without land 345 k€, from planned 355 k€
including...
- Kitchen (15 k€) + bathroom furniture
- Pump shaft (15 k€)
- Venetian blinds on the ground floor living and dining area, the rest with electric roller shutters
- Central ventilation; 9.9 kWp photovoltaic; 5.2 kWh battery storage because of Kfw40+
- Fingerprint, motor lock, network + APs, "light" cameras, remote control with Z-Z-Wave
- 9200l cistern + Hunter garden irrigation
- many retaining walls
with a whole lot of own work.
Paving work, garden shed and some earthworks still missing. That will come this year.

30 k€ Kfw40+ subsidy, 24 k€ child construction allowance and 1 k€ ventilation grant were granted.

Application was submitted mid-March 2020 and move-in was early August 2020.
It was a very exhausting time (also the half year before).

My wife and I agree: it was worth it, but we won’t do it again so quickly :)

Well, I do think that you can still stay well below the mentioned figures of €2,000 - €2,500 per m² without living in a garden shed.

No, exactly not.. your own labor is not free. You also can't produce all materials yourself, build everything yourself and then claim you can build a house for free.
1.5 years of vacation, every weekend, every evening x 2 is roughly 3,600 hours. Okay, how do you price that: minimum wage student assistant or your own labor lost during that time? So we are roughly between €10 and €30. That means for 129 sqm about €280-840 more, so €1,500-2,000/m². Still okay – but here, as you said, rural, local craftsmen you know, etc. That also needs to be put into perspective. The €2,000-2,500 are the average.

No, not at all.. your own labor isn’t free. You also can’t make all the materials yourself, build everything yourself, and then claim you can build a house for free.
1.5 years of vacation, every weekend, every evening x 2 is roughly 3600 hours. Okay, how do you price that: a student assistant at minimum wage or your own work lost during that time? So we’re roughly between 10 and 30€. For 129 sqm that means 280-840€ more, so 1500-2000€/sqm. Still okay - but here, as you write, rural, local craftsmen you know, etc. That has to be put into perspective. The 2000-2500€ are just the average.

I see it differently in parts.
1. Even as an end customer, you can often get needed materials relatively cheaply online. Sure, you have to pay, but often cheaper than what the craftsman charges.

2. Not everyone has the option to do well-paid overtime. That can easily be calculated.