FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) How to deal with it?

I would say, first buy an apartment in Germany with that money, rent it out profitably, and after a few years, you will have the value of the apartment plus price increases with almost no ongoing costs, since you have the rental income. And then you can still decide (why anyone would prefer to move to Germany rather than Switzerland??) to move or stay in CH and build your own home there and just visit friends and family from time to time. I would be very happy if I could get a Swiss salary. :(

Renting out is definitely not an option for us and we don’t want to build a house in Switzerland, even with a Swiss salary. For us, it’s simply about the fact that our parents are no longer young and the visits once a month are too few for us in the long term, but we don’t want to burden our offspring any more. So we are happy about the decision to have moved here and to have spent time in Switzerland, but we are also happy to return to our home country.

Do you have a building obligation on the plot? If not, you could also just buy the plot first and then wait with construction until the current madness has somewhat normalized. Not necessarily the prices, but at least the completely crazy shortage situation.

Yes, there is a building obligation of 3 years until the shell must be standing. So it’s a good question whether the purchase contract can be adjusted to extend the time, or to include a clause for "unforeseen" delays.

That’s why half of Eastern Switzerland goes shopping in Konstanz on Saturdays. During the week, those who live closer than Zurich come ;) Cheaper exchange rate + German prices + VAT refund (and Swiss customs often don’t enforce it) The prices will certainly not fall significantly anymore. Therefore, I wouldn’t want to wait recklessly either. By the time the tendering and planning phase is over, it will take a while anyway, then you have to wait until you are scheduled and suddenly 2024 is here. Accordingly, I would start now.

We at least only shop when visiting our parents and have never reclaimed the VAT.. But yes, that is certainly also a factor why we can live so frugally.

Someone has 600k saved up, saves 100k EUR per year, so 800k by the move and worries about the own home? By 2024 you could pay off the house in cash, right?

Yes, 800k€ was planned, but we assumed a house price of 500k and plot <300k. Meanwhile, the plot costs 350k€ as mentioned and the house rather around 750k€, and suddenly we are at 1M. We had planned with a relatively large buffer (ideally being able to leave our self-saved equity in the portfolio), which with current prices and interest rates we probably also need to use, and the risk has increased despite our good starting position. I find it quite legitimate to think extensively about whether it is really worth it for us. Especially since we will have a completely different income in Germany and at the same time the family planning is not quite finished and one more kid is planned..

Whether it is worth it to you, only you can decide for yourselves. It is definitely affordable.

I always tell people who are building: You try to get through the construction phase as quickly as possible, making many compromises and concessions in order to finally be in your own house. Once you have lived there for 2-3 months, it becomes normal again and you wonder why you didn't change this or that after all. Therefore, you shouldn't make too many concessions when building that you end up unhappy afterwards.
With you, there is also the risk that you just want to build quickly so that you have a home and can finally return.

My tip: Move back into a rental property first and then tackle the building topic from D.

The topic of single-family houses is actually no longer wanted in Germany and there will probably be no building rights for single-family houses in the foreseeable future (my opinion). They simply require too much space and resources. Single-family houses will certainly not be worth much less in the future than they are today.

I can understand your thoughts very well. The current situation is really unsettling, not only financially but generally we are probably heading into uncertain times. As Gecko1927 already said, single-family houses are no longer the future in Germany. At least I fancy seeing first signs of that. No one can take the decision and the risk off your shoulders, but I do consider it quite right to go for it in your situation.

The fact is: you want to return to [DE], you want a single-family house and you can now afford it. No one can see into the future, but it is very likely that you will be able to live in your own single-family house in the future once you have it. No matter what happens on the property market, politically or with rents, you and your family have your own safe home! Maybe building prices will fall by 50% after you have moved in. Annoying.. Nevertheless, your home remains, which you will have paid for in a reasonable amount of time. Should prices rise again by 100% over the next few years or other framework conditions arise, there is indeed the possibility that the dream of a single-family house could finally burst for you as well.

I can very well understand your thoughts. The current situation is really unsettling, not only financially but generally we are heading into uncertain times. As Gecko1927 already said, single-family houses are no longer the future in Germany. At least I convince myself that I recognize first signs of this. No one can take away the decision and the risk from you, but in your situation I definitely consider it right to take the plunge. The fact is: you want to go back to DE, you want a single-family house, and you can now afford it. No one can look into the future, but it is very likely that you will be able to live in your own single-family house in the future once you have it. No matter what happens in the real estate market, politically or with rents, you and your family will have your own secure home! Perhaps the construction prices will fall by 50% after you have moved in. Annoying... Still, your home remains, which you will have paid off within a reasonable time. Should prices rise by 100% again over the next years or other conditions arise, there is certainly the possibility that the dream of a single-family house could finally burst for you too.

I always don’t know where this wild rumor comes from that single-family houses could be prohibited in Germany in the future,... They might no longer be tax-advantaged and subsidized, but it is also not the task of a state to finance dreams when the money can be used for more people. The renovation of existing single-family houses is, for example, a clear commitment of the current government.

Who is talking about banning anything here? Politically, the focus is drifting away from enabling the middle class to own residential property in the form of single-family homes.

For years, prices have been artificially driven up with the KfW55 subsidy, even though KfW55 was already the standard. Now, it is being completely discontinued overnight. In principle, it is indeed correct not to support KfW55 anymore. However, prices will no longer decrease by this factor as a result. I also consider it questionable to suddenly discontinue KfW40+ or possibly cut it in half now.

Indirectly, the threshold for single-family homes is continually being raised with actions like these. If one wanted to cushion this politically, the subsidy would be limited exclusively to private buildings or new reasonable concepts would be devised.

Increases in property taxes are the next example.

All costs related to single-family homes are rising disproportionately compared to wages or general inflation, and as a result, fewer and fewer people will be able to realize the dream of owning their own single-family home.

Of course, if you have enough money, it will always be possible to build your single-family home or castle ;)

Furthermore, I do not only mean the political will. No one can predict the further situation in the market either. Whether the end of the line has been reached, I dare to doubt; in the field of construction, we are definitely dealing with energy-intensive sectors.