High construction costs with rising building interest rates

I'm also more of the underdog here and can count myself lucky to have found something six years ago. Today, I wouldn't see any chance anymore.

Since I am a single mother with two increasingly adolescent girls and therefore only one income (and child benefit, no maintenance), we still fall short of 5k net household income today.
Our house is therefore minimalist: each should have their own room, plus a living room, kitchen, bathroom, and guest toilet. A small utility room and that's it. The detached house measures 10.5x7m on about 300sqm of land outside.
You won't find children's bathrooms, basements, garages, pantries, or pools. The terrace and parking space were completed in the second and third year after moving in. Finally, in 2023, the photovoltaic system was added.

We are not poor people. We afford the house (about one third of the money goes there) and otherwise moderate luxury. Winter vacation is fixed; in summer, it only goes for a few hundred euros to a holiday apartment. Last autumn we were just barely four-figure in Croatia.

The most expensive luxury is my horse, but that has been around much longer than anything else (including the kids, the single-parent status, or the house). My alter ego has also gotten somewhat older, and you notice that financially in more frequent vet visits and the additional necessary feed. Somehow this now has to work; it’s not really comfortable though.

Many other wishes have to be put aside, we cannot splurge and have to set priorities.
I would love to travel to the western USA again, but the budget isn't there. I’m almost glad that the trip is currently out of the question anyway, thanks to the Orange man.
For the house, I actually wish for sun protection and a terrace roof.
Savings rate for a new car someday? Currently zero.
Special repayment? Let me laugh.

What do I want to say? We have a house with the "necessary" for nice living and not much more. We think about what luxury we can afford and have to forego wishes elsewhere.
If we cut out all luxury, we could probably get by with a thousand less. It’s still complaining at a high level.

Splashing out on consumption/vacations, having every feature in the house, still saving properly, the woman stays home without income with the kids. You will rarely have all of that together. You have to think about what is really important and where you would accept compromises.

That is simply not true. You can’t just compare a new house with an old apartment and then claim that the house is cheaper in additional costs. By the way, even that is not correct.

Oh yes: about maintenance

I can’t keep up with that. A house, a horse (my own experience shows the costs), vacations, and the waiver of child support (advance). You don’t just have the bare minimum with your two girls, but you’re already quite well off. Certainly due to sound household budgeting. But you live in luxury and not minimalist. Possibly compared to the bubble in the forum, but not when looking at the country.

To the OP: in rural Lower Saxony, there are still affordable, young existing properties at reasonable prices well below 400k. I have been observing the local market for years. It’s all a matter of expectations. And as a craftsman, you can very well modernize an existing property. A monoblock heat pump is easy to install even for a layperson thanks to compression ring fittings. The motto “I want everything and just watch how others build” was mainly popular in recent years. Especially in rural areas, everyone helped each other during construction.

That may be true, but it doesn’t have to be. Just the heating costs alone in comparison (I am also a landlord myself and have several real-life examples) that you save when switching from an 80sqm apartment from the 1960s to a 140sqm new build, you simply can’t spend that on other additional costs anymore. Property tax is extremely individual. Apartment to house -> change municipality and save 30% property tax with a 50% increase in living space.

We are talking about additional costs, not maintenance and renovation, which usually only start after 15-20 years with a house.

that even in a "cheap" market with solid purchasing power in rural areas a young family can hardly afford a house anymore.