High equity, low income: to build or not?

PS:
1. Today's semi-detached houses or terraced houses often have 125-150 sqm of living space and people like that. Next to me live families with many children (children bring life to the environment, I think that's great), sometimes even with 4 kids, and they have no space problems. I myself can very well imagine having bought something like this instead of a detached single-family house. Saved 100K and still had very good living comfort.

2. Family with children: A good friend of mine is in a similar situation as the OP. Children of the same age. Very similar equity situation (so well off). When he saw from me how exhausting building new is, after a somewhat longer search he bought a super nice semi-detached house (built around 2000) in DO and moved in in Sept. 2015. They didn’t want to experience the hassle of a complete new build like we did (me neither ever again). He’s right.

Great property. Nice plot. Garage. Parking space. Very good environment. 200 sqm living space. Basement with sauna. Brilliant kitchen and much more. A wonderful property that I like extremely much. The price was okay at 440K. DO is also very expensive, the location there extremely expensive. Even the 4 don’t really need that much space, so it could have been significantly cheaper. But with the equity they had, luxury was possible and doable.

They had to/wanted to do some renovations and remodeling here and there. About 6 weeks of work. That already drained their last nerve with the kids. They are "over the moon" to have bought an existing property.

one should definitely clarify this with the donors whether they would agree. ...

Everything has long been settled. One reason for the gift was to give us the opportunity to improve our living conditions. But I still think it makes sense to point out this seemingly unimportant aspect here in the forum.

but why should a 100 sqm condo be as expensive as a house with a complete plot? makes no sense at all or are apples being compared to oranges here? premium condo location with forest and meadow house plot? couldn’t you get a bigger condo further from the city center without a loan for the selling price of your apartment?

If you search on Immoscout, for example, for a 4-room apartment within about 5 km radius here, say from the year 2000 and up to 400,000 euros, you will find exactly 5 units. Of those, 2 are existing buildings and 3 are new builds. The older apartments have been on the market forever because they are pretty special (layout, location), the new builds are all in Cologne (and all are about 400,000 euros) – and we moved away from there 5 years ago because we prefer that our children don’t grow up in a big city but still can get there quickly if needed. From that point of view, our small town and especially our district are perfect for us. I partly grew up here, the infrastructure is great (daycare centers, schools, shopping options, train, etc.). Our older son goes to school here, has found friends here, as have we. That’s not something we necessarily want to give up. But we don’t want to move much further into our town (where it’s cheaper) because it becomes too rural and the distances too long (we have only one car, which I need for commuting). Also, the situation with apartments there that would be suitable is not much better.

do you actually want to have the building registered only in your name? after all, you’re putting up all the equity and are also the sole earner. then you would be alone on the loan (she as a housewife wouldn’t be much help on the loan anyway...).

Yes, I will manage everything alone, but I don’t have a big problem with that. We had already inquired about a loan once and the advisor said my wife should also be included in the contract, for whatever reason.

Always better to shake two trees than one, if it all goes wrong...

Always better to shake two trees than one, if it goes wrong...

I thought so too^^

I'm also not sure if you can get a "bare" house without outdoor facilities around Cologne for 400k?

You mean if we want to buy one? Where we live, probably not. If you move a bit further inland, you can get something from about 350,000 euros, but you also have certain ideas and don't want to take everything (and not everywhere) that's offered. As far as building is concerned, it is quite possible to build a house for about 200,000 euros if you lower your requirements for space and equipment somewhat, which we are definitely willing to do.

Of course, if additional financing is needed, it becomes very tight with that income. However, I can very well understand the desire for size. Certainly, 15-20 square meters are missing here.

I am aware of the risk of additional financing. On the one hand, my parents have offered to help us in an emergency; on the other hand, we do not want to build naively, no matter what it costs. I have already informed myself extensively about construction costs, incidental expenses, etc., read several construction diaries every week, and approach the topic with the necessary seriousness.

Hello,

... and would like to build a (solid) house. It is not supposed to be a villa; we are planning about 120-130 m² without a basement and initially without a garage/outdoor facilities.

We live in a suburb of Cologne in a quite desirable residential location. [...] Our plan is as follows: soon municipal plots will be sold in our town for about 120-150 T. €, on which we want to build a house that will cost about 200 T. € according to our ideas. If you add ancillary costs and unforeseen expenses, you quickly reach 400 T. €.

What exactly does _in a desirable residential location_ in a suburb mean? And what does _according to our ideas_ mean? And how do you arrive from 200 T. € (single-family house) to 400 T. € – after all, that is a difference of 100% – all in? Or are the costs of the plot and the ancillary building costs included in this surcharge?

Best regards from the Rhineland