Home construction financing realistic? Experiences?

Hi , so it might be a bit unusual but I'll try to keep it short: The apartment used to be a 3-person shared flat and about 5 years ago it happened that I took over the apartment together with my then partner. The rent was reasonable for the location and apartment size -> back then 1050€ including utilities for ~100sqm. In the last two years, the additional costs were raised significantly and since this year also the base rent, so that now we have arrived at 1600€ including utilities. And we are still freezing in winter because otherwise we expect another big bill if we even dare to set the heating in the living room above 2. And yes, we dress normally, wear slippers around, but we are just chilly :) well and the apartment is quite big, below us there is just a basement, the floor is always cold and uff....

But basically we have somehow come to terms with it and were "okay" with our previous plan until for example something like this came from my parents: "You pay HOW MUCH?? You do realize you are throwing XYZ€ out the window every year?!" -> No, we don't -___- The location (close to the city center), which we also really enjoy in this phase of our lives, also has a certain value. In the long term though, we actually want to move more to the quieter suburbs.

Well, somehow we then started looking for plots of land and trying to get a feel for financing etc. and in principle, if it would be feasible, we would really like to take on the project.

The plot of land we have in mind would be perfect for us, unfortunately there isn't much in the area where we want to go (at least on the usual portals like Immo*, Kleinanzeigen.de, etc. but I have only recently learned here in the forum that it is definitely worth trying in the local newspaper as well). And it would still be "close" to the city but more affordable. My commute would get longer, but I could work from home and still spontaneously get to the office with an acceptable travel time (which I like to do 2-3 times a week). For my wife, the commute would be shorter. Furthermore, factors that are important to us such as daycare, schools, shopping opportunities, quiet neighborhood, etc. are also right. Ah, when I write about it, I realize again how I feel the urge to "beautify" the numbers - quite fatal!

I think we will just follow the advice to have a non-binding financing consultation. Because at the moment we're kind of going in circles, since we are not really sure how realistically we estimate the costs. Thanks for your suggestions! :)

Unfortunately, we also belong to the people who started saving seriously too late.

* How old are you?
* 32 & 25

You are still very young.
Consider how it is manageable with only one salary and get yourself a household budget book, where inspections should not be missing either.
I will spare you further details, as I already wrote something yesterday that was deleted (for whatever reason)

if the real estate transfer tax is waived, it must be within the immediate family; if not, the 6000.-- is insufficient. if yes, you can postpone the purchase/construction start by 2-3 years. depending on the area, you can expect 3000-3500 €/m²; with a land price of over 200€/m2 for rural areas, it is probably not the cheapest region. solar is now mandatory in (almost?) all federal states and now costs less than 1500 €/kWp again. KNX is something you have to want and understand and then live with the costs and consequences; for me, nothing beats the best control system in the world, my right hand.

Never in my life would I commit to 2.7/2.8k given the income situation. Keep in mind, with the house it’s not just about the pure expenses for financing, there’s so much more that comes every month.

The point about [Grunderwerbsteuer] also caught my attention. Why is this not incurred?
I also like the option of securing/buying the plot and starting house construction in two to three years once it’s paid off.

Good evening everyone,

this is a bit embarrassing, but I apparently made a mistake regarding the real estate transfer tax. I had read somewhere last year that it would be waived in Thuringia for first-time purchases for personal use. Based on your hints, I wanted to check again and indeed, it has not been decided yet, only that the tax will be reduced from 6.5% to 5%.

Regarding first buying the land + paying it off and starting house construction in 3 years, we could definitely imagine that as well. How does such a procedure work? Do you use the existing equity mostly (or completely?) for that and then pay off the installments as quickly as possible while not saving anything else during that time, or should one divide the loan installment & savings rate differently?

How does such a procedure work? Do you use most (or all?) of the existing equity for it and then pay off the installments as quickly as possible and not save anything else during that time, or should the loan installment & savings rate be divided differently?

It depends on how high the interest rates are or how high the alternative investment return for equity is. But probably use equity almost completely and repay as much as possible. You don't necessarily need to save additionally. By the time of the house construction, the land should be paid off completely.