Home financing - How much house can / should I afford?

Hello everyone

After you really helped wonderfully with the last topic, I'll try it again right away:
My wife and I would like to build a house, but we are unsure how much house we can and should afford. We initially thought of the 550 TEUR limit, but are increasingly realizing that due to the construction boom in [Rheinland], this is hardly feasible at the moment.

About our finances and situation:
Both employed in crisis-proof jobs, both around 30 years old, no debts/loans, 2 fairly new cars, monthly net income roughly equal, together about €8000 net, regular salary increases already contractually guaranteed according to collective agreement, just over 100K equity, no children yet, 2 desired, with both of us wanting to take parental leave. Currently living in a rented apartment for about €1000 warm rent per month. We go on a somewhat more expensive vacation about twice a year, otherwise a "bourgeois" lifestyle with rather frugal expenses.
Looking forward to your opinions and answers

The question is wrong regarding the mentioned figures. It is not about ability and obligation, but about willingness.

Keep a household budget to determine how much money remains each month. Consider whether you want to maintain this lifestyle and adjust the amount accordingly. Then think about what is important to you in a house, what that might cost, and how high the priority of this desire is. Parental leave should not be overdramatized. In the worst case, it is 12+2 months with (significantly) lower income. More interesting is whether/when both will work full-time again, or at least one will go (and stay) part-time.

Thanks in advance for the response. We have started with the household book, but it is not very meaningful yet. The "wanting" is relative; the most important thing for us is to have it paid off by the latest at the age of 60 with solid financing. Of course, I can put all the numbers into various calculators, but I am always interested in the opinions of real people who do not come from the banking or construction industry and who make suggestions based on life experience...

With a net income of 8k, you can relatively confidently afford a 2k installment. If you have the ambitions and chances for a senior physician position, you already have the 8k salary alone. I would approach the topic quite calmly in that case.

You have 30 years to pay it off, so the 550k you are considering is easily manageable. And as a doctor, you usually also get quite nice offers from banks. They also know that the medical profession typically does not face unemployment.

Yes, that was roughly our calculation as well. However, it's unbelievable what land in our target area currently costs.... 250 to 300 euros per square meter is unfortunately more common than rare.

I somehow don’t find 250-300 that much for metropolitan regions. We also pay 220€/sqm 40 minutes by car from Frankfurt.