House Building Forum - Would you buy or build a house again?

We have 190 sqm +[Dachboden], but no basement. The master bedroom is planned on the ground floor. Since we do not live there yet, I unfortunately cannot say anything about everyday life. However, I also believe that you should consider age when building, but not build for old age – at least if you assume that the majority of the years of use fall into a time when you are still mobile.

We moved into our house 4.5 months ago, so we can now already give a small report on whether the size is suitable for us.

Our house has 154m² of living space on a 610m² plot. Our plot is rather small for village standards, but sufficient for us, as we don’t really have the time to maintain a large property. By the way, we are 28 and 29 years old and consciously chose my home village to be close to my family. In my village, solidarity and community spirit are highly valued; like all other residents, we hope to spend the rest of our lives here We don’t want to move anymore, except maybe in about 60 years one street over, to our final little spot
This may sound naive to many, to decide this at such a young age, but in our village, unlike many others, young people do not move away to the city but on the contrary, definitely want to stay.

The house deliberately has no basement; we have planned enough storage space anyway. The utility room was carefully planned by us, and we chose a closed concrete staircase so that we got a great storage room underneath. Additionally, there is plenty of storage space in the attic, and in the dressing room we have two huge wardrobes where there is also additional storage space.

We planned so that we have enough space for 2 planned children. If a 3rd should come, we could clear out the study on the ground floor and set up a small workspace in the upstairs hallway.

On the 154m² we have the following:

Ground floor:
Utility room with lots of space for washing machine, heat pump, etc.
Small guest WC + cloakroom niche
Closed kitchen
Living room with dining area
Study
Storage room under concrete stairs

Upper floor:
Dressing room with access to
Small bedroom
and large bathroom
2 large children's rooms (currently set up as a second study and guest room, since we don’t have children yet)
Second bathroom for children or guests

200m² would have been way too big for our needs; we are not really cleaning fanatics either, so we would be overwhelmed with such a large area.
I think we have enough space, even if children come someday. If not, we can also use the space well for other purposes (as we do currently), so the house still won’t be too big.

Our house has so far cost €260,000 with everything included (without the land, which we received as a gift), we only still lack the carport, which we will build ourselves.

We have about 250 sqm of living space (floor area over 300 sqm) - the size of the house always reflects the need.

Started with 65 sqm condominium (single), then
about 130 sqm (+ basement) house with two children
and finally the above-mentioned living space - with three children + home office

The next house will surely come when the children have left the house

Hello,

Therefore, question to the group: looking back on everything you now know regarding credit, maintenance costs, upkeep effort, etc., would you buy/build a house again?

"Would you, in hindsight, buy/build a house again" - an interesting question, which - are you hoping for here the push to soon be able to put your signature on the dotted line - cannot be representative. Those who would answer the question negatively do not write here; they only read silently. If they contributed their part to the thread, interesting aspects would certainly emerge.

In my job, I have seen many designs ranging from appallingly bad to optimal for the respective life situation. Interestingly, not every good design came from an architect, not every terrible proposal from a salesperson; so it depends on...

Yes, on what? Prospective builders must of course be able to afford to build; they must also bring the willingness to open themselves to arguments for or against their own image of the dream house/plot. When the eyes are bigger than the deployable budget, the same scenario often plays out: in the eyes of prospective builders, they themselves are not the cause of a conflict, but the evil seller. "Others are building too... others offer much cheaper... the internet says... and anyway..." What often annoys me is the lack of willingness to be honest with me as a conversation partner. I can't hear it anymore either - "your consultation was the most comprehensive of all, you were always reachable for us, you also addressed uncomfortable topics, we took many tips from our conversations ... I didn't like your partner (and vice versa, when I took the call)" - if prospective builders were even willing to justify a rejection at all. Often these people act "deaf" and do not get back to you; eloquent silence.

If, on the other hand, from the beginning the truth alone is the engine of the conversations, solutions are almost always found to realize the dream of one’s own four walls. It also does not matter whether at the end of the day a house with a footprint of 300 sqm or (supposedly) "only" 100 sqm is on the table for signing. People with greater wealth did not get it by spending! What counts alone is the economic implementation of euros into quality of life; this naturally also includes the monthly loan payment in relation to current income.

In this respect, the thread’s headline is not quite complete. In my opinion, the addition "how did your decision-making process develop up to signing?" is missing. I am quite certain that the answers then received would give you the drive to make the right decision for you.

Rhenish regards

The first house had 160 sqm, the one currently under construction 140 sqm. Enough for 2 children. Plot with 300 sqm small, but otherwise we would have had to move far away from reasonable public transport for cost reasons.

I am surprised that the vast majority would do it again! Can you quantify your living spaces? We are currently at 200m² and wonder if that might be a bit too large, also considering age.

We have gone down from originally 240 sqm to 155 sqm. Four people and a cat live in our household.