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

Wow, that's all really positive. And the thing with the [credit]? Whether it will go well, whether you can really afford the installment, whether you can still go on vacations like before and don't have to turn every cent twice, have you never had worries about that? Or rather, has that never restricted your freedom of decision, the thought of not being able to simply say now I cancel the lease and move somewhere else, e.g. because of a job offer? You do bind yourself to the place, that's at least not so easy anymore. Of course, you never know what will come. But I would be interested to know whether that played a role for you.

The house should serve you, not you the house.

Exactly.

A well-planned house within the family’s budget does exactly that.

The quality of life factor is totally positive. The kicker!

And if you also say: I’ll make it a hobby too (a matter of attitude), then you also have the hobby item of choice at your main place of life. That is: TOP.

Regarding the monthly costs for house maintenance, I have often read about 2-3€ per m². Personally, I find that a lot because with a new build it would actually amount to around 400-500€ for us. So these would not be reserves but expenses on top of the loan. Is that realistic when you calculate insurance for the house, electricity, water, garbage, and the like, or is that too high? We lack a sense for that.

Wow, that's all really positive. And the thing with the loan? Whether it will work out, whether you can really afford the installment, whether you can still take vacations like before and don't have to turn every cent twice, did you never have worries about that? Or did it never restrict your freedom of choice, the thought of not being able to simply say now I quit the rental contract and move somewhere else, for example because of a job offer? You are tying yourself to the place, which at least is no longer so easily possible. Of course, you never know what will come. But I would be interested to know whether that played a role for you

Life is life-threatening and always ends fatally.

You can't foresee everything.
If everyone becomes unemployed, you can't pay rent either.

And yes: In the first years you have a lot of work. Then you just take a vacation on the balcony instead of in Fuerte (I miss it, but the house makes up for it).

And if I had to move: So be it. See above. Life.
Location. Location. Location.
Can I sell the house in 6 months.
Or rent it out.
I would then see that if the case actually occurs.

Worrying about unlaid eggs is nonsense.

Of course you have worries. Who doesn't?
No pain no gain (+ worries).
If building a single-family house were that easy, everyone would have one.
You have to grit your *** cheeks once in a while. You can certainly do that once in a lifetime....

Apart from that: Garbage, gas, water, electricity: costs the same.
With heating I even save 1000,- per year with the house compared to before.

Hi,
this will definitely be a long text.

First time: It is completely normal that you have doubts before signing the contract. After all, you are committing yourselves for a long time and from the start of construction you can’t just say - that was a mistake, now I’m simply ending it.
I think most builders feel this way. After my wife expressed doubts again and again, I asked her 3 days before signing: "Do we really want to do this?" For me it was clear that I wanted to. But with her consent I knew that WE BOTH wanted to take this step. ONLY then can it work.
Even during the construction phase, the question will keep coming back to you. There are couples who get divorced during this time (or shortly after). There will be arguments, significantly more stress for both, time problems and, if you’re unlucky, possibly one or the other difficulty on the site.
For us it really crashed 5 months after moving in. All sorts of possible and impossible things were put on the table. But the waves have calmed and we are back on a good path.
You just have to be careful not to “lose” each other. Consciously take time for yourselves. Go out for a nice meal now and then. Take a Sunday walk without the topic house. Just switch off sometimes and do something together. As far as possible. TOGETHER is the magic word.

So - now to the actual question:
YES - I (hopefully also we) would build again. This - although due to professional changes for my wife, the financial situation has worsened and may worsen even more at the beginning of next year.

You pay a lot of money for the installment - but for your own property. Not for someone else.
Your monthly burden remains the same - the rent can/will increase.
You have something of your own, built according to your wishes and ideas.
You planned your house individually, including the location of the rooms, the "short" distances.
You have your little specials in the house that only you have for yourself. For example, I love our two showers. In the old apartment showering was functional - now it is a pleasure.
The consumption values of your house are lower compared to the apartment. You don’t have to put up with the given building situation (in our old children’s room there was a thermal bridge, which made it hotter in summer and colder in winter than the rest of the apartment).
You don’t need the owner’s approval for changes/repairs and you don’t have to wait until the property manager and caretaker decide to grace you with their presence/decision. However, you are responsible for the repair yourself.
The kids (3 and 5) can just go out onto the property when they want to play. You don’t have to trek to the playground every time and waste time there.
You (hopefully) find good contact with your neighbors. One hand washes the other. If you help, you will be helped. You are in the same situation. In the apartment building we never had such close contact with the neighbors as in the house. Strange, since the house itself is "more isolated".
You don’t need a gym - the house and the garden demand enough from you .

Were there negative surprises:
Well - with one neighbor it doesn’t really work. So it’s: good day and have a nice path.
The costs for the outdoor area (paving work) are higher than expected - so we had to/split them.
You always have something to do.

Are there other things I (somewhat) regret:
In retrospect I realize that I should have done certain jobs that I had to cut for cost reasons. Now I miss a few little things (but not terribly). If I had invested the extra 5,000 euros right away, it would have been a perfect house.

Phew - lunch break is almost over again.

Well, we had already lived in a (small) condominium before, so the attachment to a place was not really different than before.

We planned the financing so that we could manage it with one salary, and it was also important for us to still be able to go on vacation.

Well, maybe not three or four times a year anymore, but one or two nice vacations should still be possible.

At first, my wife was also rather skeptical regarding the loan, but by now we both see the project as quite manageable.

There will never be 100% security in life, but if you have the opportunity to own your own house, in my opinion, you should not miss out on the significant increase in quality of life.

Best regards,

Dirk