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

What went wrong there? How can my post be so misunderstood? Where was I being "cheeky" or "arrogant"? You probably feel offended because, in your opinion, I did not categorize Velbert correctly. You may be right about that. But that's not what it was about. However, you can see from the comments of the other forum members that your reaction is completely exaggerated.

Dear Tomtom, dear Tego,

thank you for your contributions.

First of all: I am not sensitive.

Personally, I consider it inappropriate and bad style to accuse other people of being out of touch with reality. I may have many bad qualities, but being out of touch with reality I certainly am not. In the style that otherwise predominates here in the forum, this user could, for example, have written that he does not share my opinion or assertion. Instead, the personal level was immediately addressed here. I do not accept such behavior, exceptions only exist when people know me personally and then accuse me of misconduct.

Furthermore, the conversation was about the purely emotional question of whether one would build again. The original poster then asked during the thread what percentage of net income others invest in their construction project. A percentage of net income emerged here that seemed familiar to me. Not only from myself but from about 20 other builders I personally know who built in the last three years. Of course, the size (cost) of a construction project varies depending on location, region, size, financing conditions, and many other factors. Of course, Velbert is cheaper than Düsseldorf. And I am also aware of the prices around the FFM area, in southern Germany as well. Because I also know "recent" builders there.

I also have not lost a single word in my posts about whether building a house is worthwhile purely with regard to financial metrics (such as Return on Investment, Return on Assets, ...). I am doing that now: most likely not, exceptions may prove otherwise. Well – but this was not the topic here at all.

I only expressed an opinion that was and is not out of touch with reality: up to which limit one can do such a thing (quite) "without worries." One can share this opinion or have a different view without switching to the personal level, which said user, as mentioned, demonstrably did.

For this reason, I firmly stand by my opinion from last night on the topic and the behavior of the user towards me.

Thorsten

Even if you ignore me: You should separate the person from the content. When I write that a claim on your part is unrealistic, I mean the content of that claim and not that you as a person are unrealistic.

Back to the topic

We were owners of a used house, built in 1964, for almost 17 years.
When the house became too big for us, we sold it and built a new one.

We would invest in a home again and again.

Our equity invested in the new construction project amounts to nearly 65%. The monthly loan burden: 25% of the household income.

However, it will not be our retirement residence. That is planned as a small bungalow on the coast.

For us, the investment was very worthwhile! Our life changed: as a family, we are closer together again, maintaining the property no longer takes nearly as much time as before = more free time!
Feel-good factor in the new house: 100%
Thanks to the open design, it has become much cozier.

Conclusion: Buy if it fits. Build anytime again!

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

We have only been living in our modest 135 m2 little house since March 15 and of course pay a bit more than our former 710,- washing machine for the old 4-room apartment. But it is worth it to us. It is good to know we have something for later instead of taking the money to the bank to hardly earn any interest there. The KfW funding for families was also not bad. In times of such good interest rates, I find it the best thing to do as a father.

But of course, those who miscalculate will have a hard time later.

I think it is also normal to get shaky knees so shortly before signing.

I wish you all the best and that you have made a good decision...

I just talked about it with my wife yesterday and we came to the conclusion that if we ever became filthy rich, we would keep the house and not build a bigger one. We also have only about 240 m2 of garden. But when the kids are out, it’s definitely enough for old age!