House buying - No idea what one can afford

So that the framework doesn’t take longer than completion... I would like to question that?!

With a larger supplier of timber frame prefabricated houses from the Sauerland, it currently takes about 13 months between the contract and the house erection. Then there are another 3 months for the final finishing.

And it’s not cheaper either; rather the same or more expensive. Above all, different.

I actually bought an existing property and am still renovating – I do most of it myself, so it’s taking "a bit" longer. But that doesn’t matter, at least I’m making a small contribution since I don’t have an income above pocket money level. An existing building is certainly – or can be – significantly cheaper than a new build, which simply isn’t available below a certain amount (4-500k euros including land depending on the region, as I have learned here in the forum). You can get an old building for about half the price if you don’t have high demands, are willing to do some work, and don’t want to live in a metropolitan area. We paid 139k near Wiesbaden back then, which was a super bargain. The value of the house/land today is more like double. On the one hand, you can’t get a decent house at that price today because prices have skyrocketed since then (2012), and on the other hand, we naturally upgraded it through extensive renovation. It’s certainly not everyone’s thing to live on a construction site for years. For me, as a former renter, owning my own house is such a dream that I can overlook that and enjoy the small progress. I’m also home all day; my two volunteer positions sometimes take a lot of time in phases, and I manage the rest independently.

For us, buying a house was a long-time utopia, and at some point, we had the spontaneous idea to buy because the offer was right. Even when applying at the bank, we never expected that someone would give us the money. We had only saved 7,000 euros for incidental purchase costs, back then still with 3.5% property transfer tax (now 6) and no realtor. I also didn’t keep a household budget; everything was totally spontaneous and unplanned. All the better that we bought very modestly and not according to the idea “as much as the banks give us.” It was a 100% financing; now, after 5 years, the follow-up financing is due, and we have already repaid 30k. However, we have no children, none planned, and everything is simply two sizes cheaper.

I see the advantage over renting in the fact that you live rent-free in your own property in old age. I personally don’t see the argument that renters have more income left for other investments. Back then, we had 630 euros rent excluding heating and our rate is 667 euros. As renters, that money would simply be gone. With a new build or a loan around 300k, the calculation might look different. The item “you can do whatever you want, freedom, garden, space” falls under quality of life with ownership and is unpaid anyway – so not comparable.

Regarding loans: when we bought, we had a car loan (very cheap car with a new value of 11k) and now for the follow-up financing a car loan (no car) of 3.7k and a photovoltaic system with 10k. Both were no problem. BAföG debts and student loans do not appear in the SCHUFA (at least not for me – luckily). Although I have an academic degree, I would have preferred to save myself the studies; the diploma is not useless, but still worthless.

On the topic of prefab houses
I have often read here in the forum that due to increased demand, there have been sometimes longer waiting times after signing the contract. No ill will on the part of the company, but simply due to the current construction boom.
Waiting times of 6 to 9 months can occur.

No problem so far. However, this should possibly be taken into account regarding financing. The loan is applied for / concluded. The first disbursement has been made. Interest already accrues for this. The waiting time then shortens the interest-free availability period.
This can possibly also occur with solid construction providers. However, I have rarely read about it here so far.

Possibly an advantage of prefab houses: Due to the partially standardized production of the prefabricated parts, the risk of construction defects in this construction sector may be lower.

I also don’t know exactly what my cash withdrawals are used for, that would be way too stressful for me. We also just buy what we need when we shop and don’t have a budget per month for groceries or anything like that.

I think many don’t understand this point, because for many, living like this is probably an absolute no-go.

Somehow, living like this is kind of cool again. Some people even chuckle at me because I record amounts down to the cent in my household book. But I am an engineer after all, so I have an Excel household book, starting from the gross amount, and I can even tell you how much taxes, fees & social contributions we pay. To the cent (of course, that makes me an absolute minority even among engineers). The annoying thing is, that doesn’t mean I have more money than you! I just know where it goes (which is not always pleasant to know).

Anyway, what I wonder is: As an account manager in your job, are you just as lax? Probably not, some people are different here and different there. This is off-topic here, just an interesting side question.

On the topic ... Phew, I skipped most of the 19-page thread now. Basically, everything has already been said.

On the topic of apps - I have also been using Finanzblick for ages - but it’s not quite that simple when merging traditional accounts at an offline bank to DKB and only one joint account.

What I find annoying in all the analyses are exactly the cash withdrawals (with the cash account this hasn’t worked well so far) and also the credit card expenses - and always the counterbooking with debit on the checking account and credit on the credit card, etc...

I have the rough categories like fixed and fixed variable in there as well and I have always analyzed them, but rather roughly in those two categories and not broken down into all sorts of things. I use tags for that.

Somehow living like this is cool again. Some people also chuckle at me for recording amounts down to the cents in the household ledger. But I’m an engineer, and then you have an Excel household ledger, starting from the gross amount, and I can even tell you exactly how much we pay in taxes, fees & social contributions. To the cent (of course, I’m also in an absolute minority among engineers). The annoying thing is, because of that I don’t have more money than you! I just know where it goes (which isn’t always pleasant to know).

Anyway, what I wonder is: Are you just as laid-back as an account manager at work? Probably not, I’ve heard there are people who are like this here and completely different there. This is off-topic here, just an interesting side question.

On the subject... Phew, I’ve skipped most of the 19-page thread now. Basically, everything has been said.

I also kept Excel sheets for a few years (before the wedding) and, down to the cent, cross-checked and categorized everything that went from the account and what for. And that’s exactly the point. Because of that, I didn’t spend less but only got annoyed about why so much cash goes out for lunch breaks or a lot of other things. I didn’t live more frugally because of that. Since I stopped doing that, it’s been much less stressful.

I won’t change that either, but that doesn’t mean you don’t still put money aside, save, pay off loans, and thus the budget you have at your free disposal automatically becomes much smaller, not every purchase is made without consideration, etc....

We also don’t just blow money, we have many things that are more expensive but only bought once, like KitchenAid instead of 0815, Dibbern dishes, Vitra furniture, Rimowa suitcases, etc... All that costs a lot, but in return we have many many things where we won’t have to spend money later.

On the job topic – on the one hand, everyone has a different understanding of account manager, for me it’s a mix of sales and existing customer support – and of course I’m a pro at that and very good in my area. But that shouldn’t be the topic of this thread.