House construction costs and financing

where is your equity at the age of 40

40/40 were according to the opening post the working hours (age 31, 28).


Otherwise, I don’t have much to add except that I am following the thread with great interest because our starting situation is currently very, very similar. (Similar age, similar income, similar equity, similar stage of family planning). Our personal consideration right now is, "we can live quite well with the current apartment situation for a few more years and it would still work for a while with a child," so we have postponed it for now. Maybe some things can then be better assessed (especially living with a child and how much money we have available, how well it all works, yada yada).

But we keep wavering back and forth...
A few arguments for not postponing are for example (partly emotional, partly rational)
- Saving against cost increases in the construction sector is hardly/never possible anyway
- Our rent is quite high and continues to rise (we even pay more than you do)
- Better construction stress now than with a toddler?
- The perfect time never really exists, life just has its uncertainties...
- In the current situation, the rate would be manageable, so why not just get started?

The cons for us are:
- We might have to make more compromises when building the house than we like because we get less financing than we would want since the equity/income doesn't play along
- Generally high risk with a 100 - 110% financing -> money basically tied up completely in one property, feeling like "nothing can actually go wrong"
- Interest rates are definitely higher with tight financing
- We would definitely build for the planned family... but that means right now way too big for just the two of us -> will the family planning even work out as expected? Can we even estimate the needs with a family right now? Sitting in a house that's too big with massive debts just the two of us sounds kind of bad too
- Even if the family thing works out, there are initially many uncertainties regarding income during that time (increased risk again). What if one is out of work longer than expected? etc. pp
- Can we still afford the lifestyle we envision with a house build or will it pinch everywhere (again especially with planned children) (but this is also a very big personal priority question)

Overall, we are currently leaning towards "con" or "con for now," but it is hard and we keep wavering back and forth. Recently the rent increase for next year landed at our place, and I am sure it won't be the last one. If you decide for now, some flexibility in financing would be important to me regarding family planning. E.g. free repayment switches and such.

Hello,

thank you very much for the answers.

The loan consists of 3 partial loans. The largest amount of €280,000 has a fixed interest rate for 30 years, €100,000 for 10 years, and €150,000 KfW for 10 years. A house inheritance is expected in the foreseeable future.

Turnkey construction is not planned. The plan is to have the shell constructed and to have the remaining trades naturally also done, but all of that should be organized personally. I know the electrician well ;) I have a gardener on hand, the shell builder is an old acquaintance….

Our architect estimates about €2300 per sqm

Hello,

thank you very much for the answers.

The loan consists of 3 partial loans. The largest amount of €280,000 has a fixed interest rate for 30 years. €100,000 for 10 years and €150,000 KfW for 10 years. A house inheritance is in prospect. In the foreseeable future.

It is not planned to build turnkey. The plan is to have the shell construction built and of course also have the remaining trades done, but all this should be organized by myself. I know the electrician well ;) I have a gardener at hand, the shell constructor is an old acquaintance….

Our architect calculates about €2300 per sqm

First important question. €2,300 / sqm net or gross? :-) meanwhile I have gotten used to the fact that, for example, craftsmen like to quote net prices. That's why I often ask.

2300 square meters gross. Construction is planned south of Niedersachsen. I don't know how it is with you, but I know people who earn less (referring to myself) but still build the big house. (I'm not a snob) But I wonder how that works?

2300 gross square meters. Construction is planned south of Lower Saxony. I don’t know how it is with you, but I know people who earn less (compared to me) yet still build the big house. (I’m not a hater) But I wonder how that works?

Do you have experience with self-performance? And if so, it would be great if you could provide some figures. Thanks!

But I wonder how that works

Through inheritances, craftsmen within family and circle of friends, not having to have everything at once. Scrimping from the mouth. And (also addressing your second question) own services, of course. But you mustn’t fool yourself. You only save a little on material costs and saddle yourself with a lot of work without corresponding experience. If you have the possibility to do overtime or a second job, it makes more sense from 15 EUR per hour to do that than own services. Quite simply, because you need at least twice, rather three to four times as long as the professional. On the other hand, nowadays it is also difficult to get a good professional at the time you need him, and he then costs accordingly more than the MyHammer / classifieds guy, from whom you probably cannot claim any warranty in court. Right now, people are practically forced into own services because you just can’t find anyone professional.