House financially feasible at about 5,000 net?

As is well known, it’s not that simple, a few examples.
- Semi-detached new build 160m2 on 300m2 plot 380,000
(But we don’t want a semi-detached house and the plot is tiny)
- Houses from the 70s/80s 350,000-400,000, they are move-in ready, so not total ruins, but from around 1980 and definitely need renovation, possibly knocking down walls, etc.
- Occasionally there are houses that wouldn’t need to be remodeled and you could just move in, but those usually also have tiny plots and/or are terraced houses and they cost about 330,000-350,000.

There are certainly some "old treasures" that still start with a 2, but they are usually completely built-up and making something livable out of them is absolutely beyond our imagination.

EDIT:
Land prices in places that are still under consideration around 130-150 Euro/m2.
However, even here there are hardly any plots over 440m2

It’s not easy, but at least it’s a corresponding direction.

Depending on how much is already included in the semi-detached house for 380k, it doesn’t sound exorbitant at least price-wise.

And as you describe it, actually only a detached single-family house as a new build comes into question!

Then I would start searching for a plot as soon as possible, because, at least here, it is almost impossible to find free plots. And the planning, approval, etc. also takes some time…

Are these actually available plots in the sense of "I can apply directly and there aren’t 10 times as many interested parties as plots"? Or are these prices for long since allocated development areas?
Besides finances, the big hurdle in building a house is finding a plot at all, and even harder is finding one that appeals to you

As far as I know, it’s manageable here, you might have to search a bit, but it’s definitely not 100 applicants per plot. We’re also quite well connected familiarly, so it’s quite possible to get a plot under the table. However, we haven’t looked into it more closely yet.

Well, that sounds dirt cheap.

It might be cheap for people, for example, from southern Germany, but I find it a damn hefty amount of money and don’t want to pay until I’m 85.

And from how you describe it, basically only a detached single-family house as a new build comes into question!

So detached single-family house, yes, I’ve always communicated that. A new build would be nice, but not a must, something from around the mid-90s would probably be ok, with the right plot.
As I said, we already give up expensive things like a basement and garage, but detached is really important to us (we lived in a terraced end house for a while and don’t want that again).
Basically, there’s nothing against a house from the 70s/80s, but often they have many small rooms and/or are the typical two-family houses with grandma downstairs, parents with child upstairs.
I think (amateurishly) that a purchase price of just under 400,000 plus remodeling into a single-family house with large open rooms simply exceeds our financial possibilities.
It’s not done with a bucket of paint or a new kitchen for 10,000 euros.

As I said, I don’t know it any other way, my parents didn’t have “parental leave” or anything like that. I myself was with a childminder and it didn’t cause any harm. I’m also not working as a lawyer, but as an in-house counsel. So I don’t have the working hours of regular lawyers, but can definitely finish work at 3 or 3:30 pm, sometimes even earlier in the home office. My full-time job sometimes feels like part-time to me. The company also offers (limited) daycare places in a “company kindergarten” (the company is involved and buys places for the employees).

I can understand your reasons and thoughts very well. My wife and I thought the same way and planned similarly before the birth of our daughter. From our point of view, everything was very well planned and looked good on paper. We pushed aside critical comments about this plan back then, following the motto: We know better. Meanwhile, our little girl is 19 months old and somehow I have to smile about your thoughts. My wife has been working 25 hours per week again since July and the little one has been going to daycare since September. From July until the end of September I was on parental leave and took care of the daycare settling-in period. The settling-in took longer than planned and was only completed at the end of October because the little one got sick in between and we had to pause. Then she didn’t want to go to daycare for a while and threw tantrums in the morning at drop-off that almost broke your heart. And then the settling-in was finally completed and everything was great at first from November onwards. At first glance. Since then, she seems to bring home every illness from daycare there is. It looks like this: She is healthy for two weeks and then starts to get sick. Depending on the illness, it then takes 1 to 2 weeks until she is no longer allowed to go to daycare or we have to pick her up. Then she stays at home for another week, recovers, and the cycle starts over. The regulations here are very strict due to Corona... We cover the sick weeks by taking shifts, with support from my mother. Why don’t we simply call in child sick? Our jobs are very project-heavy and deadline-bound. If one of us misses a whole week once in a Monday, we get problems here in the medium term because our work piles up. We are very grateful that my wife “only” works part-time and that we both work fully from home. Both working full-time with a small child is not feasible from our point of view.

I think (naively) that a purchase price of just under 400,000 plus conversion to a single-family house with large open spaces simply exceeds our financial possibilities.

I don't see it that way.

I do think that you can finance well up to 500k. You are still young, you have a good income.

And the issue about children should be considered when the time comes. Make the financing flexible (repayment change, special repayment), and if money comes from the parents now and then, that's even better.

And all the problems that some people have with their child are unfortunate for them, but not transferable. We had absolutely no problems, neither during kindergarten nor primary school. And now?

Postponing everything because of eventualities that aren't even imminent, in my opinion, is exaggerated.

I don’t see it that way.

I do think you can finance well up to 500k. You are still young, you have a good income.

And the topic regarding children should be considered when the time comes. Make the financing flexible (repayment change, special repayment) and if money comes from the parents, that's even better.

And all the problems that some people have with their child are unfortunate for them, but not transferable. We had no problems at all, neither during daycare nor elementary school. And now?

Putting everything off because of eventualities that aren’t even imminent, in my opinion, is exaggerated.

I agree. You are still young. Therefore, it’s relatively simple: make sure enough money comes in – possibly continue trying to earn more (sounds silly, but it helps immensely for the security aspect IF the children actually come). Play with changing the repayment rates and fulfill your dream.

You’re not broke... You have decent jobs, quite decent salaries, you’re young and certainly willing to save and build something up. Go for it! Secure a plot of land and get started :)

I do think you can finance well up to 500k. You are still young, you have a good income.

Whereas financing a house for 400k and up to 500k are two different things. I had also looked at several houses in that price range: House 400k Realtor, notary, tax office: 50k Renovation 100k ------------- 550k By the way, that is pretty much the calculated total budget for my new build. Of course, 100k for renovation is not a small estimate, but houses from 1970-1980 that are now coming onto the market are mostly worn down by pensioners who have actually overstretched themselves financially. Nothing was done for 20 years except what was completely broken. Then you renew the bathrooms and kitchen, the oil heating has to go anyway, possibly the water pipes because of copper corrosion, and if you already have the big construction site, maybe an energy-efficient renovation is added. In the end, you have a renovated old house. I’d say, if it is actually possible to get a building plot for ~100k, then there are many arguments in favor of a new build.