How does everyone afford a house?

In my opinion, in the urban and/or tourist areas of BW there is only the possibility to build if you either inherit (1), live extremely frugally (2), or earn exorbitantly (3). With land prices starting at €500/sqm and correspondingly high construction costs here, I am always amazed when I look at other parts of the country. There, projects are sometimes carried out with relatively average salaries and (apparently) without significant support. In Esslingen, for example, it is rather the case that many well/very well earning people cannot build at all because there are no plots of land available, and existing properties sell at astronomical prices. Sad, but true.

I can only agree! We built new last year 10 km from ES and only managed to get a plot from the municipality by luck...

Hmm, catering, mobile phone/internet is IMHO quite a lot. The thing about the cars you have to decide for yourselves if that’s really the case... Insurance: legal expenses and household insurance IMHO not necessary; possibly also the supplementary dental insurance. Leisure etc. might be a bit high, but if the lion’s share goes to things like music lessons, okay. Sports can surely also be done very cheaply outdoors in nature or in a club...

Excuse me, what?! In my opinion, legal expenses insurance is one of the most important insurances one can have. Without it, we’ve been in quite a tight spot several times. Especially when undertaking a house construction, it’s simply impossible to do without legal expenses insurance. The same applies to the supplementary dental insurance. It’s worthwhile just because of the annual dental cleaning, and I consider that not luxury but necessary precaution. You might be right about the household insurance, but it’s so cheap that it’s almost not worth renouncing it.
Also, two cars are indispensable outside the big city. Especially when a child is involved.

What’s not yet included in your calculation ... your salary will (hopefully) rise! Significantly more in the first 5-6 years than afterwards. But that also depends on which industry you work in. With the government it’s strictly regulated what increases there are. In the private sector, not so much.
So think about what you really need to live on!? Not to be confused with what you want. Because wishes are usually very costly. Question your lifestyle. Do you really need 2 cars, 2 households, etc.? These are all costs that make it harder to quickly build up the necessary equity.
When is the child planned? Maybe it makes sense to really ramp up at work first and also have the time for that.

You’re certainly right there. The salary will rise and for my partner quite soon too. But since I want to switch from full-time to part-time as soon as possible (2-3 years), I didn’t include that. His rising salary will basically finance my decreasing one. The child is definitely planned in at the latest in 3 years.

You’ve all certainly opened my eyes wide. For me, a new build makes less and less sense now. Way too much sacrifice, too many restrictions, etc. For us, a used property from the 80s is probably the best. Here we simply get more living and land area for our money and don’t have to put ourselves through the stress. When I compare prices, we get them for 230,000-240,000 euros. We could modernize them for another 20,000 - 30,000 euros according to our wishes. That would be absolutely within our generously calculated budget, even under it, and we could continue to lead our nice life with two cars, two vacations per year, and lots of leisure fun.

A thousand thanks to you all, you are true helpers!

You have to open your eyes again....You can hardly renovate properties from the 80s with 20,000 - 30,000 euros. Because if they are that cheap in the ES district, there is probably also a significant backlog of renovations. You can get such houses cheaply here too, but those are 500-inhabitant villages, in the "larger" cities they cost considerably more. And after 30 years, you might have to replace the windows or think about the water pipes. Heating is also an issue then, can you get rid of the old oil burner or are there maybe night storage heaters? Then it really starts, where do I begin renovating??

Hello,

What do you mean by that? Used properties are expensive too, aren't they?

The market for used properties is down because the properties where the price/performance ratio was right have long disappeared from the market. Today there are mostly only 2 options: a fixer-upper with renovation costs in the range of a new build or selling prices beyond good and evil.

Condominiums are expensive too, IMHO.

Limited and only in very desirable locations; otherwise, the price/performance ratio mostly fits. Only nowadays almost everyone wants to build a single-family house, so the condominium market is struggling.

The internet leads to nonsensical consultation talks? Dangerous half-knowledge among homebuyers?

Just look at some questions here on the forum, then it should be pretty clear what I mean.

I have great understanding that every layperson feels quite uneasy about signing a contract for a piece of house. However, little is gained if this unease does not lead to seeking external and competent help; which usually also means paying for it. Instead, people rather trust the cross, because the costs of a lawyer or expert are better spent on this or that "nice to have."

I get annoyed by statements like: "I got quotes for surveying and the range is from TEUR 2.5 to 3.9," especially when I explain how these ranges can only arise: namely through removal of services; unless the surveyor also took care of the infrastructure planning in the new development area. And when I see on the face of my counterpart that I might as well have talked to the wall; the effect is the same.

Statements like "a friend of a friend" or even better, "the acquaintance of an acquaintance" regularly give me heartburn, and I know the conversation will last another hour. Not because it would make sense from a consulting perspective, no, I have to exorcise ghosts.

Half-knowledge about heat pumps produces particular absurdities. Last year, a technician from Daikin had to explain to a builder – at 30° outside temperature – why there was "only" 5° warmth inside the house; the installed air-to-water heat pump was the biggest rubbish. Bad luck when the outdoor unit of the air-to-water heat pump – at the explicit request of the builder and thus against advice and agreements – was built inside the garage. Instead of checking whether a Daikin would have been more sensible.

Conversations with engineers are always fun. At least most of them explain to me already in the first conversation that they know it better anyway; if the coffee tastes good, the appointment is not completely wasted.

.....

Rhineland regards

So modernizing a house from the 80s for 20-30k€ will be a difficult task. One thing leads to another and before you know it, you realize how much money you have to put into such a property. Depending on the requirements, I would easily expect around 70-80k€... heating, painting, floors, windows, bathrooms... it adds up pretty quickly.

BW is an expensive area, but especially when it comes to surveying, one must clearly distinguish between construction-accompanying surveying and official surveying.
A site plan for the building application and house staking out are engineering services and are not covered by the cost regulations. (relatively inexpensive due to competitive pressure)
In my case: site plan + building staking out (rough and fine) approx. 1700.00 euros, plus building survey according to cost regulations in 2 years.

Only parcel formation, boundary notification, and building survey are sovereign activities and are billed according to the fee schedule; depending on the scope, these can also exceed 4000 euros.