How is a 400k loan financible without equity? Net equity at €4,500

That’s true and that is exactly the life decision that is difficult for everyone. As someone from the "children out of the house" generation, I know that and experience that children nowadays usually move far away for professional reasons in order to pursue their career path. On the one hand, that is great and much better than before, but "in my time," people looked for work nearby and became craftsmen, employees, etc., but always lived close to family. So it is always both a curse and a blessing at the same time, although I am glad about the newly gained opportunities. However, like you, I also see the "dying" of classic life forms and social bonds through this development. I had to fight my way into the club in the D-youth against resistance (how crazy was that?). Our coach (the one who used to yell at us which direction to run) was a postman and only had a moped, and we took the train to the game. The good thing about that was that we didn’t even know it could be different. I can think about it as much as I want, but I never come to the conclusion of what was better.

There should be no evaluation either. I can only describe how I perceive the current situation and regret that there are no opportunities "at home." By the way, there is one exception, which certainly existed back then as well: farmers.

Wasn't it always like that? I think it was quite normal back then. When my parents-in-law built at the end of the '60s, it was clear that saving was necessary. It was normal to put every penny into a building savings contract in advance.

But it was also normal that one income was enough to support the family. It was normal that collective wage increases were above the inflation rate. It was normal that savings interest rates of 6 or 7 percent were paid. It was normal that building land was dirt cheap, it was normal that you didn't have to spend a fortune on energy-saving measures, because heating didn't cost the earth. It was normal to have the family exempted from real estate transfer tax, etc. Many single-family houses from the '60s have large plots, lots of living space, full basements, brick garages, etc. Of course, that already cost something back then, but try to afford something like that nowadays as an average earner in a decent location... Today there are towel-sized gardens, hardly any basements, often just a carport... and yet such things are no longer affordable for more and more families, or you already have to move very far away from the nearest major center. The times are hard to compare, but I do believe that a normal-earning family with 1.5 incomes was better off when it came to home ownership in the '60s than nowadays.

Wasn't it always like that? I think it used to be completely normal. When my parents-in-law built their house at the end of the 60s, it was clear that saving was necessary. It was normal to put every penny into a home savings plan in advance. It was normal to build only what was affordable when building a house – for my parents-in-law, at that time, it was even the central heating that was on the cut list and only realizable through a financial injection from the parents. The outdoor area was far from finished when they moved in. In the living room stood an old couch from relatives; the wall unit came only years later. In the first years after building the house, they didn't go on trips but went hiking – every penny was put into repaying the loan. That was completely normal back then. Debt was just unpleasant.

It was also not normal in the 60s to build only what was affordable. My father was a branch manager of a private bank at that time and likes to say that even then some financing was already stretched to the limit. The widow's pension of the mother was factored in, or they hoped that due to inflation salaries would rise significantly and the loan would simply lose value on its own, or what was popular in our area: building on land with 50-year leasehold from the Catholic Church to save on land costs.

Those who were knowledgeable about finances (at least from the 1970s on) tried to take out loans with as long a fixed interest period as possible and invested their remaining money in federal savings bonds, which (depending on purchase) provided a higher interest rate than they had to pay for the loan.

But it was also normal that one income was enough for family support. It was normal that collective wage increases outpaced inflation. It was normal that savings interest rates of 6 or 7 percent were paid. It was normal that building land was dirt cheap, it was normal that you didn’t have to spend huge sums on energy measures because heating didn’t cost the earth. It was normal to be exempted from the real estate transfer tax as a family, etc.
Many of the single-family homes from the 60s have large plots, plenty of living space, full basements, brick garages, etc. Of course, that already cost something back then, but try to afford something like that nowadays as an average earner in an acceptable location...
Today there are towel-sized gardens, hardly any basements, often only a carport... and yet such things are becoming unaffordable for more and more families or you have to move very far away from the nearest metropolitan area.
The times are hard to compare, but I believe that a middle-income family with 1.5 salaries was better off in terms of home ownership in the 60s than nowadays.

I would actually completely deny that.

If people had lived back then with the standard of living we have now, they wouldn’t have been able to afford it any more than we can now and would have had to make even more sacrifices when building a house.

You have to compare apples to apples... Back then, mortgage interest rates were also at 6-7%, so you couldn’t just say: Forget the equity, we’re just building now. You had to save much earlier and put money aside properly so as not to ultimately “die” under the loan.

At that time, nobody even thought about building a turnkey house... just comparing the situations is almost impossible...

I definitely don’t believe that families in the 60s were better off; I even believe that compared to the standards of living, they were significantly, significantly worse off.

These days, we simply aren’t satisfied with anything less, which is why such an idea comes up.

The times are difficult to compare, but I do believe that an average-earning family with 1.5 salaries was better off regarding home ownership in the 60s than today.

In another thread, I related the construction costs of the 60s to real wages. Yes, it was easier back then because construction costs were significantly lower. But: the standard of living has also changed drastically. This becomes clear with the example of costs for telecommunications and entertainment: What did this item include in 1960 and how high was it: Possibly 1 telephone line (not yet common at the time), 12 DM basic fee. What does this item include in 2020 and how high is it: 1 DSL connection, 1 mobile phone contract per person, Netflix/Amazon/online subscriptions, total costs per family somewhere between 100 and 200 euros.

It was also not normal in the 60s to build only what was affordable. My father was branch manager of a private bank at that time and liked to say that even then some financing was on the edge. The widow’s pension of the mother was included or it was hoped that due to inflation salaries would rise significantly and the loan would simply lose its value by itself, or what was popular in our area: building on plots with a 50-year leasehold from the Catholic Church to save on land costs.

Those who knew about finances tried (at least from the 1970s) to get loans with the longest possible fixed interest rate and invested their remaining money in federal savings bonds, which (depending on purchase) yielded a higher interest than one had to pay for the loan.

I totally agree with you. I think that by today’s standards, no one in my family would have been able to build. Everything was on the edge and after self-denial, 100% renunciation, and family help. I just think that the motivation as well as the willingness to endure was different, without wanting to judge this or live this way myself today. People often did not live alone either but took someone else in to help finance things, etc. In addition, there was still the clearly noticeable post-war period, refugee flows, absolute housing shortage and often the understandable desire to somehow rebuild what had previously been destroyed.