How much house can I afford?

What does SuE mean?

Me: 28 years old; TVÖD EG9 level 3 (approx. €1,800 net), permanent contract My wife: 26 years old; TVÖD-SuE S6 level 3 (approx. €1,700 net), permanent contract

According to the salary calculator, I assume both are tax class 4. Before you want to have a child, I would recommend putting the wife in tax class 3 and yourself in tax class 5. Currently, parental allowance for 1 year will be about €1,050. If your wife has tax class 3 one year prior, she will later receive a good €150 more for one year without additional work.

I had read that you should not calculate more than 40% of your net salary as a loan installment. That would be a maximum of €1200. Is that realistic? The question now is, how expensive can the house be? Additional costs also apply.

In my opinion -- and ultimately the bank also looks at this -- it depends on how much net income remains after deducting the installment. From this remainder, the operating costs, the maintenance reserve, other incidental expenses, and of course living expenses are deducted. The easiest way is to ask a bank ... they use flat rates for all this and then sum X remains, which you can use as the installment (annuity).

How much percent of the net income that is, in my opinion, doesn’t matter.

How much you can afford with this is revealed by a rule of thumb. Annuity * 12 * 100 / (interest rate in % + repayment rate in %). Example: installment €1000, interest rate 2.5% p.a., initial repayment 3% ==> possible loan amount €218,000. With your equity, it’s more likely to be a condominium/terraced mid-house rather than a "house." (I can’t do anything about the prices!) Of course, you can adjust the repayment; you are young after all. I wouldn’t expect a better interest rate.

Saving up more equity is of little use if interest rates rise in the next few years. I will go to the Sparkasse on Friday and listen to everything. Where I live, fortunately, the cost of living is not that high. The fully developed plot costs only 65€ per m2.... If I can only build at 40, I haven't gained much either, since I continue to pay rent and only start repaying then.

Then the targeted property (including notary and real estate transfer tax) is not exactly small -> potential savings!

According to the salary calculator, I assume 2 times tax class 4, before you want to have a child, I would recommend putting the wife in tax class 3 and being in tax class 5 yourself. Currently, the parental allowance for 1 year will be about 1050. If your wife is in tax class 3 one year before, she will later receive a good 150 euros more for one year without extra work.

A little tip on that:
It no longer has to be a full year as before, but more than half of the creditable months before maternity leave, i.e. it is also sufficient to change the tax class 9 months before birth. This way, you do not have to change the tax class before the child is conceived and hope that the body follows the plan, but can also do so immediately after confirming the pregnancy.