How to afford building a house and buying land today?

Concerns about a long loan and a high remaining debt are actually only justified if you build an unsellable property. Acquaintances are building on their parents' land, converting a large barn behind their main house into a residential building, in the middle of nowhere. This is virtually unsellable, unless you sell the entire land with everything on it, but it is still 40 minutes away from the nearest town with 15,000 inhabitants. It costs just under a million, and paying it off takes almost half of the income.

Germany is the world export champion (okay, not anymore, but still a good third place) and will remain so in the medium term.

Berlin is the capital.

Take a look at other capitals and see how much houses and land cost there, and then be happy that everything is so cheap in Berlin. Without war, prices will rise. Many don’t want to see that and babble about a bubble, whose horizon, however, ends at the latest at the national border.

In other regions of the world, it is common to invest 50% of the household net income in rent.

How much would rent for a comparable house cost you? Why exactly should your house-building project be cheaper than that?

We pay 50% of household net income (at the time of application) as installments – in 7 years our installment is lower than comparable rent, in 10 years our property (in the suburban belt) will be worth double, and in 20 years our parents will be dead. In 35 years I will retire, and our household pension today is already three times the installment. The trend is rising.

Our household net income increased by 17% between loan application and full loan disbursement due to collective agreements, step increases, and my wife’s job change.

Then just take out half a million, build yourself something nice. The limiting factor is not the external circumstances or the bank. If you want to build, the banks are waiting for you. If you prefer to wait, you will probably have to wait a very, very long time.

The worries about a long loan and a high residual debt are actually only justified if you are creating an unsellable property.

But even then, you only have to worry if you are buying or building not primarily for yourself and the new lifestyle, but with the desire to make / have to make a profit through a later sale.

Acquaintances are converting a large barn behind their parents' main house on their parents' property into a residential house, in the middle of nowhere. That is practically unsellable, unless you sell the entire land with everything on it, but it is still 40 minutes away from the nearest town of 15,000 inhabitants. It costs just under a million, repaying it takes almost half of the income.

If it’s worth it to them, it fits. Everything is exactly as valuable as someone is willing to pay for it.

Do you happen to watch "Mountain Life" on TLC? They show, from my point of view, the most amazing houses you can imagine being "dumped". Dumped means modern 250sqm living space on 4 hectares of land in the most beautiful nature for under 400k dollars. Why is it so cheap, when a tiny apartment in New York is unaffordable? Because these houses stand in the middle of nowhere. Many simply don’t want that. For everyday life, especially in old age, it’s nothing. But the few people who like that and don’t need connection to a city, they pay. Although not the millions that an equivalent house in NY would cost (although I believe there are no such large houses there at all).

take a look at other capitals and see what houses and land cost there, and then be happy that everything in Berlin is so cheap. without war, prices will rise. many don’t want to see that and babble about a bubble, whose horizon, however, ends at the latest at the national border.

Exactly! Just try house hunting in London and then light a candle for the fact that prices in Germany are so low.
And I absolutely don’t believe that they will become EVEN lower, that is, drop. Even if interest rates rise. Prices will no longer rise to the same extent as in recent years, but they will not collapse either.

Just go house hunting in London

... and get annoyed as a local owner that prices have dropped sharply

I have already written a few times that one always has "debt" for the rest of their life with themselves, after all, one has to cover their living expenses. Including housing and everything else that comes up. You have to earn the money until you eventually reach retirement... If I (example) throw 3000k€ a month down the drain, then I still have to come up with almost a million by retirement in 26 years! Worries about job loss, economic collapse, war, or other disasters are certainly justified but affect everyone equally. Your own house may certainly be more expensive than an apartment (and in an emergency, you can move into a "one room kitchen bathroom"), but you have to pay for both. It is a matter of mentality whether you are optimistic or pessimistic. If in 15 years my financing expires and I actually can’t manage an onward financing, then I have lived nicely for 15 years, the children will be out of the house by then, and hopefully the remaining debt will not exceed the property value in (requested big city). It is understandable that one does not want to keep paying in retirement, that after 15-20 years the first renovations are due, and it is nice to have already paid off a good part by then. It is already up to you to say with this rate (from which the loan amount then follows), you still feel comfortable. And if that simply isn’t enough for a property in Berlin... then you simply don’t want (or can’t) afford one. But everyone has to decide that for themselves.