Is a home ownership project sensible as a single?

When building a house, the annoying thing is that it’s rather difficult to do it in a modular way. I don’t think there’s anything against it at first - just plan so that you could also live in it with 2 to 4 people.

Two points are important to me when building.

Either a semi-detached house with rental income right away, or placing the house on the plot in such a way that further densification is possible with another house or extension. You can still use the partial plot as an emergency fund later.

The root of the problem with the BeHaElja hint is this: for one or two people, most would build quite differently in terms of both size and floor plan layout than for a family with two children. The all-in-one solution doesn't exist, and what you might want with children (keywords [Kinderzimmergröße], additional hobby room) is often way too much space for a single person alone, which has to be maintained and cleaned.

I personally would never divide the property. A detached house is simply so much nicer than a semi-detached house,... and with the right conditions, I would definitely choose PRO quality of life and against the additional income from dividing it.

I had briefly thought about a semi-detached house as well, but somehow I would really like to have something of my own and would rather not share the property with someone else. That’s how I grew up, and I can’t imagine building a house without a garden or with hardly any garden. I’m also willing to pay a bit more for that. Besides, the property was inherited, so I don’t have to buy it.

I would definitely build the house so that later on four of us can move in, because family and children are definitely a big wish. I would just start with the house and then begin the family project.

I don’t know what else I should be waiting for... professionally, as a civil servant, I am definitely tied down here and cannot be transferred. Financially, the payments would also be manageable at the current low-interest level with a suitably long fixed interest period if you choose a reasonable term and consider that I will retire at 63 and everything should be paid off by then. Another advantage is the lot of time I still have after work. I’m not a craftsman, but I do trust myself to do quite a bit of the work myself.

On the other hand, I wonder if I can manage everything alone now, apart from the financing. There are a lot of decisions to be made that will later be difficult to change. Besides, I know from many friends and acquaintances that building a house is stressful and exhausting. So I’m not walking blindly through the world and closing my eyes to the coming challenges.

I also always reassure myself that I could rent or sell the house if everything went downhill. In the end, I would come out without loss at any time. Of course, that is only a solution for the worst case, but in my opinion, you should still plan for something like that. You never know what will happen... A plot of this size in this location is simply not affordable for an average earner. Still, you can’t imagine how many people have already asked if the property is for sale.

Regards, Chris

You mentioned in the other thread a draft of 190sqm, the wish would be 160. And is that alone or with your girlfriend? Included are two children's rooms. For me, that totally misses the need. Just because suddenly there is a lot of possessions once, I would not force myself into this position to necessarily build a family temple there when there is no family at all. Also don't underestimate the nesting instinct of the ladies. Your current girlfriend, okay, she experiences the house construction, but it is your house and not hers. If there should ever be another lady and the topic of moving together arises, it is clear for you, she would have to move to you. Whether that is also clear to her or whether she herself would want to build a nest (together) at some point ... you are complete on your own and the partner has to adapt to you. That only causes stress. I would probably sell the plot. In the current seller's market, you will certainly make a good profit with it.