Is building a house affordable for us? What is realistic?

The equity was self-formed/saved and the property was also purchased by us ourselves. At least as far as my salary is concerned, there is still an upward leap over the years.

I am a judge, completed my studies within the regular time and finished at 26, worked as a lawyer for one year and then switched to the judiciary. I was a judge on probation for 2 years and have now been a tenured civil servant for almost a year.

In which area do you specialize? An area where a lot of money is often involved and therefore little contact with normal income and expenses?

I don't understand what this is supposed to have to do with income and statements.

I experienced in my childhood/youth what it is like to have very little money. My mother was a single parent and we had to watch every penny and still barely got by. That was one of the reasons why I pursued school and university extremely determinedly – fear of poverty. I still have that today. I find it extremely difficult to spend money. Especially when it is not absolutely necessary. For example, I drive only an older used small car; surely I could afford a newer car, but why? The same goes for the apartment, we moved into our current apartment 9 months ago; before that, we lived smaller and much cheaper. I also struggled a lot with the decision, but in the end, we simply needed one more room.

Then a personal assessment: If you are definitely not having children, I would consider a financing of about 700 - 750k with a rate up to 3k in your situation. This would make a house with 170 sqm and (almost) all the trimmings feasible, and you would still have enough money left after the house payment to live well. Building a house is not pure consumption, after all, you are creating an asset that is also resellable. Maybe this consideration makes it easier for you.

What wants to say: Under these conditions, hardly anyone else would even question whether building a house is possible. You therefore already belong to the group well above average.