Is buying a house at all possible with our income?

I have to ask directly again, does the house already exist? Is it fully built (including floors, bathrooms, etc.)? What about renovation, new kitchen, and other furnishings? In general, I find it feasible, as long as there are no hidden costs. But with parental leave and children, it is extremely tight. I also always find self-employment difficult to assess in terms of how stable and long-term the income can be. In addition to a full-time job and a side job, there is also another child. That is too much in the long run.

Lack of liquidity is a debilitating everyday tyrant and costs a tremendous amount of energy and quality of life. You are quite well positioned for life and have no need to put yourselves in such danger because of the dream of a house. Of course, your plan can work. Another option would be to take the step of buying a condominium, which is less capital-intensive and either contributes a small rental surplus when buying the house or is sold for a better equity ratio. There is the risk of depreciation of the apartment – you have to assess that yourselves.

Lack of liquidity is a nerve-wracking everyday tyrant

I like the expression

On top of the 300k comes €20,000 acquisition incidental costs.

Someone asked whether this might be a bait offer. I suppose the house has this price because it is a terraced middle house and the plot is very small. The house also doesn’t have a basement.

Where is your problem in answering all the questions posed to you about the property?
That way no one can give you a clear answer as to whether it is affordable for you or not.
Instead, you answer it yourself, although you asked here... that is one way to get no answer despite much questioning. Tomorrow no one will ask anymore, and you will still have no conclusive answer for yourself.

And I am annoyed that I didn’t deal with such topics earlier and didn’t take out a building savings contract at an earlier point in time.

You don’t have to be annoyed because before, through studying and apprenticeship, there simply weren’t any possibilities.

My partner is already 33, and a house should be paid off before retirement.

For God’s sake: by 33 house building and having three children including tree planting should already be done
No, seriously. First comes the school education, then university for the stormy times. Afterwards, there is still time to rush in. You can also acquire property at 40, and there is no law forbidding paying off a small installment after retirement. For a 30-year-old house, you usually have to take out something again for renovation purposes anyway...

But you should actually consider to what extent you can get good individual information here for yourself if you don’t provide any info and even anticipate the answers.

In principle, I do think that you could keep the house in the current situation. However, it is foreseeable that the financial situation with a child will rather worsen. I think both of you would be forced to go back to work almost full-time early on (i.e., after the first year of parental allowance) because of the house. And that is really hard. I speak from experience here. Even if before the first child you imagine it to be manageable. I don't know anyone for whom this step was easy (or who didn’t prefer to return to work with fewer hours), and all the more so those who then reconsidered shortly before restarting (fewer hours or later start). Besides, life doesn’t always go as planned. What if you want more than one child after all? Would you give that up because of the house?

I would roughly calculate as follows: one person 100% one person 50% (in your case, he would have to do 100% and you 50%; with your salary difference, only this division is practical).

So presumably about 3,900 EUR family income with one child. I would calculate 2,500 EUR needed for living expenses (inform yourself about childcare costs; that can be really ridiculously expensive and not always available, so it could be that the 2.5k is not enough). That would leave a maximum of 1.4k for the mortgage payment. That should also fit quite well for a loan of 300k. BUT: then there really aren’t any big jumps possible. Vacation with the child in high season — expensive, 2 cars? Maybe a new kitchen after all? How old is the house, are major repairs necessary in the next 10-20 years?

I am amazed at how much equity many already young people have. I have also heard that you should bring 20% equity for a house purchase. At a price of 300,000, that is 60,000€, which seems almost unattainable to me as a young person who maybe only studied for 5 or 6 years and only starts working properly at 25.

Exactly the thoughts I had too when we tackled the topic of building a house. We both studied and then immediately had our daughter and are in our late 20s... so there wasn’t much equity either. We put in 21k. Now, a few months later (the construction started 2 weeks ago), we already have significantly more because we can currently save at least €1000 per month despite rent and the interest portion of the installment. Currently, with my husband’s salary and child benefit, we have a little over €3000... from summer then a bit more since I will start a training. In the first year, not much will be left because of the second car and daycare place, but after that, we will have significantly more, and my husband is a teacher but not yet tenured, so for him (in addition to the increase through experience levels, etc.) there will be a bigger salary jump in the next few years. Until the end of my training, our installment amounted to about €1200 and afterwards about €1500. We took out €310k. Our situations are therefore not that different, but honestly, the whole thing would be too tight for me without the mentioned positive changes in salary... you currently have more than we do. Whether you can sleep peacefully with that or not, you have to decide.