Is financing over 40 years possible/sensible?

This might sound stupid now, but at your age, I would first wait and save quietly. The partner I had at 22, I haven't had for a long time..

But you can't see that

Additionally, you have to say that over 40 years you pay a lot more interest, which is uneconomical.

I would first set the money (inheritance?) aside and save additional funds. That's more common than starting from zero when you already have something in the pot.

We are still young, I am 25 and she is 22, and we have a net total of about €3,000 per month (she is an apprentice). For our 64 sqm new-build apartment we pay €800 including heating and other costs. We have equity in the amount of €25-75k in prospect – but it is not yet in our account.

You have to be aware of the costs a property generates. Broadly speaking, there are 3 main blocks

The repayment for the financing
The ancillary house costs (including heating and electricity) (€2-3 per sqm & month)
Ongoing repairs and maintenance work, and reserves for bigger things. (€1-2 per sqm & month)

And then see what actually can flow from the €800 into an ownership project. Not much is left over.

The other big question is about the need for living space. Can you already estimate how big the home should be?

Can the construction financing be spread over this time? And is it even reasonable?

In today’s market situation, 2% amortization is usual. You are usually done after 35 years.

It is simply not reasonable to stretch it so long.

You have to be aware of what costs a property generates. Roughly speaking, there are 3 big blocks

The repayment for the financing
The ancillary house costs (including heating and electricity) (2-3€ per sqm & month)
Ongoing repairs and maintenance work, and reserves for bigger things. (1-2€ per sqm & month)

And then see what actually of the 800€ can really flow into an ownership project. There is not much left.

The other big question is about the need for living space. Can you already estimate how big the home should be?


With today's market situation, 2% repayment installments are common. Usually, you are done after 35 years.

It just doesn't make sense to go for such a long time.

Thank you very much for your answer - especially because it does not only relate to our age.

The plan is a plot of land of about 500-600 sqm on which a house with at least 4 rooms should fit. More like 5 rooms.
As a reserve, I wanted to set up a building savings contract, for example, with 200 €/month. After 10 years, you then have about 24,000 € available.
I cannot estimate the costs for heating and electricity. I thought of 250 €/month. However, a solar storage should at least be useful for hot water preparation, and in winter, we would like to heat with a fireplace if possible. So a lower amount for ancillary costs is conceivable.

As a loan installment, I thought of about 800 - 900 €, at least for the first 10 years. After that, it should be possible to increase this without problems.

Regarding age and marital status:
With Greeks, it is common to buy a house early and you get support accordingly with equity capital. This is only available to us if a home is purchased or built.
Part 1 adds 25,000 €, Part 2 supports with 50,000 €. This money is not lent but given as a gift.
So ideally, we have already paid for the land. (150-200 €/sqm are probably necessary here)

We will get married soon and will not leave this area. There will always be work here for us, which is the nice thing about the Hamburg metropolitan area.

This may sound stupid now, but at your age I would first wait and save in peace. The partner I had at 22 I haven’t had for a long time..

This will be the comment of the day

Even if you don’t want to hear it. What use is a 40-year fixed interest rate to you? So far you have reached few or no milestones of a partnership to be able to say, yes we are established as a couple/parents/family and "need" a 40-year fixed interest rate for the milestone of building a house. So many have already failed with less that I would recommend you save real equity and let some time pass.

That is going to be the comment of the day

Even if you don't want to hear it. What use is a 40-year fixed interest rate to you? So far, you have reached few to no milestones of a partnership to be able to say, yes, we are established as a couple/parents/family and "need" a 40-year fixed interest rate for the milestone of building a house. So many have already failed at few that I would recommend you save real equity and let some time pass.

I did not want to secure interest rates for 40 years - I just wanted to know if it is possible to finance something over 40 years. Basically, the assumption is that a house should be paid off within 30 years at the latest, which is due to the fact that a house is usually bought at the age of 35 or later.

The answer to this is that nowadays an initial repayment of 2% is usually expected. If applicable, this can still be somewhat obscured with [Bausparkonstrukten], but it does not make sense. An initial repayment of 2% then results in theoretical terms of 34-37 years.