Is home financing feasible? Experiences?

It is like that with many people who see the "big" loan and have fear or respect of the debt. What is mostly overlooked, however, is the fact that basically (except for one installment to be paid for the use of the property similar to rent) absolutely nothing changes, since the debt is matched by an identical asset plus equity share. And thus, you are just as poor or rich as without the property.

That is just one part of the story. The difference to renting is that even if the interest rate roughly corresponds to the rent (roughly realistic at the current level of equity put in), with a house you have the "shame" of having to sell it in case of job loss plus moving, because a) the loan installment is higher than the cold rent due to the additional repayment and b) the equity invested is tied up in the house and can no longer serve as a liquidity reserve. This means that in the worst case you might have a net worth of 500k but still have to sell because you run out of liquidity. With the same rental property, on the other hand, you can sell your stocks or dissolve your overnight money and keep living there.

Depending on the cycle in which this mishap occurs, you also burn through acquisition incidental costs (very painful if after only 2-3 years) and in the worst case a loss in value and thus significant loss of wealth. You have to see it realistically: job loss does not usually happen in the boom phase (or you find adequate replacement more easily then) with generally rising real estate prices, but rather in a recession (where finding adequate replacement is difficult) with rather stagnant to falling real estate prices. The good 10 years after the financial crisis have somewhat clouded people’s judgment there.

Therefore, I advise especially high earners to be modest. A normal earner can find a comparable job at any time (at least currently), a top earner not necessarily. Beyond a certain level, there is also not much job protection left. Sure, there is usually a decent severance, but even that won’t last forever on a million-euro loan.

Nevertheless, I consider the single-family house with 750k quite appropriate in this specific case. A 500k loan is doable for you.

That is just part of the story. The difference compared to renting is that even if the interest rate roughly corresponds to the rent (very roughly realistic right now with corresponding equity contributed), with a house you have the "shame" of having to sell it in case of job loss if necessary plus moving, because a) the loan installment is higher than the cold rent due to the additional repayment, and b) the contributed equity is tied up in the house and can no longer serve as a liquidity reserve. That means that in the worst case, you might have €500k in net assets but still have to sell because you run out of liquidity. With the same rented property, on the other hand, you can sell your stocks / dissolve your overnight deposit and keep living there.

That has nothing to do with my post, but okay. The shame can generally be avoided quite well by consulting with the bank. If a house sale really is imminent because things look very bad, then the expensive rental apartment is gone as well as the house.
But the primary point was that many only see the debts but lose sight of the assets.

In this respect, I especially advise high earners to be modest. An average earner can find a comparable job at any time (at least currently),

I absolutely do not see it that way. Especially high and top earners are (and have been in recent years) the people who can find a new and comparable job at any time. They are the sought-after specialists.
In my job, we even ask people over 60. That’s how desperately we look for (specialized) employees. There is no early retirement at all; early retirees are better off working longer. And it looks like this for many—especially the higher earners.

This has nothing to do with my post, but ok. However, the disgrace can always be quite well avoided by consulting with the bank. If the house sale is really imminent because things look really bad, then the expensive rental apartment is gone just like the house.
But it was primarily about the fact that many only see the debts but lose sight of the assets.
(...)

But it's waaaay easier to cancel the expensive rental place and rent a cheaper one than to sell a house at a reasonable price and get out debt-free.

What assets actually? What good does it do me if the place is worth 800,000 on paper, but I need 20,000 for a new car and my account is overdrawn or I have an installment that squeaks and still have a private loan running for the kitchen?

That has nothing to do with my post, but okay. However, the disgrace can usually be avoided quite well in consultation with the bank. If the house sale is actually imminent because things look really bad, then the expensive rental apartment is gone just like the house.
But the primary point was that many only see the debts but lose sight of the assets.

I absolutely don’t see it that way. Especially better- and top-earners (and they have been like this for several years) are the people who can always find a new and comparable job. These are the sought-after specialists.
In my job, we even inquire about people over 60. That’s how desperately we are looking for (specialized) employees. There is no early retirement at all; those nearing retirement should rather work longer. And it looks like this for many—especially among the better earners.

Both are absolutely not correct. The rental apartment is not gone with 300k liquid assets. I can pay the rent for years from the existing liquid assets; I cannot pay the loan installments because the assets are tied up in the property. It may be that a solution can be found with the bank to prevent a forced sale (restructurings, etc.), but you depend on the bank’s goodwill, and depending on the market situation, the bank would very much like to get Stage 2 or even Stage 3 loans (significant credit deterioration or non-performing for the layperson) off the books, even though that may not be the rule. I, on the other hand, advocate relying only on things that have been contractually agreed upon.

The latter is absolutely not true. A nurse, educator, or waiter will find a new job on the same day and with the same or even better pay. The non-tariff paid engineer (executive) in the automotive industry, however, currently has very poor chances of getting his 5k+ again under the same conditions. Neither Daimler, Porsche, nor Bosch is currently hiring anyone. Things do not look better in the tier below. With luck, there is a 450k severance (VW), but that does not last forever either. It gets even more difficult if the position must be at the same location, because such a house obviously makes one immobile and one has already worked for the largest employer in the region. The selection of employers who pay such salaries is limited, and not everyone is in IT consulting working from home and location-independent.

The latter is absolutely not true. A nurse, educator, or waiter can find a new job on the same day and it pays the same or even better. The engineer (executive) in the automotive industry, who is paid off-tariff, currently has very poor chances of getting his 5k+ again under the same conditions. Neither Daimler, Porsche, nor Bosch is hiring anyone at the moment. It’s no better in the league below. With luck, there is a 450k severance (VW), but that doesn’t last forever either. It gets even more difficult if the position has to be in the same location, because a house is famously immobile and you may have already worked for the largest employer in the region. The selection of employers who pay such salaries is limited and not everyone works in IT consulting from home and is location-independent.

Please stop with such sweeping statements. I myself am an engineer and especially for higher (management) positions, you receive weekly inquiries from recruiters/headhunters through the relevant career networks who want to entice you to switch. Source: Myself.

So, we have fallen in love with a single-family house in need of renovation. 540k, renovation is estimated at at least 100k, rather 150k.

The bank says: everything is doable, no problem.
We would like to, in theory everything sounds good, but the project gives us a stomach ache.

How do you overcome this fear of big numbers?