Is it ever possible to finance a house?

HELLO

We are currently quite puzzled. Buy a house or not? Our problem is no equity. This is not because we cannot save. First came the first apartment, savings gone, then the wedding, savings gone, then moving to a bigger apartment plus the first child, savings gone. Now I am on parental leave and we are missing a good 800 euros per month, so there are few opportunities to save. We live in a 90 sqm apartment and pay 1100 euros rent including utilities every month plus 450 euros for our daughter's daycare since I work part-time. We manage well. In 2 years we would like to move. Until then I will go back to full-time work and the daycare costs will no longer apply. This means we will have 1200 euros more available again.

Now my question: Do you think it would be realistic for us to fully finance a house? Because if we start saving in 2 years, it would still take forever until we own a property. We are 29 and 30. Or do you think we should keep renting and just stop dreaming of our own house?

Thank you and best regards

Now slowly: First of all, the most important information is missing.

What is your monthly income? Now and when you go back to work full-time? Are you employed on a fixed-term or permanent contract? How secure are your jobs? Is it certain that you will go back to work full-time in 2 years? Is the family planning now complete or could there still be a 2nd/3rd... child? Will the daycare/crèche fees completely disappear in 2 years or will you still have to pay at least part of that amount then?

Otherwise, if I take your rent (what do you pay cold rent?) and the 1,200 € that will be extra, that doesn’t sound too bad at first. It’s always a question of what you imagine. Should it be a new building or do you want a used property? Luxurious or "normal"? Etc... In which region is the house supposed to be located? All questions that can significantly affect the price. You should of course also always consider that such a house causes much higher costs than a rental apartment, keyword higher ancillary costs and building reserves.

A full financing in itself is possible, of course it would be good if you could at least pay the ancillary costs out of your own pocket. And not every bank does a full financing. And whether you are happy with a full financing or if you want to take this risk is still another question. Otherwise, you are still young, if you save for three years at 1200 €/month you would already have a good 36,000 € together and would then be in your mid-thirties - an age where you are certainly not too old to build/buy a house.

So at the moment we have about 2800 euros net together. When I work full-time again, it will be about 3600 net. Our family planning is completed. The little one will start kindergarten at 3 and this would cost a maximum of 150 euros. Cold rent 828 euros.

New building or not, we haven't thought that far yet. It doesn't have to be luxury. 4 to 5 rooms, no more than 140 sqm. A small garden is completely sufficient. We currently live in Mannheim, building here is quite expensive. But we would also move to the nearby area.

What I would definitely advise you: keep a household book over a longer period of time. And enter all expenses you have in the month so that you really get an idea of where all the money goes. Also the one-time things, e.g. taxes or insurance, which only occur once a year... If you start now, you will already have a good basis for the next two years regarding what is financially possible, i.e. how much you can save now and then.

The income itself is not bad, although I would find a full financing of a new build with a net income of €3,600 quite strong. After all, you have to calculate with a plot of land with total costs of at least €300,000, rather even quite a bit more. Therefore, from my side, I would rather consider a used property. Or just save for a while longer. But that is my personal opinion.

Statements like: I once had money and then thing XY "intervened", quickly erase from your vocabulary. For every euro you haven’t saved by the end of the month, you come up with a new excuse. Sometimes a new washing machine is needed, sometimes the car broke down. It doesn’t stop there with the house. If EVERYTHING, such reserves should be built up anyway if you can, and if nothing is left over beyond that, you should honestly (this is the sorest point here) ask yourself if you can be good at something like that.

Sure, you usually only get married once and children are not born every day, but it’s the same with the house – you should think carefully about what you’re getting into.

Without land, without equity, €3,800 net is rather unfeasible