Is the construction project feasible or are we taking on more than we can handle?

I 100% disagree with you. You yourself say that Town & Country awards contracts. That means anyone can apply. A botcher as well as a very good company. Then our company. It has been working with the same trades for up to 20 years and knows the quality and what it wants. Where is the likelihood of botched work higher?

It is advertised regionally, yes! Architects also put contracts out to tender, that is no quality feature. And the individual employed craftsman has no idea who the client for his boss is. They don’t care one bit (original quote).

And guess why more and more people choose regional products, like fruit/vegetables/eggs/meat...

That is said by someone who first leaves the country for his own work to buy cheaper, e.g. the kitchen. According to my memory, however, there was a lot of praise for not shopping regionally.

Nothing, absolutely nothing is done in own work anymore and the demands are rising to the absurd.

Yes. I see it too. I can only gape.

But it still works for well under 3,000... and without the place being botched or at social housing level...

When I make my calculation here, then already with the final price including VAT for his requested wishlist. Everyone can then see where they can save. Unfortunately, I have read far more statements here in the forum about awarding the painting work than actually someone who did it themselves. If someone wants a higher standard, then it costs more than a lower standard, if someone is willing to provide own work, then they save a lot. Even a financial advisor says that when 20- or 30,000€ are missing. I wonder how the 3,000€/sqm even came about. Nine years ago, since I have been in this forum, ancillary building costs have been separated according to building ground and the regional aspect has been included. Because the “piece of house” actually costs the same. Only the surroundings make it more expensive or cheaper.

By the way, we have decided on plot No. 61. We can also sell it again at any time.

Regarding the discussion, I can only contribute the following. I have been working in the construction industry for 10 years, and every now and then there is also a single-family house from millionaires. There is also extreme botching there, and it usually starts with the premium architect. Even with these wealthy people, there are often people on the construction site with very low wages.

Feel free to keep us updated when it moves forward :)

Hello,

I would like to give an update and ask for advice.
The debts to the parents were fully paid off in December. We had planned to start during the year since the interest rates have moved in the right direction in the past weeks.

What is the right time for us?

We will become parents in 5 months. My girlfriend will then take parental leave for 12 months.

My wish would be to clarify the financing and execution of the house before the birth so that construction could possibly start in the fall.
Another option would be to postpone planning to fall/winter so that construction can start in winter/spring.
How do banks react when parental leave is already certain? I had read that you need a confirmation of continued employment from the employer so that parental allowance is considered in the monthly calculation? Or do they only look at the current net income if, for example, the financing is finalized in April?

Now there is a small problem. The company where my girlfriend is employed is financially struggling. But insolvency is not expected. Everyone in her department is being laid off except her because she has protection against dismissal. The company is part of a corporate group. So my girlfriend will be seconded to another company within the corporate group until parental leave and is supposed to continue working there after parental leave without a new probation period and with existing years of service. As you see, this project involves a lot of what-ifs that need to be clarified before parental leave.
Should the continued employment fail, I somehow see it as unlikely that the financing will go through with only one income, right?

Current key data:
Net income currently €5800
Net income with parental allowance + child benefit €5100
Required loan approx. €325-350k

We had to fill out a self-disclosure form for our financing (Commerzbank, completed in 2022), where among other things there were questions like this:

And:


For the second one, you might still be able to "nah, actually no financial impacts are foreseeable....." and turn a blind eye... but the first one is probably hard to argue if you are going to become parents in 5 months... So there was a justification field for that, and I don’t know how banks generally view parental leave (it probably also varies a bit depending on the bank?)

Besides "what the bank says," the other thing is always "how you feel about it," if you see financial risks in the future.

Do you have it in writing from someone who can actually promise that your girlfriend will be seconded and can start there after parental leave without a probationary period? With a similar or the same salary? Does she know where she will be seconded and is it near you? Can she work part-time there?

If one breadwinner is out, every financing is at risk, that's just how it is. Maybe not for senior physicians, but for us ordinary people, yes.

If you are going to be parents in 5 months and still have no financing, you can't hide that from the bank either. It becomes obvious, you would have to meet a very old bachelor who has never heard of pregnancies... every bank advisorin immediately sees what's going on.

And sad but true:
If the secondment and permanent hire without probation period fail, it will probably not be easy for the mother of a 1-year-old to find something new, especially part-time... shortage or no shortage...

My conclusion:
You are risking a lot to tie yourselves to a 350,000 EUR loan at 3.5%.
Does it have to be right now? Prices are actually stagnating or even going down a bit, and interest rates could still fall further.
Besides, you are taking on an almost impossible task. First child, full-time job for him, worries about financial future, and then also planning or building a house. It wouldn't be the first relationship to break because of that.

We had our second daughter in the middle of building the house; the eldest was already 5. There were evenings when I thought I would just collapse and not get up again. If I hadn't been able to draw on several hundred overtime hours, it wouldn't have worked...

Wait until after parental leave. If she then has a permanent job, you can go to the bank. Before that, I would leave it...