Is the dream of owning a home realistic?

There definitely won't be anything left over. Just the garden alone for 15k euros probably won't work. Plan for more like 30-60k. There will still be many unforeseeable costs.

Just the terrace and the driveway already swallow up the 15k€. But since no one knows what the property is like or how big the house including standard/features will be, I can only say the amount is heading in the right direction. Whether it will be enough, however, is unfortunately a crystal ball at the moment.

Furthermore, I don't see any buffer for unforeseen construction problems, because what you apparently have in liquid funds will go to the kitchen and equipment.

Is the 5k€ extra for electrical or the whole trade? Electrical without KNX is around 15-20k€. There's no way it's 5k€, just the electrical cabinet with fire protection switch if "wooden stud" costs 5k€.

Hello everyone and thank you very much for your open feedback.

: you can be direct if you want, I asked for it and don’t hold it against anyone. Those are definitely legitimate questions/remarks.

In the 15k for outdoor facilities, we imagined the terrace, paths, driveway, and rough work where a digger might be necessary. Everything beyond that we would have to do ourselves over time. My parents will be nearby and both love working in the garden. Carport/garage is also not initially in the budget.

Regarding financing: yes, we will have to get expenses under control. I also forgot to include, for example, childcare costs in the breakdown. U3 childcare at 7h/day cost 400€/month for two years for our little one (municipal facility). Now Ü3 is 280€. That would also be a bit cheaper in the countryside and my mother can take over 1-2 days. It does not make a huge difference overall now, I know. But I try to see potential.

We will probably let the second lease car expire at the beginning of the year and switch to public transport.

The conditions are roughly as you wrote, Zaba. We now have an offer from Dr. Klein and I am very cautious because I have read a lot about combination contracts: DSL + BHW + private loan (which you apparently need due to the low equity ratio) + KFW 55 (the house would be KfW55 standard): 2% repayment, 2.45% effective interest (blended rate over all components). The advisor comes to about 1650€. When the private loan is paid off, there will be 150€ more to put into the other components, for example. With LBS, we were at about 1800€/month.

I understand that after all the numbers I have provided here, this probably looks like harakiri. But what reasonable alternatives are there?

- With a second child, the apartment will be too small in the long term (no garden, tiny children’s room). Two years here would still be okay, but then the first child will start school and I wouldn’t find a small children’s room for two kids very good.
- Larger apartments here cost around 1,500-1,600€ (warm, okay, but heating costs in 90s buildings are not that low either).
- Save more and tackle it later? Does that make sense with annually rising construction costs? Our bank advisor spoke of 8-10% per year in the Stuttgart region. Maybe less in the countryside, but it will rise anyway, right?
- Apartment instead of house or buy an existing house... The price difference between apartment and house is not huge and with the apartment you are bound by what all owners want. Not more attractive price-wise either because people outbid each other. Semi-detached houses are currently going for 150k more than 4-5 years ago.

I find the decision really difficult... A house would of course be our dream. But I don’t want a house at any cost for which I have to "slave away" for the rest of my life (I like working, but being forced to is something else). On the other hand, I really face the dilemma – what if rent in 10 years is as high as my monthly burden for the house would have been? Then I would only be annoyed that I hadn’t paid it into my own pocket sooner. How do you see that??

Besides, I don't see any buffer for unforeseen construction problems because what you apparently have in cash will go towards the kitchen and equipment.

Are the 5k€ increase for electrical work or the entire trade? Electrical work without KNX is around 15-20k€. There's no way it's 5k€, just the electrical cabinet with fire protection switch if it's a "wooden stud" costs 5k€

5k€ for increase, if necessary. The entire trade is included in the house price, without KNX

Cash is planned for kitchen, painting, and flooring work. There will be no new furniture. We will take everything as is and it fits the current floor plan.

The 1650€ somehow seem to have been fudged because of the building savings contract. With a pure annuity loan, it is already 1792€ with only 2.2% interest and 2% repayment.

You seem to be ignoring the issue of a second child, otherwise there would be a solution, right? With that amount, you must not earn one euro less than now with only one child. It does not help if only your husband does not take parental leave.

Also, how can a plot of land in the Stuttgart area cost 67k€, something doesn’t add up there!? That means, due to the consumer loan, it’s not even a 100% financing. I just don’t understand it somehow. Are you not planning to use your equity for the incidental construction costs?

As I already said, you will spend around 2200-2300€ just for living. This doesn’t even include reserves for the house. About 850€ of that is repayment and 950€ interest (approximately). Rent at 1600€ warm is cheaper. Purely mathematically.

If the high expenses weren’t there, it would be doable. Not easily, but doable. And I don’t mean spending 500€ less but at least 1500€ less.

At least the alternative is not to commit Harakiri.

The 1650€ somehow seem to have been fudged because of the building society savings contract. With a pure annuity loan, it’s already 1792€ with only 2.2% interest and 2% repayment.

You seem to be ignoring the issue of the second child, otherwise there would be a solution, right? With that amount, you can’t earn a single euro less than you do now with only one child. It doesn’t help if only your husband doesn’t take parental leave.

That also surprised me how two providers differ by several hundred euros for the same amount.

During parental leave, I would receive 1800 and would then start working part-time so that we get at least 2000 - 2500 into the pot. That would be a total of 4400 during parental leave (without salary increases for my husband, special payments, child benefit, etc.). Slightly more part-time. During the first parental leave we also had a monthly burden of 995 (housing) + 550 (loan) and saved 100-200€ or special payments as best as we could on the side. Otherwise, we currently wouldn’t have any equity at all.

But okay, let’s say we drop the new build because it’s too risky/burden too high etc. What would be your recommendation for us? Situation as described above..