Land in sight, is house construction financially possible?

Calculate the incidental purchase costs for a 200,000€ plot of land and for a 500,000€ house.

Real estate transfer tax for 300,000 euros depending on the federal state around 20,000 euros. Notary approx. 1,200 euros. Land registry entry approx. 500 euros.
Whereby the difference is more likely to be between 200,000 and 250,000 euros for a used property of that age where renovations are necessary.

Oh, I see... precisely because existing properties are usually "finished," you basically take the medicine all at once. At the moment, with 4% interest rates, that's quite a chunk, of course. The price is then fixed.

But if you gradually complete everything in a new building over the years, you naturally take all the price increases with you.
The terrace will cost 20 to 25% more in 5 years.

Existing properties aren't so bad, apart from the fact that you have to find a house you like. You can't plan individually if you buy something finished.

I think you just can't generalize anymore now. A year ago you were right, but meanwhile that is somewhat reversing again.

It may be different now than what we were looking for, there was no negotiating. It was more a question of how much you increase the bid in the bidding process. There was only one house that stayed on the market longer. But the seller himself assumed renovation costs of 200k after we declined with an estimate of 100-150k. Of course, it was advertised as "good condition".

An existing property is (significantly) cheaper than a new build if you don't just consider the new build as a house on a gravel bed, but including finished outdoor facilities, interior finishing, garden, etc.

We are roughly on par with an existing property that needs a partial renovation costing 100k. That is also confirmed by my Excel spreadsheet. Notable DIY work only on the outdoor facilities, where material costs could still be saved (no carport or a cheaper one, cheap paving, tapering instead of natural stone wall, no terrace roof). I'm slowly losing interest in construction work, but over the long weekend there is still paving planned for the driveway, carport, and a path to the front door, then we'll be done with most of it. The garbage shed and other small things I'll postpone until next year. Compared to renovating an existing house with a lot of DIY work, this is still quite moderate because that doesn't just take 1-2 years, but easily over a decade. Not to forget that in many areas we have a higher standard than an existing property. Not only regarding things in the garden, but also the building envelope, underfloor heating, photovoltaic with battery, large windows, ventilation, modern floor plan... The only issue is the cellar, although that was not present in all existing properties either.

We have meanwhile looked at several properties and today got an offer from Dr. Klein.. 4.51% effective annual interest rate, although we could easily cover the purchase incidental costs with our own capital.. last month the advisor said in the first meeting that he could get a 3 before the comma.

Ringelnatz came to my mind.

In Hamburg lived two ants,
They wanted to travel to Australia.
At Altona on the highway
Their legs started hurting,
And so they wisely gave up
The last part of the journey.

So one often wants to but cannot
And then gladly accepts renunciation