Land purchase and house construction in the current situation - experiences

Hello everyone,

a brief overview of our situation:
We have been in the process of purchasing a building plot for several months now (there were land register issues in the form of easements that had to be resolved by the seller beforehand) and are also planning the house construction in parallel.
Regarding our financial situation, it should be mentioned that it is solidly structured. Both of us work in large industrial companies (IG Metall), so we have never had to worry about our jobs in the past 5-10 years. Consequently, we also had no concerns about the financing volume.
Now, with the notary appointment for the plot imminent, we are no longer so sure when looking at the current economic situation in more detail. Not only the question of "how secure are our jobs" but also "how will the economic situation affect property prices" and "will the chosen general contractor survive the next 12-18 months" are naturally going through our minds.

For this reason, I would appreciate an exchange here. Do other prospective homeowners see the current situation similarly? How do people with decades of experience assess the situation?

I look forward to your input!

Crises have occurred again and again over the past 80 years, real ones or just felt or based on rumors. Every generation complains about how difficult it is to build and how easy it was in the past. The fact is that we currently have a housing shortage in almost all of Germany. I do not see this changing for the next 20 years.

Hello,

to be honest – when I read your situation like this, I can only shake my head. You seem to rely heavily on the IG Metall bonus, but have you really considered that these salary structures and job securities are no longer a given? Maybe that was the case once, but times are changing. Anyone who relies on that nowadays could soon come crashing down hard on the ground of reality.

It really isn’t the best strategy to base financing on everything staying the way it has in recent years. One should always assume that one can cover the installments with a "normal" job if at some point it is no longer enough to dream of the previous salary structures.

For exactly this reason, I myself, despite having a very good job, consciously decided against building. The risks are simply too great for me, and I see no reason to take on such a massive financial burden when the future is anything but certain. Maybe a little more realism and less daydreaming is worthwhile. After all, we’re not talking about a few euros here, but quite a sum.

But well, maybe this perspective can help you see things a little clearer.

Hello, well, honestly – when I read your situation like this, I can only shake my head. You seem to rely heavily on the IG Metall bonus, but have you really considered that these salary structures and job securities are no longer a given? Maybe that was the case once, but times are changing. Whoever relies on that nowadays could soon come down pretty hard to the reality. It really is not the best strategy to base financing on everything staying the way it has been in recent years. You should always assume that you can handle the installments with a "normal" job, in case it no longer suffices to dream of the previous salary structures at some point. Exactly for this reason, I consciously decided against building myself, despite having a very good job. The risks are simply too big for me, and I see no reason to take on such a massive financial burden when the future is anything but certain. Maybe a bit more realism and less daydreaming is worth it. After all, we are not talking about a few euros here, but quite a sum. But well, maybe this perspective can help you see things a little clearer.

But then again: nothing ventured, nothing gained or You miss 100% of the Chances you don't take. A risk always belongs to it, but in the worst case, you can also sell the house and somehow deal with it. Others here in this forum have already managed that. Or what happens in case of separation? What if something bigger happens? You don't know. If you are sure that you can currently handle it, even if one of you receives unemployment benefits for a year, and your job is relatively secure, then it can be estimated as well as possible. It doesn't get much safer than that and we simply cannot change the overall economy. Of course, if both of you lose your jobs, then it gets difficult, but that is the case for every homeowner with a loan. In that case, the current apartment is probably too expensive anyway. But with a house, you at least have the prospect of owning a paid-off property in 30 years, which can help you a lot in old age. In addition, inflation naturally always plays in your favor with such an investment over 30 years. And apart from that, it is very nice to be able to design your own house, continuously optimize everything over time, and create a nice home. That is something quite different from an apartment.

But then again: nothing ventured, nothing gained or You miss 100% of the Chances you don't take.

There is always a risk involved, but in the worst case, you can sell the house and somehow manage to solve it. Others here in the forum have already managed that. Or what about separation? What if something bigger happens? You just don’t know.

If you are sure that you can handle it right now, even if one of you receives unemployment benefits for a year, and your job is relatively secure, then you can pretty much estimate that as well as possible. It doesn’t get much safer than that, and we simply cannot change the overall economy. Of course, if you both lose your jobs, it will get difficult, but that’s the case for every homeowner with a loan. Then the current apartment is probably too expensive anyway.
With a house, you at least have the perspective that in 30 years you will own paid-off property, which can help you a lot in old age. Additionally, inflation naturally works in your favor with such an investment over 30 years.

Well, I think you’re making it a bit too easy here. Building or buying a house is absolutely no longer standard nowadays – it’s a luxury you really have to be able to afford. “Nothing ventured, nothing gained” may be true in some areas, but with a loan of hundreds of thousands of euros, the fun stops. This is not about a spontaneous decision, but a commitment that will bind you and your family for decades.

The fact that you say you can just sell the house in the worst case shows how casually this is sometimes viewed here. Real estate markets fluctuate, and if you suddenly have to sell, that doesn’t mean you’ll get rid of it for the same price you bought it – especially not if interest rates or the market situation rise. And that’s just one of the many risks you have to keep in mind.

Honestly, I see this very critically and would be cautious about basing such a decision simply on hope and optimism. A house isn’t a game but one of the biggest financial decisions you make in your life – you shouldn’t underestimate that.

That sounds a lot like sour grapes from Fene1907. Building a house is always a risk if you are not swimming in money. If your situation is solid at the moment, the bank has no concerns, and there is no concrete cause for worry regarding the [AG], then I would build. Maybe not the maximum dream house variant, but something realistic that can also be expanded and improved. With us, the construction planning for an extension is currently at a standstill because my job is not 100% secure and we first want to see how the company develops, but mainly because I will hardly find a similarly well-paid position in my field here in the region. However, I would never come up with the idea of painting the dream of a house so black to others.