Maximum credit limit according to economic journalist Frank Lehmann

Yes.. I also take my hat off to that. It wouldn't be my life model. I would set the priorities differently.. but definitely not paying off a property. But each to their own..

Often, however, there are few alternatives to setting your priorities differently. With 2 children, you can already look for a decent 4-room apartment. You will find little suitable under 1,000 euros in NRW. And condo ownership is always easy to say, it's not for everyone.

It is actually unfortunately true that rents have increased so extremely that you can often finance a house more cheaply. Provided you get a loan, of course. I am currently helping a friend search for an apartment, and rents here in the countryside are already higher than what we paid back in the city. Renting houses starts at 1500 euros cold. For that, you definitely get your own home (found a nice small house in the neighboring town, 119k euros, in good condition... installment 340 euros...). Unfortunately, the friend would not get a loan. The rental apartment with 80 sqm in the middle of nowhere is already twice as expensive.... You don’t live cheaper by renting.

It is actually unfortunately true that rents have risen so extremely that you can often finance a house more cheaply. Provided you can get a loan, that is. I’m currently helping a friend look for an apartment and the rents here in the countryside are already higher than what we used to pay in the city back then. Renting houses starts at 1500 cold. For that, you definitely get a home of your own (found a nice small house in the neighboring town, 119k euros, in good condition... installment 340 euros.....). Unfortunately, the friend would not get a loan. The rental apartment with 80 sqm in the middle of nowhere is already twice as expensive.... You don’t live cheaper by renting.

On top of that comes the "security" of at least knowing the installment fixed during the interest rate lock period. Rents can and will also rise quite nicely in 10 years...

And that cannot be the whole explanation why after 600 applications for various jobs, including unskilled labor positions, not a single interview is obtained.

This is off-topic here, but that cannot be: This means professional help is needed here! As a graduate biologist, one has not studied out of touch with the market! Why it is the case in this specific instance cannot, of course, be said without knowledge of the CV, certificates, exemplary job advertisements, and cover letters. Professionals can help! In my opinion, Elina is a (sad?) exception here. I am keeping my fingers crossed that you find the right goals and achieve them!! On the subject: I was aware of the rule that the house price should not exceed 2 to 5 times the gross annual income. We are above that (factor 6.5 at the time of signing the contracts including incidental costs).

Elina is, in my opinion, a (sad?) exception here.

No, unfortunately, she is a representative of the sad reality after studying biology. Our son is also a graduate biologist; I can very well understand Elina's frustration. Rhineland greetings

My report cards were actually good, but I completely ruined my average with politics, sports, and history (3-point subjects), so I only ended up with a 1.7 in the Abitur. Unfortunately, I was stupid, young, and rebellious with boring teachers. If someone had told me back then to stay away from biology... chemistry would have been quite nice too - I might have thought differently, since I wanted to work in a lab anyway. But since I was the only one in the family with the Abitur, there was a bit of a lack of "life advice." This is really off-topic, but thanks for your kind words, I'm usually not much of a crybaby.