HolmsTalent
2022-10-24 18:37:31
- #1
Hello everyone,
We have been actively searching for a house for about 1.5 years now to free ourselves from the cage of a 2-room apartment (warm rent: approx. 600 euros). Since we both do the majority of our work from home and due to the apartment layout our workspaces are directly opposite each other, concentrating during simultaneous meetings is rather difficult for us. Additionally, children are planned (so not yet present), which means that in this case we would have to look for at least a 3-room apartment at the latest. We are also registered as looking for an apartment with our cooperative, but the offers – if any come in – well, do not meet our requirements (we are currently living in a new-build apartment).
General information about you:
Our problem is as follows:
We have prepared an income/expense calculation with roughly the following assumptions added:
With the additional expenses + installment, we arrive at a surplus of ~2,500 euros per month (currently ~5,200 euros +/-).
Of the 2,500 euros, we would set aside 1,000 euros for special repayments, save 1,000 euros, and consider the rest as "base noise" (there is always something).
However, if one of us should go on parental leave (each for 3-6 months), that person will only receive 1,800 euros (and this is the challenge). Our idea here was: during that time less is saved to bridge parental leave. Subsequently, the question of childcare arises. My wife would reduce to 35h, so the surplus would decrease accordingly by ~350 euros net.
In the worst-case scenario, we would have to tap into the securities...
Such a life decision is only made once, and at the moment we are in a comfortable situation that would change abruptly. We are aware that this cannot go on forever, especially when children arrive and one often – emotionally and not rationally considered – longs for their own garden, more space in general, and very importantly: peace! (which we do not always have due to the multi-family building).
Our question:
We are somewhat uncertain whether we should take this step because, for example, there are no children yet, we should save more equity first (risk: interest rates rising meanwhile?), and initially look for a larger apartment (offers from 2010 or later, e.g., once: ~1,300 net cold for 3 rooms, ~80 sqm via our cooperative – which we declined at the time). However, the difference between net cold rent for the larger apartment and the house loan is roughly "only" about 1,000 euros, and the house would be completely new with a very high standard. New living costs (cold) would be over the famous one-third: ~34%...
How would you handle this situation? Have we overlooked something? Can or should we afford the house?
We were able to reserve it based on a "declaration of intent to purchase" initially for 2 weeks, so time is pressing...
If we have forgotten any information, please let me know!
Thank you all for taking the time to read this and help us with the decision-making!
Best regards!
We have been actively searching for a house for about 1.5 years now to free ourselves from the cage of a 2-room apartment (warm rent: approx. 600 euros). Since we both do the majority of our work from home and due to the apartment layout our workspaces are directly opposite each other, concentrating during simultaneous meetings is rather difficult for us. Additionally, children are planned (so not yet present), which means that in this case we would have to look for at least a 3-room apartment at the latest. We are also registered as looking for an apartment with our cooperative, but the offers – if any come in – well, do not meet our requirements (we are currently living in a new-build apartment).
General information about you:
[*
- Who are you? Woman and man
[*]How old are you? 32 and 33
[*]Are there children? 0
[*]Are children planned? Yes (up to 2)
[*]Are you employed? Yes
[*]How many hours do you work? 40h and 37h
Income and asset situation:
[*]What income do you have (gross/net)? Woman: ~3100 euros net, man: 3500 euros net (plus side job ~200 euros, which I prefer not to count), EDIT: special payments (both Christmas + vacation pay not included)
[*]How much child benefit do you get? 0
[*]Other transfer payments such as parental allowance, sickness benefit, etc...? 0
[*]How much equity do you have? 240,000 euros, of which liquid: 130,000 euros (rest in securities)
[*]How much equity do you want to invest in the house project? 130,000 euros
Living/household costs:
[*]Total expenses per month: approx. 1500 euros
General information about the targeted property:
[*]From the developer
[*]Including land (approx. 510 sqm), fully developed
[*]Viebrockhaus Kfw 40 Plus house (145 sqm, 5 rooms, heat pump, photovoltaics) including interior finishing (without kitchen), including lawn (without hedge)
[*]Purchase price: 595,000 euros
[*]Additional purchase costs: 41,000 euros
[*]Total costs: 636,000 euros
[*]4 partial payments will be due
We have already spoken with a loan broker, which has crystallized the following situation:
[*]Loan amount: 508,000 euros (128,000 euros equity)
[*]Interest rate: 4.16% (a lower loan-to-value ratio only changed the interest rate by 0.03%)
[*]Installment: 2,290 euros with 1.25% repayment
[*]Special repayment: 5% of the loan amount (we are calculating with 12,000 euros p.a. that we will repay early)
[LIST]
[*]So far, our relatively high surplus has gone into securities and equity building (see above). Therefore, we are sure that we will not be tempted to spend the reserved special repayment money.
Our problem is as follows:
We have prepared an income/expense calculation with roughly the following assumptions added:
[*]A 2nd car is needed, resulting in higher mobility costs
[*]Maintenance reserves must be built up
[*]Return insurance
[*]Property tax / municipal fees
[*]Kitchen: approx. 20,000 euros (financed by partial liquidation of building savings contract, cash, a small part from parents)
With the additional expenses + installment, we arrive at a surplus of ~2,500 euros per month (currently ~5,200 euros +/-).
Of the 2,500 euros, we would set aside 1,000 euros for special repayments, save 1,000 euros, and consider the rest as "base noise" (there is always something).
However, if one of us should go on parental leave (each for 3-6 months), that person will only receive 1,800 euros (and this is the challenge). Our idea here was: during that time less is saved to bridge parental leave. Subsequently, the question of childcare arises. My wife would reduce to 35h, so the surplus would decrease accordingly by ~350 euros net.
In the worst-case scenario, we would have to tap into the securities...
Such a life decision is only made once, and at the moment we are in a comfortable situation that would change abruptly. We are aware that this cannot go on forever, especially when children arrive and one often – emotionally and not rationally considered – longs for their own garden, more space in general, and very importantly: peace! (which we do not always have due to the multi-family building).
Our question:
We are somewhat uncertain whether we should take this step because, for example, there are no children yet, we should save more equity first (risk: interest rates rising meanwhile?), and initially look for a larger apartment (offers from 2010 or later, e.g., once: ~1,300 net cold for 3 rooms, ~80 sqm via our cooperative – which we declined at the time). However, the difference between net cold rent for the larger apartment and the house loan is roughly "only" about 1,000 euros, and the house would be completely new with a very high standard. New living costs (cold) would be over the famous one-third: ~34%...
How would you handle this situation? Have we overlooked something? Can or should we afford the house?
We were able to reserve it based on a "declaration of intent to purchase" initially for 2 weeks, so time is pressing...
If we have forgotten any information, please let me know!
Thank you all for taking the time to read this and help us with the decision-making!
Best regards!