New single-family house construction through partial mortgage swap or let it be?

How long can you park the loan for the apartment? And from when does the construction requirement apply to the new property? I also believe that with the current land prices, the normal construction costs are currently at €3500/m² and already above that for upscale finishes, and in 2025 will certainly be well over 4500. The additional loan won’t get you below 4%, because you are dependent on the bank that has already financed the [ETW].

So the bank would go along with it, they say they have enough collateral (equity). The debts are currently decreasing significantly every year (25-27k). We can park the loan for the condominium for another year, with that we would buy the land + equity.

If the construction costs go towards 4,500€, it will of course be difficult, but then the value of the townhouse would also continue to increase. The land of the townhouse has a standard land value of, for example, 1,100€.

We ourselves find that 3,000€ per month at the bank is our maximum. We don't want more because we wouldn't feel comfortable otherwise.

The Rhineland is unfortunately expensive. An alternative would be not to build, which wouldn’t be a disaster now, to buy something young and used or to move significantly further out (towards Belgium and the Netherlands, which we don’t want). The land is unfortunately very expensive with 800€/sqm, unfortunately not uncommon in the wider area.

It would help us to have an approximate offer assuming that we then start building in Q3 2024 after all.

To be honest, the large sums are making me a bit dizzy. Despite a (currently) very good net income, in my opinion, the budget is still very tight. As long as you are building the new house, you have to live somewhere. Either in a rental apartment or renting your terraced house (which might depress the purchase price) or you only sell after the construction is finished, which inflates the credit situation again. If I were you, I would first work through the old "construction sites" before embarking on a new house-building adventure. Because building a house usually does not go according to plan. And as my predecessors have already explained, your wishes are in the luxury segment with probably significantly higher construction costs than previously assumed. If I understand correctly, you work in the private sector and a potential financial crisis or similar could affect you as well. What if you become unemployed? Or you have children and thereby your wife's income decreases? Or one of you is out for a longer time due to health reasons? That would all be too unpredictable for me, especially given the current overall situation. I would not put myself through that and be happy in the new terraced house for now. I also wonder why you did not buy a single-family house right after the condominium.

We searched for properties for a long time and simply couldn’t find anything, that was the big problem. Now some have become available, among other reasons because people can no longer manage it (interest rates + construction costs). Old houses, which were mostly demolished, were also offered at hefty prices, so that didn’t make sense either.

I’m not very worried about my job since I work in a corporation and it is also in high demand otherwise. Of course, you can never be completely sure, but if I think about it, I’d have to plan everything assuming I’ll only manage with ALG1. But I’m not that kind of person, because for me the glass is always half full.

Of course, these are large sums, but that’s unfortunately how it is in Düsseldorf, Cologne, and the surrounding area. During the construction phase, we would of course continue living in the townhouse, so additional costs (interest) for interim financing of the construction would arise. However, we would cover these from equity and savings. Our limit would really be €1.3 million all in, and clearly, it’s a lot of money. But we won’t do anything at all costs here; it simply isn’t worth it to me. We want to make rough inquiries on Saturday or Sunday to see what the price is. We need to be sure about that because we definitely won’t buy the property before.

We searched for a long time for plots of land and simply couldn't find any, that was the big problem. Now some have become available, among others.

Understandable. However, it makes me suspicious that you can't continue to expand, decorate, and enjoy Nestbau 2022 and want to feel comfortable there. I still look after 10 years at what is happening on the market (professionally, but also out of personal interest), but I lean back, enjoy what I have, and look forward to the garden, which is still expandable after 10 years and where some furniture inside can be replaced. And yes, many have to adapt to the surroundings, the budget, or the situation, but that should not be a reason for restlessness. And yes: everyone is different. I follow : I think he means with the reference to unemployment that you should wisely always acquire such a property whose financing you can bridge for a few months, either from savings or through the second income. A risk insurance is already mandatory anyway due to the imbalance of salaries. However, I can understand moving from a condominium to a townhouse. Only this restlessness, I would consider that in your place… do you both really want this change combined with even more and higher repayments? You don't have children yet….! I'm curious. Please continue to report here in the forum.

Yes, exactly. That's what I meant. Of course, you never know what will come, but you don't have to push your luck even more from a rather comfortable situation. (By the way, I am a she ;) )

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You do want to keep living and not just pay off three loans. I don't really understand what the deal is with the dormant ETW loan. You still pay interest on it, right? So what is the advantage then? Is it about prepayment penalties? Could you please maybe explain the setup in more detail?