Question regarding the feasibility of financing

May I ask: do you find the compromises you had to make due to this frugality justified for a 330sqm plot? Do you even still have garden space or do you mean 330sqm of garden and not the plot including built-up area?

Furthermore, you have to see that in certain regions there is often a greater concentration of these very well-paying employers. For example, just some industrial companies in the Stuttgart area like Bosch, Porsche, Daimler, Festo, Trumpf, Mahle, Siemens etc. Please research how many people they employ alone. It is therefore not unlikely that the partner also has a well-paid job.

The garden is extremely important. That’s why my calculations usually head towards 1000sqm. Because that’s basically the area where I think you can build nicely and still have enough garden.

And that’s exactly why townhouses have always been ruled out so far.

They are all small villages, so currently not interesting.

Personally—and this is really not meant to be judgmental—I prefer to rent in the city with a large apartment and a big communal garden (the forest and a green area are just down the street), rather than go into debt for a 600sqm plot 30 km away until the end of my working life. We are talking about at least €700,000 there for a 600sqm (with house). And for that, we suddenly need two cars and each drive 45 minutes to work (instead of 15 minutes by bike or 30 minutes by train; door to door).
So it’s a matter of taste, but a small plot at a high price in an 800-inhabitant village would be subordinate to renting for me. As I said, no judgment and nobody should feel offended.

and the garden or house with garden is very large. If you had your own house with such a garden, you would probably need far more than 1000sqm. But I have actually never measured the garden

The calculation is flawed because you assume that both work in the IGM operation. And you additionally assume that one automatically has the highest pay grade with 40 hours. IGM is usually 35 hours. You no longer reach the highest pay grade that quickly today. Those times are over. Often, both do not work in IGM.

Furthermore: The absolute prices of collective agreement salaries are not higher to the same extent as real estate prices. With €300 more gross per month, you have €1000-1500 more financing costs per month. There is a significant gap there. That’s why I say: this tariff discussion and employer discussion only makes sense if incomes depend on the city and not the federal state.

Civil servant status is actually an additional luxury that of course secures financing. May I ask: do you find the compromises you had to make with this frugality justified for a 330 sqm plot? Do you even have garden space there or do you mean 330 sqm garden and not plot including built-up area?

The calculation of your friends looks plausible. But they have saved €300k. Now it naturally depends on how long it took to achieve that. Because it is indeed a very decisive factor how much equity (whether earned or gifted) you have. €500k equity significantly lowers the interest and thus the overall costs!

But it is very nice to see that many manage it after all.
I admit that here I still have the attitude: before I spend an absolute fortune on a small house + plot (~400-500 sqm total plot), and save on every corner and edge, I'd rather remain a tenant and spare myself the risk in case of unemployment, short-time work, illness and keep my vacation with the family, shorter working hours when the children are there etc.

But of course my attitude can still change.

My time is too precious to me. Due to a business trip, I currently commute a total of 90 minutes daily. I work 9-11 hours a day. Plus 45 minutes prescribed break time. So I spend at least 12 hours a day working away from home. So if I can reduce my commuting time to 30 minutes a day and at the same time be more central to my everyday needs like shopping, culture, and sports, then for me personally that is a big quality of life gain.
Furthermore, I honestly say that I also do not want my children to have to commute to school later. They should be able to walk or bike to school until their A-levels. Quality of life for the children because more free time.

That’s all personal taste. Hence the high willingness to rent. But it remains a pity that such normal wishes exclude a house due to such land prices.

Regarding your question about the "halving of a plot," I came across this thread here, which I initially followed but not anymore later.
I don't understand why you talk about halving or even splitting a plot into thirds (in the other thread you mentioned the possibility of townhouses next to a semi-detached house), if for you "under 1000 sqm" is not an option.

I can understand that well. Due to my job, only moving would save time for me. But that comes with significantly higher financing costs. So, not just a little, but significantly!
I'd rather commute a bit more. That still works with the 40-hour week.
Kindergarten, primary school, and secondary school are within my sight. Penny is across the street. Lidl, Aldi, and Rewe are within walking distance. One does not necessarily exclude the other.
Plots here go for €170/sqm. I bought and renovated three years ago. Currently paying €830/month off. Honestly? I wouldn't want it any other way right now.

The thought is quite "simple."

With a semi-detached house, you would feel like you have more "free space," whether for garden or garage, etc.
Because whether you have 2-3 meters on each side or 0 meters on one side and 4-6 meters on the other side makes a difference in design possibilities.

If you take a somewhat larger plot for that, the square meter prices also drop a bit. Just let it be 50€/sqm, but that already makes a few euros difference.

And if then two of you buy 1200-1500sqm (i.e., two families, for example with friends), build a semi-detached house (thus more space on both outer sides)

Both families plan children, they share a huge garden for the children and each still has their own retreat areas), then 600-750sqm that actually belong to you feel much larger than they would with a single-family house.

Usually, on the property boundaries, there are hedges or similar on both sides. All things that visually reduce the size of the property.

For example, this is also the case in a rental building we were in. The property including the house had about 1500sqm. The house was divided (apartments right and left) and the garden was undivided. The garden seemed huge because there was no visual boundary between the two halves.