Real estate financing possible? Hardly any equity, Berlin area

I had to repay my student loan first and have only been working for 5 years. Since February 2020, I have been earning as much as I do now; before that, it was 400€ less, and my starting net salary was even below 2000€. My partner was only promoted a year ago; before that, he earned significantly less. Then came the typical larger expenses like new furniture, a new laptop, a few bigger vacations, etc., which you only allow yourself once you have the corresponding money and think you should treat yourself sometimes. So we really only started saving properly in February 2020 and sorted out what is important to us, meaning no more expensive long-distance trips, but rather cheap hiking vacations that we can cover from ongoing costs and a home of our own, if possible. The 35,000€ is therefore the savings amount from the last 11 months and from the small savings cushion we already had before :)

How much would you estimate the amount to be when house hunting?

On the subject of parental leave:
We plan for me to stay at home for one year once a child arrives, and afterwards, we will both work part-time for 4 months each, as this is also state-supported. After that, my partner will have to work full-time again, but since he works exclusively from home, he is a bit more flexible and can continue to support me. We have calculated different scenarios, and in the calculations, our current fixed costs were covered, and there was still a small cushion. However, I also know how quickly plans can change, so personally, I would feel most comfortable with a repayment rate of 1800€ (our current all-in rent) and then rather work with special repayments.

If I were you, I wouldn’t go much above a 1800€ installment either. With part-time work and daycare costs, that’s already high enough. The best would be a contract with 2 free repayment changes. Then you could reduce the installment for the years with small children. Otherwise, you have to work with special repayments. For me, that would mean a maximum loan of 550k.

We have calculated different scenarios and in the calculations our current fixed costs were covered and there was still a small cushion. However, I also know how quickly plans can change, so I would personally feel most comfortable with a repayment rate of €1800 (our current rent including utilities) and then prefer to work with special repayments.

Perfect - then you do have a plan and can calculate "backwards." With an €1800 rate and 3% repayment, you can surely manage a €550,000 loan. Over 30 years, and with an initially reduced repayment of 2% plus special repayments if possible, maybe an additional €50,000 could also be feasible. You shouldn’t go beyond that, as you should not significantly exceed 33% of household income for the loan alone (utilities on top).

The sad thing about the current situation is that you have a good, above-average income. And yet there is a risk that with a sideways movement of interest rates and a persistent annual 5%-10% increase in real estate prices, households in this income category will drop out of the circle of buyers. In my opinion, this could trigger interesting feedback for the future bubble development.

Please do not underestimate the additional/operating costs of owning a house!

... and a continuous annual 5%-10% increase in real estate prices ....

Hopefully it will be the same for us :D

What, in my opinion, could trigger an exciting feedback in the future bubble development.

I don't quite understand what you mean.

I don't quite understand what you mean

Rising asking prices can only work as long as there are enough buyers and access to cheap credit. If this access becomes more restrictive and at the same time the circle of potential buyers shrinks just because of the price, this affects the actual realized sale price. In this case, an object in the range of 500,000 - 600,000 might be feasible based on income. 10% more -> 550,000 - 650,000, difficult. Another 10% more - definitely not anymore.