Report: Building a house as retirement provision? No way!

Country bumpkin here
Although we have a total of 16,000 inhabitants in both districts combined, so it's not that small (but hey, I come from Munich, so this really feels like a village to me)

We had 42% equity, the loan runs for 15 years, so it will be paid off at least 5 years before the husband retires. I still have to work a bit longer.

I have to set aside money for home technology, of course, things can always break. A new solar module, or a new gas boiler depending on the situation.
But why would I need a new bathroom after 20 years? Maybe a new toilet bowl, or a new washbasin if it's damaged. But I definitely don't have to retile automatically?

[I also belong to the people who buy decent shoes that last 5 years, and who don’t buy new ones every summer at Deichmann for just one season]

And the house prices are also roughly correct: 250 thousand DM; in 1997 about 285 thousand euros in 2017. The 285 today are a bit more, but the house is also detached and has more land, more than twice as much as the [REH]. In terms of square meters of living space, however, there is not much difference. Almost equal. Karsten

And the house prices are roughly right too:

I wanted to point out something similar: insufficient wage increases over a long time eventually make building a home unaffordable for average earners. Kind of like why grandma and grandpa could manage it with one salary, but today it no longer works.

What I calculated above using your example, Karsten, was that you had a compensating wage increase if you consider growth and inflation over the 22 years from 1997 until today.

But only on the condition that you didn’t have any salary jumps during those 22 years from changing jobs or salary levels. Such one-time raises are not included—the calculated increase would have to come purely from the percentage wage increases. If that’s not the case, wages rose too weakly for a long time (and still do). House prices are always relative to income.

And now comes the seller’s market that has developed over recent years together with this long trend. Many have been left behind.

Country bumpkin here
Although we have 16 thousand inhabitants combined in both districts, so not that small (but hey, I come from Munich, so this is really a village for me)

We had 42% equity, the loan runs for 15 years, so it will be paid off at least 5 years before the husband retires. I still have to wait a bit longer.

I have to save something for home technology, of course, something can always break. A new solar module, or a new gas boiler, depending.
But why do I need a new bathroom after 20 years? Maybe a new toilet bowl, or a new washbasin if it has defects. But I don't automatically have to re-tile, do I?

[I also belong to the people who buy decent shoes that last 5 years and who don't stock up new ones every summer at Deichmann for one season]

You ask why? Because it was trendy 20 years ago. :-p. This is not my mother-in-law's bathroom but it looks very similar.

Of course, you can do everything inside like 19 years ago as well but... wouldn't you get the urge to renovate it immediately given its condition?

I would.

And the house prices roughly add up as well: 250 thousand DM; 1997 to 285 thousand euros in 2017. The 285 today is a bit more, but the house is also detached and has more land, more than twice as much as the semi-detached house. In square meters of living space, however, it's about the same. Almost equal. Karsten

Hm... please don't ruin my worldview. Everything used to be better!!!

To the bathroom of the Zabas: We could live with that!