Secure follow-up financing through building savers

Hello dear community,

I have been following this forum for some time and hope you can help me as well.

Regarding the current overall situation:
We have been building a house since the end of last year and have been able to cope relatively well with the current price increases, etc., so far through a lot of personal effort and generous budgeting.

Due to the rising interest rates, we would like to prepare now for the follow-up financing. Therefore, we are considering switching an older, rather unprofitable building savings contract (50,000 €, of which about 25% is saved, 1% credit interest, 3.5% loan interest) to a new tariff.

Our financial key points:
Household net income approx. 5250 € (2750 m, 2500 f)
Current savings rate purely for the house approx. 3000 €
Age: 30 / 28
Children: none, but planned for the next 1-2 years.

Loan 1:
Volume: 200,000 €
Rate: approx. 700 €
Interest rate: 0.56%
Fixed interest term: 10 years (we will repay 9.5 years of it)
Remaining debt at the end of 2031: approx. 130,000 €

Loan 2:
Volume: 160,000 €
Rate: approx. 600 €
Interest rate: 0.82%
Fixed interest term: 16 years (we will probably repay 15 years of it)
Remaining debt at the end of 2037: approx. 65,000 €

Equity for house construction: maximum 300,000 € (including kitchen, ancillary construction costs, …)

As it currently looks, about 60,000 € will remain.

How would you approach the remaining debt of the 10-year loan:

A) Finance „as usual“ with an uncertain interest rate (with/without special repayments?)
B) Secure 50,000 € through a building savings contract (save 100 €/m, then repay 250 €/m for just under 10 years, total costs approx. 1,600 €), pay off the rest as much as possible by special repayments?
C) Secure 100,000 € through a building savings contract (save 315 €/m, then repay 500 €/m for just under 10 years, total costs approx. 4,100 €), pay off the rest by special repayments. Remaining special repayments available for loan 2.
D) Are there any other/better alternatives?

If I should add any more info, please let me know, otherwise thank you very much in advance ;)

Best regards, Stefan R.

Dreamlike numbers with you.

I would not conclude a home savings contract and try to save the money on the side, if possible make special repayments.

Dreamlike numbers with you.

I would not take out a building savings contract and try to save the money on the side if possible by making special repayments.

I see it similarly. Changing the tariff entails a new fee (1-1.6% of the building savings sum). I would simply continue to pay into the building savings contract and take the 1% interest. That is more sensible than special repayments (since the interest rate is less than 1%). This way, on the one hand, you save capital for the period after the fixed interest rate, and on the other hand, you have an "emergency fund" here, which you can normally access earlier by splitting the contract.

We have thought about it too and calculated it extensively. But the interest gap between the savings phase of the home savings contract and the current loan interest rates (which we unfortunately fall below) has shown that it is not worthwhile. With your dream interest rates on both loans, I would probably really forego some special repayments and secure 100k through a home savings contract. Depending on what conditions you can still get. The BSH had 1.5% on the home loan until a few weeks ago (that's when I last checked). That is pretty good for today's interest rate level. In the end, the question remains: how risk-tolerant are you? I would also calculate this in scenarios, i.e., costs VS costs for a scenario with a home savings contract & interest rates staying long-term at 3-5%, or home savings contract and interest rates dropping back to around 1%. And then both variants without the home savings contract. So the total costs of each variant (closing fee, interest, etc.), and then compare. Then you just have to weigh whether the differences are worth the risk for you.

Thank you very much for your assessments/suggestions!

A few brief notes:
- The tariff change would be free of charge, and the interest gains achieved so far would also be retained. Only when increasing the building savings contract would 1.6% of the building savings amount over 50,000€ have to be paid (i.e., 800€ for 100,000€).
- The nominal interest rate would currently still be 0.70%, the premium is 2%. Effectively, one would then always be at about 1.55%.

Thank you very much for your assessments/suggestions! A few brief notes: - The tariff change would be free of charge, and the previously achieved interest gains would also be retained. Only if you increase the building savings contract would 1.6% of the building sum above €50,000 need to be paid (so €800 for €100,000) - The nominal interest rate would currently still be 0.70%, the premium is 2%. Effectively, you would then always be at around 1.55%

If I understood correctly, the €100,000 are associated with an additional burden of €215 per month. Can you afford that in the long run, even when you have children? Currently, you have €1,400 repayment 700+600+100 from the building savings contract. With €215 more, you would already be at €1,615. Because you earn relatively equally, a good part will disappear during parental leave and afterwards. It doesn’t sound dramatic in principle given your income, but that also depends on your lifestyle.