Single-family house 1,000,000 affordability - monthly installment?

[Roughly, yes. A thumb rule for all services is about 10% of the construction sum. If you want to know more: HOAI is a fee schedule, as complicated as the fee calculations for lawyers...] I should have studied something else after all... No, good work should also be paid accordingly

We are currently planning in a similar scale (a bit smaller) in Stuttgart – based on that, I have taken a look at the cost estimate. It seems reasonable to me overall, but a few items seem rather low (screed, painter). Is plaster inside and outside including ETICS? Then that is also very tight.

To better assess this, you would need to briefly say something about your plans – in what quality will the basement be built? Are the plans from your other thread still current? If it is in residential quality, that means another 120m2 of space to be heated, ventilated, plastered, covered with flooring, ... Then you have to include that completely, and the total sum seems rather tight to me. We calculate about 2,700-2,800 per m2 if the basement (in residential quality) is included completely, for KG300+400. But this is just the cost calculation – not yet backed by offers. According to the Federal Statistical Office, Munich is also a bit more expensive than Stuttgart.

We have significantly higher ancillary costs, but we have also partly considered development and financing costs (notary, land registry, ...). The building permit in Stuttgart is also significantly more expensive (0.57% of the construction sum).

We also pay our architect more, paying according to HOAI III middle. That would be about 110,000 euros for you. Your offer is still well below the minimum rate of III. In this forum, the opinion seems to be that paying strictly according to HOAI is too much, but if I estimate what effort they have, it seems very fair to me. As a lawyer, you know what an hour of qualified work including all incidental costs costs...

We are currently planning on a similar scale (a bit smaller) in Stuttgart - based on that I took a look at the cost estimate. It seems reasonable overall to me, a few items seem rather low (screed, painter). Does the plaster include inside and outside plus WDVS? Then that is also very tight.

To better assess this, you would need to say a bit about your plans – in what quality will the basement be built? Are the plans from your other thread still current? If it is residential quality, that is another 120m2 of area that needs to be heated, ventilated, plastered, floored, ... You have to include that completely, and then the total sum seems rather tight to me. We calculate about 2,700-2,800 per m2 if you count the basement (in residential quality) fully for KG300+400. But this is only the cost calculation – not yet backed by offers. According to the Federal Statistical Office, Munich is also a bit more expensive than Stuttgart.

For incidental costs, we are significantly higher but have partly also included development and financing costs (notary, land registry, ...). Building permits are also significantly more expensive in Stuttgart (0.57% of the construction sum).

We also pay our architect more, paying according to HOAI III middle. That would be about 110,000 euros for you. Your offer is still well below the minimum rate for III. In this forum, the opinion seems to be that paying strictly according to HOAI is too much, but if I estimate their effort, that seems very fair to me. As a lawyer, you know what one hour of qualified work including all incidental costs costs...

I will go through this step by step. So basically, the items are from comparison offers of recent times according to the architect’s statement. I asked him to add 5% on these items each to have a 5% buffer.

Plaster is for inside and outside but WDVS is not planned.

The plans from the last thread are no longer quite current. The whole thing was made a bit smaller. The basement is to be plastered but only the granny flat / guest room in the basement will be fully built to residential quality. For the shell and basement, we already have an offer, which seems currently without the typical Munich surcharge. The costs roughly correspond to what appears in the calculation here. The demolition costs also correspond to the actual situation (already demolished).

Okay then I’ll leave the architect his fee. We also get along very well with him, which is probably not always the case.

What seems a bit low to me is the window planning with 65,000. My parents bought a new front door including new side glazing (quite large). That alone cost about 10,000. And mind you, not in Munich.

Do you find the item for electrical work acceptable as is? If that is realistic I would like to add KNX. But if the 50,000 is already tight, that will be dropped first.

Thanks in advance

If he is already working based on comparative offers, that should be okay, and the first items seem to be correct – I would just warn against calculating purely based on BKI, as nothing sensible came out for us there. Plaster should roughly fit, and painter and screed are not the big items anyway – if it ends up 20% more, it hardly matters. For many other items, it depends on the execution in the end: For parquet, you can take material for 50 euros/sqm, or 300 euros. Interior doors you can get for 300 euros each, but also for 1,500 euros. Similar with tiles, sanitary items, etc.

Windows are a difficult item. First of all, it’s a huge factor whether you choose plastic, wood, or wood-aluminum. With plastic you will definitely manage, with wood-aluminum it would probably be tight I think. You can ask the architect what he has planned there. A huge cost driver are large lift-and-slide doors; one of those can swallow a five-digit amount if you want something fancy.

For conventional electricity, 50,000 euros should be sufficient; for a bit of KNX, reckon 15,000-20,000 on top.

In the end, I think it will be a question of cost discipline for you. For earthworks and shell construction – once the plan is set – there’s little room to save. For all other items, if necessary, there is.

So basically, I would also fully finance. Until moving in, keep part of the available equity liquid as a buffer and invest the rest wisely. There's a lot possible there and you will probably come out well above the interest rate of the owner-occupied property. Accumulating equity is not particularly smart. 1. It gets eaten up by inflation and 2. It is only secured up to 100k in the bank. If you decide to become a retiree, you can always liquidate the investments at a suitable moment and pay off the remaining debt on the house. By the way, many lawyers also switch to the public sector once in a while. The working hours are then probably much more manageable, you have a basic income, and you don't lose anything in your standard of living.

Basically, I would also fully finance. Until moving in, keep part of the available equity liquid as a buffer and invest the rest wisely. There's a lot possible and you probably get significantly more than the interest rate of the owner-occupied property. "Accumulating" equity is not particularly smart. 1. It gets eaten up by inflation and 2. It is only secured up to 100k in the bank. If one decides to become a retiree, one can always liquidate investments at the right moment and pay off the remaining debt of the house. Many lawyers also switch to the public sector at some point. The working hours there are probably much more manageable, you have a basic income, and you don't lose anything in your standard of living.

That’s also my feeling. The money is currently attractively invested right now. Hence the desire to leave it there. I can’t quite warm up to the retiree lifestyle :D I’d miss the hobbies after all. And what would my wife say if I were just at home... I honestly lacked the points for the public sector after the state exam (lawyers know the drama). I was unfortunately forced to look for my luck elsewhere... Everything has its pros and cons.