Single-family house feasibility / provider selection

Hello everyone,

my fiancée and I have an offer for a plot of land in a resource protection area in NRW and are considering whether we can afford to build a house.

Me: 2700 net
Partner: 3600 net

1st child expected in October – another planned in about 2 years (each with one year parental leave, afterwards part-time, so my partner will always earn about 2000 € approx.)

We will pay for the plot of land (360 sqm) including incidental costs from our entire equity (140,000 €).

Requirements for KFW 300 funding (max. 220,000 at 1.8%) + NRW funding (half of the house building costs at 2.8%) are met.

We plan with an installment of 1800-2000 € + approx. 200 € incidental costs.

Rough cost planning:
100,000 construction costs, buffer, outdoor facilities
300,000 costs for house building

We plan 120-140 sqm, 4-5 rooms. No special wishes, garage or basement.

The following requirements are mandatory:
QNG
Connection to geothermal network (5000 € connection).
Flat - shed roof
Green roof

Previous experiences:
Viebrockhaus too expensive for us – approx. 700,000 € total costs.
Okal Haus not trustworthy, as only salespeople and pressure to sign, but apparently good price-wise.
Hanse Haus recommends planning about 400,000 €, advisor seemed competent and honest.
Weberhaus appealed to us, we are waiting for the offer here.

With cheaper providers like Town & Country or Heinz von Heiden we do not dare. We are looking for a provider in the mid-range, especially since the budget does not allow more.

Would you advise building a house in our situation or would we possibly be overextending ourselves?

Which provider fits our requirements best?

We would be very happy to receive helpful tips.

Thanks and regards,
Simon

Would you advise building a house in our situation, or would we perhaps be overextending ourselves?

Personally, I definitely wouldn't do it. I mean building the house.
1. QNG makes it expensive
2. Geothermal network: I assume the heating costs will be high because the costs for the geothermal network will be fully passed on to you
3. Budget: It will be tight
4. Creditworthiness: Based on parental allowance and hoping for a part-time job (what if that doesn't work out? Or if childcare then costs 700€ per month? Or or or)

If at all, then build only with a cheap provider (like Town & Country or similar), give up on any wishes and hope everything works out. Both with the house construction and with life planning.

My preferred way: Do your thing in a rental apartment. For example, until the first child starts school. By then, the life situation will have settled (the woman’s job) and you can still save up significantly more equity. Moving location is then not really an issue for the children.

Would you advise us to build a house in our situation, or are we maybe biting off more than we can chew?

Wait until K2 is announced or K1 starts kindergarten. Then preferably choose a building plot in a normal residential area (i.e., not one that explicitly aims to be some kind of eco-pioneer); especially the passed-on costs of any mandatory connection issues are always a hidden pitfall.

Previous experiences:
too expensive for us – about €700,000 total costs.
Okal Haus not trustworthy, since there was only a salesperson and pressure to sign, but seemingly good prices.
recommends planning about €400,000, advisor seemed competent and honest.
Weberhaus appealed to us, we are waiting for the offer here.
With the cheaper providers like or we do not dare. We are looking for a mid-range provider since the budget does not allow more. [...]
Which provider best suits our requirements?

Of those mentioned, I see you most likely with Hanse, but I would always also include local/regional Steiner in the selection. With Viebrockhaus you are going too upscale here, and Okal Haus is, in my opinion, mid-range in a different way. I would consider Town & Country significantly more than Heinz von Heiden.

Regarding financing - sounds basically feasible but I'm out on that. Among the prefabricated house providers, there are a number of locally oriented family businesses such as [Nordhaus in Kürten]. The latter are in their third generation on the market and known in the region as a reliable building partner and employer. For me, such aspects mean trustworthiness.

Child expected in October - another one planned in about 2 years (each with one year parental leave, followed by part-time work, so my partner will always earn about 2000 € approx.)

If you stay at home, you'll have more left.

+ approx. 200 € additional costs.

Oh, those will probably be higher. 250-300 €, but I don't know how it is with the geothermal energy.

The following requirements are mandatory:
QNG
Connection to geothermal network (5000 € connection).
Flat shed roof
Green roof

Wow, these requirements make a house more expensive than it has to be. I don't see you having the money for that.

300,000 costs for house construction
We plan 120-140 sqm, 4-5 rooms. No special wishes, garage, or basement.

Standard house 3000€/sqm, means at least 360,000€ for 120 sqm, possibly a bit less with subsidies. Still, you need kitchen etc., which should be included in the generous 100,000€.

Which provider best fits our requirements?

If at all, a regional provider that you can find in your area.
BUT
I also don't see building a house (yet), at least not on this plot with these requirements. You won't get the necessary money as expectant parents.
Maybe a young used property? Possibly a terraced or semi-detached house?

another one planned in about 2 years (each with one year parental leave, followed by part-time work, so that my partner will always earn about €2000 approximately)

If you stay at home, you keep more.

Oh - I hadn’t understood that right away. Shortening the fourteen months to twelve because the second parent months are forfeited is obviously nonsense. It’s amazing how many men in the 21st century are still afraid of not surviving two months off in the organizational chart (and at the same time don’t understand what that means for women). Unbelievable.

I also do not (yet) see the house construction, at least not on this plot with these specifications. The necessary money you won’t get as expectant parents. Maybe a young used property? Possibly a terraced or semi-detached house?

What you call a "starter property" (and I "intermediate house") is in my opinion often even more than a "Plan B" up to secondary school age. This form of homeownership is completely underestimated without justification. In Schmidt’s time, even a chancellor lived in a terraced house, and today even a semi-detached house (ultimately a terraced end house) is considered a sign of having not quite made it yet.