Single-family house financing €950,000; loan amount €750,000, equity €200,000

sounds reasonable.

After deducting private health insurance and long-term care insurance, you have almost the same income as we do, although distributed differently.

After 20 years of paying €2200 monthly, you still have €20,000 more outstanding debt than we borrowed in total.

From my point of view, that already sounds crazy (neutral judgment) and would be unimaginable for me.

Nevertheless, I wish you much success.

Landshut is actually the next big boom. Sounds good. Good luck!

Well, Landshut is simply no longer the commuter belt of Munich. There are houses significantly under €900,000, a look at Immoscout shows that it only gets somewhat interesting from half a million onwards. Of course, those are not 220m² on a spacious plot from 2017.

The fact is, without the background of obviously well-off parents on both sides, the project is nonsense. The income is simply too low for the financing amount, the monthly burden too high if you repay properly. But since the parents are there, everything looks different. In fact, you could even repay with only 1% if some bank goes along with it. I still don’t quite see that as certain, that banks will approve that. The wife’s income is basically speculative, currently there is only parental allowance, which banks don’t necessarily recognize as sustainable income. It might be different with civil servants, but I wouldn’t be sure. But let’s assume you find a bank that goes along with it, then liquidity-wise it works out quite well and you basically only have to hold on until one of the parents, well, has kicked the bucket. Then refinancing shouldn’t be a problem if I read that correctly.

If you want to set everything up solidly on your own feet, you’d simply have to scale back. I’m not judging, I think both are okay. Flying a bit higher with a safety net than you otherwise would is not reprehensible, some people simply are lucky to have one.

Apart from that, I would also consider whether you would like/can clean and tidy 220m² and maintain the not exactly small garden. There are also semi-detached houses with 150m² living space and 400m² plot, possibly even in a better location, I can’t judge that from a distance.

Don’t forget the old Chinese proverb: A hut where you laugh is better than a palace where you cry.

Hello Matthias, it all sounds plausible! For me, the big mystery is the object itself. As I already said: nobody has anything to give away. However, I haven't dealt with the 70km/Landshut. Are 20km so variable for you with the house costs?

smaller portions.

That is my motto, I make no secret of it. It may be that everything works out mathematically – also for the bank. Nevertheless: it won't happen every day, but several times a month there will always be a feeling of dependence on an obligation from which you cannot free yourself if you have some self-responsibility. That can shape life, in a negative direction.

If everyone had a Rolex, it wouldn’t be a luxury watch anymore :)

I once read somewhere that half of all Rolex buyers earn under 75k gross – probably more like “fake it until you make it“ :)

(and basically I don’t understand what justifies these prices in Munich and yes, I have family and friends there and have been there often and I can’t comprehend it).

Hmm. Maybe the big corporations and extremely well-paying companies ;) combined with the proximity to the Alps and so on...

regarding your plan:

We earn somewhat more than you do, but this year/next year we will build a single-family house with a granny flat (also within commuting distance) near MUC for a total of 600,000 euros minus a KFW grant of about 70k, so we end up at 530,000. We have (I more than my wife) huge respect for just under “half a million.” For you, the amount would be another quarter of a million higher. Wow. However, we don’t have parental support and have to cover everything ourselves.

In advance: I strongly advise you to start keeping a household budget – we have been doing it for 3 years and I can tell you, it reveals a lot. It has really pushed us forward immensely!!!

You write that the ancillary costs are a bit overestimated, I believe that too. Building insurance certainly won’t cost 1,200 euros a year; better calculate roughly 500 euros a year, that should fit. About the cars: Honestly calculate at least 800 euros all-inclusive for two cars – the old ones also need to be replaced sometimes.

Much has already been said about the children: bear in mind that children also need private health insurance and are not insured free of charge in the public health insurance as employees are.

We also don’t have expensive hobbies and spend on average 3,500 euros per month – without children including 1,200 euros warm rent, so quite realistic in that sense. Wait – how much do you currently pay for rent? The current rent is at least a good size for us to orient ourselves on...

What unfortunately completely missing from your calculation is investments aside from paying off the house. Consider: You can’t eat a house and it’s not liquid – sometimes it takes a while to sell it. So please also plan some portion for long-term investments (at least 10% of your net).

And regarding special repayments: If you really intend to do that, then plan it in from the start. If you want to repay 2,400 euros per year extra, then immediately calculate 2,200 € plus 200 € monthly installment = thus 2,400 €. Just put the money aside and then you’ll see how realistic that is or whether you actually need the money for new car purchases or children’s wishes.

All in all, I would sit down again, calculate everything properly, and then, if it still fits (including my above comments), go for it!