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

Considering 50km as a "commuter belt" is just a sales argument. Likewise, the "high-quality materials" should first be questioned by an expert.

The absolute amount seems very high, but on the other hand, the low interest rates are in favor. At the beginning, it will be quite tight; later on, many regret not having gone one step further (that's how it is for me and many acquaintances/neighbors as well). Crystal ball.

For my taste, that is clearly too much credit.

Yes, teacher, yes, good equity. Still, 750k€ remain to be financed with ~5.4k€ net income. During parental leave with child 2, that is likely to be much less, then it's about ~4.8k.

About 40% goes just towards the loan, with the operating costs of the house you are probably at around 50%. What happens in the second year with child 2 when there is no more parental allowance? Will your wife work again then? Who will take care of the children?
The 2 days/week with grandma – as one writer before me already mentioned – will certainly not be enough for your wife to have the flexibility for part-time work. Much more likely your wife will still work 4 to 5 days. So, care costs of X€ are still missing.

That would be too much for me.

On the other hand, for my feeling, the ancillary house costs of 705€/month (adjusted for reserves) are set way too high. Especially the items heating (180), water (120), and insurance (100).

Not to be misunderstood, if both of you work full-time again, that should be manageable without problems, but the next years will be tough.

That you currently need significantly less is probably mainly due to Corona.
But 300€/month for activities INCLUDING VACATION is somehow baffling to me. What about going out to eat, then relaxing in a bar, or a concert or even a short vacation? Skiing? other hobbies? I know, you can put all that aside sometimes, but not for years. If you don’t do any of that, you can naturally ignore this paragraph.

My advice would be to calculate it again carefully and possibly work with flexible repayment. Meaning, pay a bit less per month now and consistently save the rest for special repayments if possible. If it doesn’t work out, at least it won’t mean the end of the good things in life. Then massively increase the repayment when both work full-time again.

I know people don’t like to hear that, but better now than later. Living and especially working just for the house is in very few cases good.

Thank you already for all your answers. I never expected so many great suggestions in such a short time. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to respond to everything now. I will provide further feedback this evening.

A few quick pieces of information. The house is being sold due to a divorce. I simply referred to 2017 as the year of new construction. Otherwise, I basically estimate our location similarly to all of you. The amount also makes me feel sick, but as some of you have correctly noted: It’s the Munich metropolitan area, and yes, half of the people here actually commute to Munich. That’s why there are really almost no such opportunities here, because people from Munich buy everything up and accept a two-hour commute daily.

And yes, the next few years until my wife can contribute a bit more will be the most challenging. That’s why I find the appropriate idea of the repayment flexibility option great. Why my wife can manage to start with only two days a week: She is a special education teacher. They also earn A13, and she has the school administration’s commitment that she can complete all her hours in the MSD (mobile special education service) on two mornings. Of course, if grandma fails in terms of childcare, we would need a Plan B, or rather probably better to really calculate an additional 350 € somewhere for daycare and start really lower for the moment. Regarding furniture, you are right, we probably were a bit overly optimistic. Of course, we can’t furnish more than double the square footage (currently 110 sqm) right away. But it’s certainly not 1000 € per month. At least not for years…. What I haven’t mentioned so far: Our health insurance is already paid in advance until the end of February 2022. So we still have an additional saving potential of over 400 €/month for at least a year.

Okay, I have to stop now. More this evening and thanks again for your assessments.

Best regards, Matthias

Oh yes, one correction/clarification. We pay [gemeisam] 466 € health insurance. Not each. I think this was misunderstood in the 2nd or 3rd post.

Oh yes, one correction/clarification. We pay a total of €466 in health insurance. Not each. I think that was misunderstood in the 2nd or 3rd post.

Actually, I misunderstood that. My girlfriend is also a civil servant and significantly younger than you, and she pays €310 monthly. That’s really extremely cheap for you guys :D

But I have no idea at all what this amount depends on.

If it is really your dream house, I would do it. Sure, the total loan amount is high, but there is an equivalent value behind it. And it was already clear that financially strong parents would help out if necessary. You don't want to rely on it, but at least it provides some security, so you don't have to sell again immediately at the first problem.