Single-family house: Is the rate realistic? How much house can we afford?

Wow, someone is really sugarcoating the world to justify their decision. I would never ever pay 2.5-3k per month !!!! with the equity. Crazy

I personally think this is one of the biggest mistakes in construction. 'that little bit outside'... can so quickly cost so much. A fence can quickly cost €300 per element, robotic mower, raised bed, topsoil, irrigation, planting, garden shed, roofing... just to name a few things. Having that on top of the house payment, I consider... ambitious. Just my 5 cents.

I also consider it a mistake to finance without the exterior works. You’ll never get money cheaper and you have to do it anyway. So think beforehand about what you want and make a calculation for it, then you’ll have an idea of what it will cost. But – and this is also an important point – you can plan the garden so that it doesn’t become expensive. Instead of turf with a robot and automatic irrigation, maybe sow something more meadow-like that you mow by hand every three weeks and don’t need to irrigate. Hedge instead of fence, small plants or seeds instead of finished trees. Do paving work yourself, possibly gravel driveways instead of paving, not taking the most expensive paving. In the case of a slope, don’t give in to the first impulse to level the entire lot and catch it with a large retaining wall (-> professional = expensive).

have you mentioned anywhere how big you want to build and what?

We have built Bremen /almost Lower Saxony and depending on where you are in Lower Saxony and whether you want to build solid, I can warmly recommend our general contractor.

Wanted to send a private message, but I have too few posts for that… can you write to me?

Actually, we already have something architecturally more complex in mind. We love architecture and would like to build something that is not quite ordinary.

But that also costs more than standard again...

We at most have a weakness for our hobbies - espresso machines, bicycles, home cinema, and the like.

Meaning: We are absolutely immune to letting our standard of living slip.

But those ARE THE costs that make life quite expensive.

We don’t need an expensive car, the Opel that we can take over from the family is enough for us.

… it’s mostly about the costs of new purchases. Maybe it’s true that you can take over a car right now. But that doesn’t apply to the rest of the time.

We don’t need a vacation in Bali or 3 weeks in the USA. At some point we’ll definitely do that - but if the house has to be paid off first, then the first years will be spent on “balcony holidays” or maybe one week at the Baltic Sea, no problem at all.

That’s not free either... I think the tendency toward consumption overhang is already there: Baltic Sea more expensive than a Mallorca trip, bikes, electronics, household appliances all mentioned in one go when it comes to consumption… it’s not about 100€, but more about the area where you just mention them because they enter the budget. You have to see for yourself where you stand there. I do hope that we can take part in that architect-designed house?! :)

But that also costs more than the standard...

That is absolutely clear, true. We will have to see how much deviation from the "standard" we can afford – or not...

But those ARE the costs that really add up in life.

That is true as well. But:

1. The costs are already generously included in the above calculation.
2. We have invested enormously in hobbies in recent years, simply because we thought that the building land would not work out and therefore saved less and consumed more.
3. As a result, we each have equipment that can be used on a high level rather than further upgraded. If most of the money then flows into the house instead of into not necessarily necessary purchases, that is absolutely okay for us. And there is still a bit of budget left, see point 1.

… it’s usually about the costs of a new purchase. Maybe you can take over a car right now. But that doesn’t apply for the rest of the time.

We are also aware that we cannot drive a car for 30 years... But as already said, my salary increases every year by a foreseeable amount. And even with a necessary new purchase in 10 years, a used Opel, Skoda, or similar will suffice for us. I certainly don’t see that we couldn’t finance something like that.

That is not for free either… I think the tendency towards overconsumption is already there: Baltic Sea more expensive than a Mallorca trip, bikes, electronics, household appliances all mentioned under consumption… it’s not about 100€ but rather the area where they appear because they penetrate the budget.
You have to see for yourself where you stand on that.

If Mallorca is cheaper than the Baltic Sea, then we’ll just go to Mallorca. That’s not how we are. In fact, we regularly spend 2 weeks in the summer simply at our parents’ countryside home to relax, go on bike tours, and read a book undisturbed in the garden. That gives us just as much as 2 weeks’ vacation by the sea. That’s what I meant when I said we are not prone to drifting. Sure, we are currently consuming quite a lot – as I clearly saw again in my breakdown of expenses. But so far we have not consumed because we want to live in luxury, but because without interest on the account and no prospect of building land for a long time, we didn’t just want to blindly invest everything in ETFs, and other alternatives were also not necessarily accessible. So investments went into the “home cinema” or a portafilter machine – things that primarily serve our LIVING.

I do hope that we can share in the architect house?! :)

Since we have a specific house in mind as a template, I have already loosely started drawing floor plans. However, I am not yet convinced of the current state myself, so it’s pointless to show anything yet. When it becomes more concrete in this regard, I will surely also ask for opinions again in the relevant subforum. :)

I wanted to write a PM, but I have too few posts for that… can you write to me?

I tried now, but it seems you can't receive any without the required number of posts either….