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

you can feel honored :cool: Since 2017 marvinius has been back to exclusively share his wisdom in this thread.

Absolutely right ;) We built in the periphery of the Rhine-Main area in 2016/2017 and I found some helpful tips here in the forum. After everything went very satisfactorily – despite some expensive surprises – I wanted to look around again to see what is currently going on with this topic. Maybe we'll build again, but probably no longer in Germany (No power, nothing happens after all)

... I suppose a court attendant usually has a portafilter .. and that requires no special features in the kitchen other than a suitable workspace.

Nailed it. ;)

Regarding commuting: kilometers are one thing, time and traffic another. I originally come from the countryside, where people drive a lot. But it's no big deal as long as you don’t have to cyclically pass through any bottlenecks. I would always prefer 30 km of fairly free driving over commuting 10 km straight through a big city.
Sometimes you can also avoid traffic pretty well by leaving a bit earlier or later. When I drive to the construction site before work, they are stuck in the opposite direction. If I’m done just after 8, I’m stuck in traffic on the way back. If I drive back 20 minutes later, I’m just behind the wave and relaxed in the office in 40 minutes.

The route is not exactly ideal to drive, but I’m also very flexible regarding start times. So I will be able to adapt well to the traffic.

At the moment I only need 5 minutes by bike, which is of course a luxury. Still, I’m always the first in the office because I like to start very early and leave earlier accordingly. It will all work out. AND: Due to home office and meeting duty, we’re only talking about commuting 2-3 days anyway, the rest I can do at home or in the small town (10 minutes, never any traffic jams).

As soon as the electronic file is implemented sometime, theoretically I wouldn’t have to go to the office anymore…

Regarding ETF: Do you want to use the capital? Then it would really be worth considering whether to at least partially withdraw it. The prices have already dropped quite a bit, but declines of 40-50% also happen more frequently. So there is still room to fall.

Yes, I’m currently weighing back and forth what makes sense. I have 2 funds in the positive, but also 3 slightly in the negative. I’m still undecided about what ultimately makes the most sense…

[...]
The young lady is apparently also well-educated, so she won’t have to hire herself out as a hairdresser. In a few years, 7k will comfortably be on the clock and a 2.5k payment is absolutely within reason. To be thorough, let’s add 0.5k utilities, leaving 4k to live on in the Lower Saxony village. There are worse things, I would say. Sure, in the first years you might have to pinch your butt a little more, but so what, it passes.

So if everything develops normally and as foreseeable, we will exceed 7k€ net in 10 years and 8k€ in 14 years. That’s why I actually assume that maybe the first few years some restrictions are necessary (which we are aware of and accept), but then it will get clearly easier at some point…

can build above the standard? Seriously? Just look at the tables and these numbers are really secure, unlike many (senior) employees in industry & trade. There is always the possibility that they might be suddenly "disposed of" if the situation calls for it.

That is exactly the point I always make with all those "my job is secure" financings. Really secure? Still secure in 10 years?

What kind of coffee machine do you have in mind that you have to build the whole kitchen around it? :D At the moment, the machine and grinder are on the kitchen island from Ikea for 299 €. :D

We have indeed installed appliances like the coffee machine, steam oven, and microwave centrally in a kitchen cabinet wall. (So the kitchen was built around the appliances :)) It is all super practical to use and looks very tidy.

Otherwise, please consider that needs can change with the years. It can be unpleasant if you are then stuck in an expensive financing that leaves you little flexibility....

We have indeed installed devices like the coffee machine, steam oven, and microwave centrally in a kitchen cabinet wall. (So the kitchen was built around the devices :)) Everything is super practical to use and looks very tidy.

Otherwise, please consider that needs can change with the years. It can be annoying if you are stuck in an expensive financing that leaves you little flexibility....

That our needs would develop from a La Marzocco portafilter machine to a built-in appliance with pseudo-espresso, I consider absolutely impossible. But now we are in the wrong forum and would have to move to kaffeenetz ;) You can just try to believe me that we don’t need a special kitchen.

That is exactly the point I always make with all these "my job is secure" financings. Really secure? Still secure in 10 years?

Dear people, here’s another laugh from the basement: ;)
The secret is to plan in such a way that the severance hopefully associated with the "disposal" is at least enough to pay off the property loan.....