Situation in the real estate market... madness

Would I enjoy it if I still had 100k outstanding? Definitely. If I had 120k outstanding? I think so. If I had 350k outstanding? Wow... That burden would hang over my head like a sword of Damocles.

You see, that’s exactly how people differ. For me, for example, it doesn’t matter at all whether 100k or 300k is outstanding, that’s why I don’t sleep better or worse, don’t go on vacation more or less... the installment is the same anyway. And that counts for ME in everyday life.

You see, that's exactly where people differ. For example, I don't care at all whether 100k or 300k are outstanding, so I don't sleep better or worse, nor do I go on vacation more or less... the rate is also identical. And that counts for ME in everyday life.

I see it the same way, it's just a number and has no value for my life. @Farillo: I assume you inherited. It's difficult to listen to you because you can't possibly know what it's like to have to build something yourself.

You see, that’s exactly where people differ. For me, it’s totally indifferent whether 100k or 300k are outstanding, so I don’t sleep better or worse, don’t go on vacation more or less... the rate is the same anyway. And that counts for ME in everyday life.

See, there I agree with you. That people simply differ greatly in that respect. Your view on things is justified. Mine is too, though. Although I have to admit that I find it hard to believe you. I mean, that you sleep just as well whether you have to pay off 300k in debt or 100k or even 20k... How are you supposed to know that?! I mean, have you ever slept in your own home knowing you no longer have to pay a loan? Maybe you have... But okay. Let it be.

I am of course open to counter-calculations. Bring them on.

Net income €4k including child benefit (without Christmas bonus/vacation pay), if you include those it is €4.4k p.a.

New mortgage €350k = €1,300 monthly.
House ancillary costs = €250 monthly.
One car = €250 monthly.
Kindergarten 1 child = €200 monthly.
Living expenses = €1,400 monthly.
Insurance = €200 monthly.
Total: €3.6k
==> Savings/holiday/fun = €800 monthly.

Where are the worries? The rate for the house remains the same for e.g. 20 years.

Or as a tenant for a 100 sqm apartment in the Lower Rhine region (not really the center of the world, but reasonable and e.g. close to the Ruhr area or Düsseldorf), same quality as the house
Cold rent = €1,000 monthly.
Apartment ancillary costs = €200 monthly.
One car = €250 monthly.
Kindergarten 1 child = €200 monthly.
Living expenses = €1,400 monthly.
Insurance = €200 monthly.
Total: €3.3k
==> Savings/holiday/fun = €1,150 monthly, reduced by 2% every year due to regular rent increases
==> minus €875 monthly savings rate to save exactly as much as the owner

Who seriously sleeps better? Of course, the owner, because they don’t actually have less money (they save a lot of money through repayment) and feel like they live better (that is of course subjective).

That's how I see it too, it's just a number and has no value for my life. @Farillo: I then assume that you inherited. It's hard to listen to you since you can't have any idea what it's like when you have to build something up yourself.

Hi Bookstar, I admire that. Honestly. Debt has always had great significance for me. Maybe even too great. Could be. No, I did not inherit. By chance, I got a property very cheaply. But it’s not a villa or anything like that. Built in the 60s, very small and far from perfect, but a very nice plot of land with 1000 sqm. However, a few years ago I faced exactly the same decision as many here. I had a house in view for over 500k and was about to buy it, with all the consequences. Thank God I decided against it.

In a new building, you have an extremely limited risk of repairs during the first 5 years, as this is within the warranty period. After that, of course, the property will be sold again.

Reason says: if you only build your third house for yourself, everyone should aim for the fourth and so on as soon as possible. But it seems that for most dreamers of houses, building "only once in a lifetime" belongs to it, and just expressing the thought of building multiple times can evoke killing looks. This "only once" is apparently an essential part of the dream – similar to the own concrete slab, which you don't get with the classic two-family house instead of a semi-detached house if you "sleep upstairs." I, for one, would not want to make myself a prisoner of my own delusion (having to keep the stock "homeownership" until death do us part), find the idea of regularly changing the wallpaper even of my own four walls appealing, and am currently happily in a rental phase. In "my" absolutely "right" area for me, there were no building plots available, although an inheritance would have allowed it – instead, a rental apartment in a multi-family house of a neighbor from sandbox days (long live the public playground, smile).

People prefer to complain until the doctor arrives.

Above all, people prefer to complain rather than go to the doctor.

Another example: we once bought a condominium. The apartment was great, but in a building with 6 apartments there was an owner who made life hell for everyone. After a long period of suffering, everyone sold their apartments, including us.

That five sixths of a homeowner community let themselves be "rented out" by a single nuisance Alfred is certainly not, statistically speaking, the rule either.

I dare to doubt that Scrooge McDuck had a better overall life than Donald.

At least Donald can do without putting a "GET OUT!" sign in his front yard to ward off the Beagle Boys. Huey, Dewey, and Louie have no less fun in the Junior Woodchucks than they would on a private playground.