Too old for a home of your own?

Good morning dear homeowners / home planners,

I have one question or rather several... I suspect more the latter ;)

I am now 27, will probably turn 28 this year.
My girlfriend manages a respectable 27 and will only reach 28 next year...

Now I have done a lot wrong in my life, which has led to me still (or rather again) being in training.

But in about 5 months I will have finished that and receive a few euros more to make a living...

I have been a good tenant for 10 years, annoy my landlord very rarely and repair as much as I can myself and have never missed a rent payment...

Now we have the desire to build ourselves a home...
Now we face two problems:

- we are no longer the youngest
- and we have a rather modest income

When I am finally freed from the scourge of training in about 5 months, we will have only sparse ~4200€ per month available to both of us (me 2100-2300€ as a civil servant and my better half 2000€ in the public service (permanent)).

Is it still worth it at our age and can we even achieve something in that direction with our financial means?

Our (still rough) ideas:
It should be a small house with about 120-150m² of living space and a garage for my vehicle. A basement would still be the ultimate, but if not, at least you don’t collect that much junk ;)
Outside there should be about 150-200m² of green space, so I can put my grill somewhere outside in the summer :)

That’s the very rough plan...
I could do all the electrical work in a house myself, there is also an electrician master who will relieve me of the rest. A gas-water-**** master follows :)
So you could save a few euros that way again and I can be sure that at least in those areas nothing is botched...

How do you best (and possibly most safely) build up equity?
After training, I can easily save 600-800€ monthly, sometimes even 1000€ if nothing comes up.
It would be similar for my girlfriend...

I have no real understanding of financial stuff and usually do not trust bank advisors any more than I can throw them...
I only know the classic savings book as an "investment form"...
Postbank has a system that cannot be paid with money... Everything that is too much on the account at the end of the month is automatically transferred there and if I need it, I just transfer what I need back to my checking account...

Is there anything better? Can these building savings contracts do something and what do I do if I invest every cent in there and then need a few euros because my car is broken and I need to buy parts?
Can I get access then?

There were quite a few more questions :)
First of all, many thanks for reading and I hope a few (independent) people here can give me some tips :)

Best regards
Chris

Hello

Have you even built up equity? On the one hand, you have a very good income after your training. Others would love to dream of that. However, I see the problem of equity here, and at that age, children also come into play. Therefore, part-time work, less income, children have to go into [PKV], even less income.

I would advise you to save first and not necessarily build, but to look out for existing properties.

If you want to save for 1, 2, or 3 years to accumulate a bit of equity (additional costs for house construction/purchase), there is not much or practically nothing that is sensible and profitable.

Savings book as described, alternatively a daily allowance account, transfer of remaining amounts (offered by PoBa as well as other banks, but not better or worse), savings plans at banks (but pay attention to notice periods) and that's about it. You shouldn't expect big profits.

In my opinion, a building savings contract only makes sense with 5-10 years of preparation time.

Regarding income: Some people dream of your income, but I also see family planning rather as a problem than the income itself.

"At that age..." :D Sorry but you are not brain dead yet. We - and everyone we know who have built - built between 30 and 35. Of course, there are also older people (ancient? ;) ) who build later. So: first save a lot, then change your attitude towards life (you are still young!) and think about the future (family). You can still have children at 35. So nothing stands in the way of your wish except lack of equity. But that should be changeable. milkie :)

Hello

did you even build up any equity? On one hand, you have a very good income after your training. Others would gladly dream of that.

Since my girlfriend has been finished with her training for 5 years, only she has been able to build up something like equity so far. And that is also based on a savings account.

However, I see the problem of equity here and that children also come into play at that age. Thus part-time, less income, children have to go into [PKV], even less income.

If it were up to my girlfriend, we would already have two children :p
So that's not so far-fetched...
The equity would shrink significantly in the case of children... by about €700 - €800.
Against that stands the normal child benefit plus about €70 more net income from my side.
Still, a considerable deficit of €450 - €550 per month.
[PKV] = Private health insurance?
If that is the case, then the problem applies to me only to a limited extent. Children only have to be [PKV] insured at 20% themselves, the rest is covered by the employer. So no real extra burden... The procedure in case of illness / treatment runs like for normal [PKV] people... As for advance payment and such...

I would advise you to save first and not necessarily build but rather look out for existing properties.

As a permanent solution a used property or as a temporary solution?
The apartment we live in at least allows for a children's room. So we are not under pressure to move out / move.
Or do you generally advise from a financial perspective to go for a used property?

If you want to save for 1,2,3 years to accumulate a bit of equity (ancillary costs for house construction/purchase), there is not much to very little or nothing sensible and profitable.

I don’t quite get the "to accumulate" part right now o_O
Could you please explain that to me?

In my opinion, a home savings contract only makes sense from 5-10 years of preparation time.

It's not like we are rental nomads who have to get out of the flat at any moment.
If at 33-38 you are not too old to build a house (or buy a used property), then from my point of view it can take a few more years...
At the moment we have expenses of about €1200 just so we can live as we do (rent (warm incl. electricity), Internet / telephone, [GEZ]).
In addition, I have some small stuff (mobile phone contract, €80 fuel), and my girlfriend does too (mobile phone, insurance and taxes for the car (€800 p.a.) and spare parts if something breaks and another €80 fuel).

What could one then invest calmly monthly in a home savings contract, with €4200 net income (with child about €3500 in the first year and then part-time by my girlfriend)?
Is such a home savings contract flexible with the payments? So would there be the option to pay a lot at the beginning and less with child?

“At that age...” :D
Sorry but you are not yet brain dead. We – and all those we know who have built – built between 30 and 35. Surely there are also older (really old? ;) ) ones who build later.

So: first save a lot, then change your attitude to life (you are still young!) and think about the future (family).
You can still have children at 35. So nothing stands in the way of your wish except lack of equity. But that should be changeable.

Well... If you've been out of school for over ten years and still haven't managed anything (even if the goal is finally in sight), then you do feel quite old :oops:
So the “having children at 35” thing is no option for my girlfriend.
She would tear my head off if I suggested, “Oh , let’s just become parents at 35, until then we can keep a dog and practice :p”

As mentioned before, equity decreases by about €450-550 per month with a child (child benefit + my €70 additional net deducted). Elterngeld amounts to about €1300 for my girlfriend.
We both have extremely family-friendly employers; when I see what goes on in the area of "part-time because of child"... I've seen quite different things in the jobs between my trainings...

How have you arranged this (if children were present), when an income was replaced by [Elterngeld] and how did you proceed after the 12 months when [Elterngeld] ended?
Or was it "different" back then?

@All
Thank you very much for the quick and extensive answers.
I hope I haven’t overwhelmed you with this post :confused:

Regards
Chris

Hehe... sometimes age doesn't depend on the year of birth :cool:
My colleague (46) asked me recently if we still want to have children :D
By the way, I transferred my savings book to a modern daily allowance account about 10 years ago and put it into storage...
Just wait a little longer and save your own capital in the meantime.
Children don't come as planned anyway, just like life doesn't go as planned.
However, you shouldn't lose sight of your goal!