What can we afford? - Opinions needed

Hello everyone,

I hope that with my "question" I can get some assessments here, even though I do not yet have a specific property/financing available. Currently, it is about "gathering opinions". Basically, we are trying to figure out what budget we can afford for a house. In the circle of acquaintances/relatives (people with and without a house) there is a wide range of opinions. After reading some topics, I realized that there are very diverse responses here. From "you definitely can't do that" to "easy, just do it," almost everything is there. Maybe some of you would like to give your estimate in our case as well. Thanks in advance.

Briefly about the situation: Two incomes (30 civil servant & 28 IT sector), not married, no children. Marriage and children will come eventually. As of today: She: approx. 2600 € net (no variable components included) He: approx. 3000 € net (no variable components included)

We keep a household budget book. Maybe I’ll just give you some data averaged over the years 2018 and 2019.

For household & living expenses (clothing, medications, groceries, furnishings, insurances (private health insurance, occupational disability, legal protection & liability), TV/phone/internet/mobile...) approx.: 1160 € / month

Leisure (vacations, hobbies, dining out, clubs, etc.): approx. 750 € / month (including 535 € for vacations. Here we see potential for savings. Apart from vacations, we are rather frugal people)

Mobility (fuel, car insurance, repairs, car purchases, etc...) approx. 550 € / month. Two cars available, not older than 3 years, of which €4,000 was still paid off in 2018. Adjusted for this amount, remains: 385 € / month

Housing (cold rent, additional costs, electricity, gas, etc.) approx. 595 € / month. The cold rent is about €415.

Other cash expenses (not further categorized): 245 € / month (about half of this is spent on food at work "on that").

Current equity: approx. 60,000 € "safe"/"available" approx. 22,000 € stock market (depending on prices, status as of Friday)

Most houses that "appeal" to us (there have only been one or two concrete talks so far, the rest is based on ImmoScout & co) are between €400,000 and €450,000.

I would appreciate a few opinions.

Thank you very much

Save up a bit more equity, preferably 20% + purchase additional costs, then it will be fine. Parental leave will just be a little dry spell but it will work out. If you find the perfect plot of land somewhere, then consider buying it now, it's like equity then. In which area do you want to build/buy?

Solid incomes, you have saved well over the past years. Plenty of equity is available. Everything should work out! (Elternzeit wird halt knapper, da Puffer einplanen) + (ihr habt halt weniger monatlich übrig, da die Rate deutlich höher wird als die Miete).

Currently no problem, also acceptable with children.
Start the search, until then you will have six-figure equity.
The purchase prices sound quite reasonable, are you sure about that?

First of all, thanks for the quick responses. I will reply to each answer individually.

Save up a bit more equity, ideally 20% + additional purchase costs, then it will be fine. Parental leave will be a bit of a dry spell but it's manageable. If you find the perfect plot somewhere, consider buying it now, it’s like equity then.
In which area do you want to build/buy?

We will/must build in the Ruhr area/surroundings.

Solid income, you have saved well in recent years. Plenty of equity is available. Everything should work out! (Parental leave will just get tighter, since you have to plan for a buffer) + (you simply have less left monthly because the installment becomes significantly higher than the rent).

Of course, the equity was not only accumulated in 2018 and 2019. However, we are actually trying to be more frugal, so that in 2019 it was about €29,000 that we gained in equity. Our apartment is actually relatively cheap because we live in a cooperative. So the argument that we can already cover part of the loan installment with the rent does not apply to us. I have to check in the household budget book "how much money is left at the end of the month" in 2018/2019. The factor children/parental leave is indeed the big unknown for us or the point that could cause me "worries."