What loan amount and how much equity capital should be reported to the bank?

(for example oven, awning or well), which we might later regret having co-financed (even if only by stating lower equity) if something goes completely wrong during construction. These luxury items could be omitted in an emergency and thus reduce the remaining debt.

Reduce loan amount

If you talk about lowering the monthly installments by 50€, I wonder how you later want to save up for an oven. Apparently, financing is very tight or you have to calculate – so either finance it right away and/or weigh now what you really don't need.

1. Lamps in unimportant rooms (utility room etc., maybe also just take old existing ones for now)

needed, 20€ at the hardware store...

2. Bookshelves for the office

Ikea: Ivar or Billy

3. Install satellite system

have it done right away -> co-finance

4. Curtains

who needs those? You can still get them at Ikea in 2 years

5. Slope with retaining walls

6. Embankment of the hillside with soil

7. Rough planning

10. Terrace

can be expensive, probably needed -> co-finance...

11. Fence

12. Drill well

not needed, possibly co-finance

9. Gravel bed as splash protection

13. Create beds + lawn + plants

little by little

14. Awning

then probably a parasol is enough!

15. Oven

Why is that planned inside the house if it is too expensive? Then save on the chimney as well.

16. Paths around the house

18. Baseboards flooring

plan together

- When laying flooring in EL always calculate 1/3 extra for glue and baseboards!
- Calculate for the garden installation what is necessary or what the landscaping gardener wants to charge and round up generously.

Basically, I would also start from the total volume.
If a house around 500,000 is planned, then awning and oven (or curtains for that matter) do not weigh much.

However, if you want to build a 200,000 house and it is slimmed down in size and equipment anyway, then you can also live 10 years without an awning and basically without an oven.
But then, if you build without shutters, you should include curtains or Roman blinds in the calculation.

You should reflect on how your household budget looks. Nobody can assess that here without information.

Tip: Buy lamps, decoration, coat rails, mailbox etc. already during construction. That doesn't hurt that much then.
Note: we had to pay more than 500€ several times at Ikea – so don’t underestimate the costs.

Starting with only 1% repayment in the low interest phase would be more than negligent. And as far as I know from my employer, we are not starting with that either. It is also completely pointless, because even a very low interest rate on an almost unpaid loan amount is more expensive than interest on a well-decreasing loan amount. So create a base, gladly save small details and calculate exactly what would realistically be feasible later without overextending yourself. I don’t even want to start with lamps and furniture... those are consumer goods. They don’t have to be bad just because they were already in the old apartment.

Thank you for your assistance. I just spoke with the boss and told her your ideas. We actually wouldn’t do much ourselves. I might still be able to imagine sowing the lawn. Otherwise, we are quite busy with work.

So we would then only not set aside equity for these items:
1. Lamps in unimportant rooms
We will initially use old existing lamps for the unimportant rooms

2. Bookshelves for the office
We will initially use our old shelves.

3. Curtains
We have shutters, they are sufficient for now.

3. Drilling a well
A well would be a luxury, we could live without one.

4. Awning
It's a luxury. We would initially leave it out, in case something goes wrong during construction.

5. Stove
It's a luxury. We would initially leave it out, in case something goes wrong during construction.

6. Paths around the house
We just want to lay a few stones around the house in the lawn. In an emergency, we could also do without them.

7. Lawn mower
It will surely take some time until the lawn grows. Moving in is expected to be in December anyway. We will only need the lawn mower the following year.

I am still unsure about these items:
1. Slope with angled supports
2. Backfilling the hillside property with soil
We have a slight slope, spread over 26m we have a gradient of 80cm. Therefore, we don’t yet know how expensive it will be. I have heard that banks require at least an offer for such an item in order to finance it. Since these are certainly items that will be done last, I think we will not have an offer at the time of loan approval. It is not even decided yet how much really needs to be filled after the house is built. The house will be positioned at the highest point on the property. That will already change a lot on the ground and I would prefer to get offers after the house is finished. What do you think?

3. Rough planning
4. Fine landscaping
Here too we will not have offers at the time of loan approval. What should they refer to, if the ground is not yet in its final condition at the time of loan approval?

5. Creating flower beds + lawn + plants
There would also be no offer at the time of loan approval.

6. Terrace
We would also prefer to first see exactly where we want the terrace and how big it should be after the house is finished. We have two options for the positioning. We would rather look at how the sun falls on the property first and then get an offer.

7. Fence
I don’t know if there are any deadlines in NRW for completing a fencing within a certain period.

8. Gravel bed as splash protection
Should this possibly be commissioned immediately with the house construction? Not to have to wait a few months of heavy rain and then the facade is already dirty?

Maybe you could give us a little push in the right direction...

Maybe you can give us a little push in the right direction...

Go deep within yourselves again and consider whether you can really afford the house. You are starting to debate the lawn mower, even though it only costs 500 €. There will be many other things coming your way...

But we can afford it. I am just extremely cautious. Therefore, I prefer an initially lower loan. Also, I am not very familiar with it, so I talk about curtains, lawnmowers. It is only about optimizing the loan interest rate, if it is possible to take a cheaper interest rate tier.

If you are cautious and can afford it well, I would rather consider initially higher repayments. Get out of the negative zone quickly.