When is building a house worthwhile?

Hello!

My girlfriend and I would like to gradually clarify the topic of building a house, and at the moment we are wondering from when and how much house makes sense for us.

Briefly about our situation:

I (graduate computer scientist, 30) have an income of €2800 per month and my girlfriend (27, geography master) currently €450.
At the moment, we have €50,000 in equity, we have been saving about €2000 monthly for 2 years, but we live with my parents-in-law for €500 warm/all inclusive. In other words, our monthly expenses (car, clothing, food, etc.) have settled at about €500-700 per month.
We also have a developed building plot of 1400 sqm.

What would you recommend to us (in general and specifically)? Or what do you think of my plan:
I would like to save a total of about €60,000-80,000 in equity and then look for a house in the €400,000 range. Would that be realistic/sensible?

Saving is good. Having a property is even better. But I think 400,000 is a bit too high, purely in terms of the house and the income. But with the conditions, a lot should be possible. For the bank, you are good candidates.

Do you have 2,800 net or gross? If you have it gross, I would forget about building a house right away,...

Do you have 2,800 net or gross? If you have it gross, I would forget about building a house right away,....

How do you come to the gross amount with the savings of about 2,000?

Hi,

400 k for a house is certainly already an upscale price range. Regardless of the question whether you can finance it (for that, you would also have to consider the value of the land):

You should also ask yourselves whether you want to settle down in one place at this phase of life. Your girlfriend earns 450 €, which sounds like she hasn’t finished her studies yet.

Your spending structure also still sounds like a "student lifestyle" (enviable )

Do you maybe want to explore your career options a bit more? Change locations? Go abroad?

You only write "Bayern" and no specific place. There are many areas here where you probably will never sell a 400 k€ house again at a good price. (if your land is of course in the commuter belt of Munich, forget what I just said...)

So if it’s not a prime location, I would think very, very carefully in your place whether to settle there forever now. That is then a decision for life.

If you are sure, go ahead. Although I find 400 k€ quite generous. How big do you want to build?


Best regards,


Andreas

Hello,

thanks already for the answers! I have been considering the question of location dependency for a long time and have made my decision. Although my girlfriend finished her studies some time ago, she currently finds nothing in her field and, unfortunately, as a geographer, it will not be easy for her in the future either. Therefore, I have rather assumed her salary at the lower end. If one were a bit more optimistic, I do believe she will earn >1000€ net. But be that as it may. By the way, she is contributing the land, so I don’t see her "obligations" as that high.

The land is located in Vohburg (15km from Ingolstadt). Not a Munich commuter belt location, but also not really bad. It is valued at (roughly estimated) 200-250,000€.

Our "student lifestyle" is partly due to the fact that we both ride our bikes to work.

Regards André