Would you make this financing?

I think that land prices are at least just as decisive. In Bavaria, many areas are much "flatter" than one might expect... the Munich metropolitan area alone has at most a few small hills, yet it feels like many build with basements.

The space on the property and possibly garage, which is needed for a larger building, also costs money.

Of course. You don’t completely save the costs of the basement, but have to compensate. Roughly estimated, a cubic meter of enclosed space above ground is much cheaper than underground.

Since property prices are "shooting up" here, houses also tend to shoot up in height. So, 2.5 stories, and then without a basement.

There are many possibilities, but in my opinion, it is nowadays a matter of money and rarely whether one would like to have one or not. "In the past," basements were built more often, but back then their proportion was somewhat cheaper and many financings were not as "strained" as they are today. Due to the low interest rate and the high overall costs, space is planned much more sparingly today. People tend to invest in higher quality interiors (floors, sanitary, kitchen, etc.) and limit the space (no or prefabricated garage, no basement, relatively little living space). This is not meant as criticism, it is simply an observation and certainly not unreasonable in times of rising maintenance costs.

Hello Nescool,

you have already received very good tips here and I can only advise you to keep your eyes and ears wide open. Look very closely at the construction service description, how much € are allowed for the tiles or clinker, how many sockets are included, is the laying technique and size specified? With us, they wanted extra effort if the tiles were laid diagonally, for example, and also sticking mosaic tiles was an additional cost item. That already added about 2500 euros just for tiling work without extra costs for the nicer tiles.

In addition, the incidental costs are not covered by heating and electricity, do not forget the building insurance and property tax, the chimney sweep for heating maintenance and, if applicable, for the fireplace...

My tip as a mother, do not rely on the care of the children by grandma and grandpa either. After all, they also have their own lives. Traveling, health, friends, and leisure activities. The grandchildren will surely gladly be taken care of now and then, but I do not think they can ever replace the daycare spot. I think we are still quite cheap and pay 310 euros monthly for the daycare spot.

I had also read very carefully about building a house here, and from the initially planned 250k it quickly became 360k without outdoor facilities.. That was clearly too much for us if we wanted to maintain our standard of living. (2 cars, vacations, spontaneous outings, and leisure activities)

In the end, we decided against building and for buying an existing property. Semi-detached house built in 2007. Not a new build, but still almost new.

We also have more income and already one child, and still it was too risky for us, especially considering the high remaining debt.

Whatever you decide, all the best to you!

I am editing my post to answer your thread question: No.

One more thought, which, however, must not be decisive. Since you are also thinking a lot about the high residual debt after 15 or 20 years, it might also be worth considering whether an inheritance will be received at some point. For God’s sake, one should not plan for this or even factor it in, and I wish EVERYONE, even if I don’t know them, a long and healthy life. However, if you have, for example, parents or grandparents who are already around 70 and you know that they will leave you a larger inheritance later, this can certainly influence the decision or allow you to look to the future a bit more calmly. Of course, this only applies to a high residual debt many years from now; currently, one must of course be able to pay the loan and its costs...

For example, if you have parents or grandparents who are already around 70 and you know they will leave you a larger inheritance later, that can certainly influence the decision or make you look to the future a bit more calmly

Um. I would be careful there. If a longer intensive care phase unexpectedly sneaks into the plan, the inheritance will melt away really fast.