Young building - yes or no?

We are in a similar situation. We are almost 28 and 30 (honestly, I don’t consider that young anymore) and our house is almost finished. We are presumably married and already have two children (2 years and 7 months). Our salary is about the same as yours and the equity was also similar at the beginning of the construction. I would do it the same way again. You have no guarantees for anything. Contractually, as unmarried partners, you should clarify the case of separation. But otherwise, why wait, what could change in five years!

1. Always plan financing with only one salary. One salary can always fail for a while and otherwise use the money from it to cover special repayments and the savings of the building savings contract?
2. If it was only calculated based on one salary before, then in case of separation your boyfriend can actually manage the house alone. But I would still fix it contractually.
3. That doesn’t really make sense as I see it, but I guess that’s a matter of taste. Do you want to start a construction site again in a new building in five years? Well, I wouldn’t!

Why not, if I may ask? We are currently building with 3 kids. That is absolutely no problem. The kids are excited about the construction site, the construction vehicles, etc. We know exactly how much space we definitely need. If we had built before having children, we would probably have regretted it afterwards. Just like we're doing now in the rented terraced house.

Of course, it also depends on the age. My statement was more about children aged 0 to 3. However, I plan to do a lot myself, and it wouldn’t be so great if I always had to keep an eye on the children on the side. After all, it’s a construction site, and a lot can always happen.

As expected, many different opinions
I don't know if after waiting 5 years you necessarily have more security (through job, marriage, or children).

Since you both are still relatively young, I would recommend a relatively long fixed interest period of 25 - 30 years with a moderate repayment (2% initial repayment) coupled with the option for special repayments (for the part that should not be redeemed with the building savings contract). Then you can, but don't have to, repay properly.

I would also have the option included in the contract to adjust the repayment rate two to three times free of charge.

Have you checked if your boyfriend’s building savings contracts are really cheaper than current bank loans?

We had actually planned to split the terms into 10 and 20 years respectively or one loan would have a flexible option (10 years fixed at 1.25%, years 11-20 at 2.25%). We definitely wanted to use the KFW loan of 50,000 for 10 years at 1.0%. If we lock in such a very long period now (> 20 years), it has a significant impact on the interest rate.
In the calculation, one salary is enough to definitely make it in 20 years.
With both loan offers (Sparda and Schwäbisch Hall), as far as I know, you can adjust the installment twice free of charge during the term.
Yes, the building savings contracts are indeed cheaper than the bank loan.



We actually had another option in mind from the start:

We build 150m2, but as two apartments of 70-75m2 each (minus heating room). One apartment is rented out, the other we live in. Through the rental income, there would be the option that my boyfriend finances everything alone (but does not have to).
You would be flexible if you want to move out of the house again, even if only for 5 years, to take an attractive job offer. In case of a separation, my boyfriend rents out both apartments if necessary.
If everything works out, after 5-7 years there will be another renovation (to fully use the house as such with children). That will probably bring you to break even with the rental income. Or, if financially better off, build anew again.
I also wonder if such a property would be sensible as an investment at all (about 15km from a city with 100,000 inhabitants), since due to demographic change only city apartments are actually in demand.
And you have tenants in the house.. :/

Hello again everyone,

We have already made some progress. Since our property is very sloping, the planning is naturally somewhat more difficult than with a flat plot. We are currently wavering between a (inter-)regional solid house provider and an architect. Would you build on a slope only with an architect? He has already given us some good tips that we now actually want to try to implement with our solid house provider. The plan would be to place the ground floor against the slope wall so that three sides have windows and the back side sits against the earth. We would not put the living area on this floor, but rather the bedrooms and the bathroom as well as the utility room. On the upper floor we want to have level access to the slope (terrace), and on the valley side we will have the view. We want to accommodate a nice living area, an office, and a bathroom in this floor. Both floors will be about 75m2 and will be full floors (town villa or flat roof, we are not quite sure yet )

We also built on a slope and had an architect. But I am sure that the [Massivhausanbieter] also employs an architect or someone similar, and they can also provide good ideas.

But I am sure that the solid house provider also employs an architect or similar, and they can also come up with good ideas.

Unfortunately, only the somewhat higher-priced providers have such good architects that they can offer an individually successful design.
Usually, a "normal" detached house is just somewhat repurposed so that the house does not fit the terrain but is instead squeezed onto it.
Providers at a higher price level don't skimp on the architect's fee either.
So I would choose the architect who has experience with slopes.

Regards Yvonne