Hello,
Actually, we have been looking for an existing property since last summer. According to our mortgage broker, we have a budget of around 300,000 (all-in), which a bank is likely to approve.
The market here in Schleswig-Holstein has also become very tight, and the houses on offer are often in need of renovation, so you easily exceed the budget (especially since many city dwellers laugh at our house prices and like to secure a holiday home here).
Now the question is whether it would be possible to build a house within our budget (assuming we can get a building plot). Our requirements are not very high; it doesn’t need to be a huge house. 120 square meters (1300 square feet) would be completely sufficient.
In a neighboring village, plots are currently being developed. The price isn’t fixed yet but is expected to be below 100 euros per square meter. The plots are about 700 square meters (7500 square feet) in size. Unfortunately, we have no experience with this topic at all, and I definitely don’t want to miscalculate.
We can only contribute limited personal labor. We are not unskilled, but both fully employed with a child, dog, and horse. What are your thoughts?
Actually, we have been looking for an existing property since last summer. According to our mortgage broker, we have a budget of around 300,000 (all-in), which a bank is likely to approve.
The market here in Schleswig-Holstein has also become very tight, and the houses on offer are often in need of renovation, so you easily exceed the budget (especially since many city dwellers laugh at our house prices and like to secure a holiday home here).
Now the question is whether it would be possible to build a house within our budget (assuming we can get a building plot). Our requirements are not very high; it doesn’t need to be a huge house. 120 square meters (1300 square feet) would be completely sufficient.
In a neighboring village, plots are currently being developed. The price isn’t fixed yet but is expected to be below 100 euros per square meter. The plots are about 700 square meters (7500 square feet) in size. Unfortunately, we have no experience with this topic at all, and I definitely don’t want to miscalculate.
We can only contribute limited personal labor. We are not unskilled, but both fully employed with a child, dog, and horse. What are your thoughts?
SumsumBiene1 Jan 2021 19:15Olli-Ka schrieb:
Hi,
what’s so bad about that?
It doesn’t have to be all at once or immediately.
Better to have a small, not-so-perfect house that you can improve little by little than something way too big that doesn’t fit financially.
Look at Jana’s example...
Regards, Olli Believe me, we have weighed all options in every variation. But the living space is simply too limited. It was originally built with 65sqm (700 sq ft)... and I still think they cheated when measuring the upper floor. Next door, an older couple completely renovated seven years ago. Conservatory and dormers upstairs... we really should ask them what they invested.
The price here is mainly based on the large plot of land. I’m just afraid of an unpredictable project.
Winniefred schrieb:
What is actually your goal? Would a property further out not be interesting, somewhere on the edge of town? You’re only three people, the child is no longer very small, and the budget is tight. I understand you don’t want a house without a garden. I would keep looking. I would advise against new builds.
At your age, I would definitely try to keep the mortgage as low as possible and be realistic about it. The question should never be: What will the bank lend me? But: What can I really afford in the long term? I completely agree with you. I’m a cautious person. It all has to be manageable. A rural location is actually our favorite, and we still have one property in mind, but making contact is difficult because there is a legal guardian involved.
Our goal is definitely to move out of our current living situation. Ideally, this will be achieved by purchasing a property.
hausnrplus25 schrieb:
@SumsumBiene With the numbers mentioned regarding repayment versus rent, you must not forget that running a house involves monthly costs beyond just the mortgage repayment. Utilities are significantly higher, including electricity, gas, water, waste disposal, property taxes, chimney sweeping, maintenance, and so on. I am aware of that.
@Wolkensieben: “Daydreaming”? Uh... no. I never said we want to build at all costs or that we want to overstretch ourselves. I just like to consider all (possible) options to get a broader picture of what will actually suit us in the end.
And what good is a sparrow if I don’t like it or if it’s too risky? Then it’s just too expensive.
W
WilderSueden1 Jan 2021 19:49SumsumBiene schrieb:
And what good is a sparrow to me if I don’t like it or if it’s too risky? It’s simply too expensive for that. I can definitely understand you there. Renovations often come with unpleasant surprises, especially when enthusiastic DIYers were the previous owners. And if the rooms don’t fit your needs, that’s also a problem, so it can make sense to wait for something else with less renovation backlog. My comment was mainly about the “only a semi-detached house.”
But building is risky too, and if your budget is tight and even the financing limit is already being stretched to the max in the best-case scenario... then nothing can go wrong, otherwise you might end up having to ask the bank for additional financing even though everything is already maxed out.
Wolkensieben1 Jan 2021 19:52SumsumBiene schrieb:
And what good is a sparrow if I don’t like it or if it’s too risky? Then it’s just too expensive. Alright then. It just sounded like you were a bit unhappy with the semi-detached house.
Wolkensieben1 Jan 2021 19:55SumsumBiene schrieb:
want to build out or might be taking on too much. I just like to consider all (possible) options to get a broader picture of what will actually suit us in the end. Exactly.
You mentioned earlier that once the child has left the house, you might consider fostering children.
In Germany, you can only take in one foster child if you are financially independent of the foster care allowance, meaning you do not work.
SumsumBiene1 Jan 2021 19:58Jean-Marc schrieb:
I can only repeat myself and fear we just won’t find common ground here.
My retired parents-in-law live in a terraced house built in ’79, where the oil heating system was replaced and the flat roof had to be refurbished almost at the same time.
If I imagine they hadn’t been able to put aside sufficient reserves because of an ongoing mortgage, it would have been financially tough with his electrician’s pension and her homemaker’s pension.
Shortly after that, their car also needed repairs—another roughly 2,000 euros lost. It’s easier than you think to end up in a tight spot. Tough or impossible? The money is tied up in the house... so they definitely wouldn’t have been destitute. They would just have had to adjust.
It’s really a matter of perspective, and the best option is certainly to own your home outright in retirement plus have a decent pension to cover the rest.
WilderSueden schrieb:
I can definitely understand you there. Renovations often have nasty surprises, especially when enthusiastic DIYers were previous owners. And if the rooms don’t fit your needs, that’s also a problem, so sometimes it makes sense to wait for something else with less renovation backlog. My comment mainly referred to the “only a semi-detached house.”
But building is also risky, and if your budget is tight and at best your financing capacity is maxed out... nothing can go wrong, or you’ll have to come back to the bank for additional funds even though you’ve already stretched everything. Maybe “only” shouldn’t be taken too seriously. Here, a semi-detached house from ’53 is certainly different than in many other areas. My sister-in-law also has a semi-detached house... it’s great, but also bigger.
Wolkensieben schrieb:
You mentioned earlier that if the child leaves the house, you would consider taking in foster children.
In Germany, you can only take in one foster child if you’re financially independent of the foster care allowance, meaning you do not work. Foster care or a socio-pedagogical care community is the crucial difference. In that case, you don’t necessarily have to be employed, as the allowance is correspondingly higher.
It’s good that the tone has changed a bit. Now I’m interested in the topic again. A house actually has ongoing costs.
Here, property tax is 400 plus x per year. Stormwater fee 60 per year. Insurance 220 per year. Gas, water, and electricity around 1600 per year. Maintenance and repairs, chimney sweep 1000 per year. In addition, it’s wise to save about 5% of the construction cost per year for future major expenses.
Here, property tax is 400 plus x per year. Stormwater fee 60 per year. Insurance 220 per year. Gas, water, and electricity around 1600 per year. Maintenance and repairs, chimney sweep 1000 per year. In addition, it’s wise to save about 5% of the construction cost per year for future major expenses.
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