ᐅ Cost Estimation for a Semi-Detached House – Experiences

@CC35BS38 Thanks for your response.

I assume the €15,000 (about $16,000) is for doing the painting and installing the flooring ourselves. Those are definitely tasks I feel confident doing. The €40,000 (about $43,000) estimated for additional furnishing is a rough percentage estimate. There are certainly opportunities to save there. But to be honest, you can’t live without a kitchen. Even if that amount is cut in half, the overall costs won’t decrease significantly.

For me, it’s more important to know how much additional work we can do ourselves or how to reduce construction costs. It doesn’t have to be a turnkey house. We are happy to help and take on tasks independently if it lowers financing needs.

To return to the financial side: We are 33 and 29 years old, so we have a bit more time than average for financing. With one child, we manage comfortably on our current income. We have no debts, and we don’t pay for a car (I have a company car). The challenge with financing is that I have a sales job. The assumed net income of about €4,900 (around $5,200) is conservative. On top of that, we make extra loan repayments of €2,000 to €3,000 (about $2,200 to $3,200) annually. In good years like now, extra repayments can go up to €25,000 (about $27,000), but that’s not predictable every year. The problem is that I earn well, which disqualifies me from funding programs like NRW.Bank. Therefore, alternatives to reduce interest costs must be found. The KfW 40 subsidy for families helps only in the first 10 years with low interest rates on a portion of the loan.

You want everything: low interest rates, no risk, affordable house. You'll have to compromise somewhere.

Don't underestimate the effort, time, and money that do-it-yourself work requires. With a job and children, you really need to consider this carefully.

Despite being relatively young and having above-average income, you have little equity. Where did the money go? Would you be disciplined when selecting materials and finishes for the house?

Chris512 schrieb:

How much self-construction work can a homeowner realistically take on?

Anything from none at all to building an entire house. The most common tasks are usually the walls and floor coverings. Unless you have friends who always happen to have time exactly when you need them (like an electrician in the family, etc.).

Chris512 schrieb:

We could also handle individual trades through my brother-in-law. We have some contacts there. Would that help?

Hiring individual trades can help. But you also need someone (an architect) to manage everything for you. A layperson should not do this alone just to save money. And please remember that the cost of the house is primarily determined by you. Each craftsman only does what you instruct them to do. However, if you (and especially in the case of hiring individual trades there is a "risk") come up with new ideas during construction on site (and/or the tradespeople suggest changes), this can become expensive.

Chris512 schrieb:


The €40,000 for additional furnishings was initially estimated as a percentage. There are definitely opportunities to save here. But to be honest: you can’t live without a kitchen. Even if this amount is halved, the total costs won’t decrease significantly.

That’s where the core of the problem lies. €20,000 is a lot of money—it only seems small when you’re dealing with financing of that size. How long do you have to set aside extra money to save up €20,000?
And that’s how the entire construction budget adds up. Suddenly, it’s the nicer switch series or the bigger tiles.
And with €20,000, you can get a lot of kitchen, as long as you don’t blindly walk into the kitchen showroom with the latest trend wishlist.

Bertram100 schrieb:

You want everything: low interest rates, no risk, affordable house. You’ll have to make compromises somewhere.

Don’t underestimate the effort, time, and money that self-performed work requires. With a job and a child, you need to think this through carefully.

Despite your relatively young age and above-average income, you have little equity. Where has the money gone? Would you be disciplined when selecting fittings for the house?

I think that sums it up quite well. Of course, we want a lot. Who wouldn’t? That’s why the question is what’s affordable, what should you prepare for, and what can you give up? We also want to be able to fully repay our project. Regarding the low equity: Looking at my circle of colleagues, we actually have quite a bit of equity. So where is the money? Life expenses, taxes, children, and expensive housing. People study longer nowadays, and I’ve only been earning my full salary for three years; before that it was more of an average income. My wife works part-time at minimum wage. She enjoys the job, though.

When it comes to discipline: we are pretty good at that. Once budgets are set, we stick to them.

@nordanney

So, we should probably focus first on floors and painting. There are definitely warranty risks with DIY work. I could imagine that we might save some money on individual trades, since our family has pretty good contacts locally. But how much we can actually save is questionable. We could hire an architect for this, and my brother-in-law can help as a site manager and negotiate on our behalf. Still, the saying “you get what you pay for” applies here as well. Trades that are painfully underpriced won’t deliver solid work.

With the estimated costs of €840,000 (about $900,000), I’m uncertain whether a project like this can be fully paid off by retirement. If I reduce the second contingency and the additional interior fittings, we still have around €800,000 (about $860,000) left. Of course, wages will rise, and grants or possibly an employer loan could be explored. I am satisfied with my job and still have good career advancement opportunities. But interest rates over the long term are unpredictable. From what I’ve seen, subsidies tend to benefit those who actually can’t afford a house at all. KfW loans carry high interest rate risks after 10 years. What is the best way to approach this? First explore funding options and consult with financial advisors? The question of how much house you can afford is very hard for us to grasp under current conditions, with many variables that are hard to predict.

With about €82,000 (about $90,000) of equity planned for 2025, and generously estimated loan payments between €1,800 and €4,900 (about $2,000 to $5,300) compared to a total monthly net income, as far as I can see, financing looks difficult to forecast. Even special repayments (€2,000-3,000 / $2,200-3,200 per year) don’t help much. For ongoing additional costs, we’ve calculated around €520 (about $560) and maintenance at €140 (about $150). Vacation and holiday bonuses and other income sources of around €4,000-5,000 (about $4,300-5,400) net per year are not included.

So, what now?

Chris512 schrieb:

And already generously estimated loan payments of €1800

However, this essentially corresponds to a loan of approximately €430,000 (calculated with 3.5% interest and 1.5% principal repayment – I assumed a longer fixed interest period; the KfW family loan also offers up to 20 years. A 10-year fixed interest period with the KfW family loan currently means only about 0.86% interest plus at least 3% principal repayment). Therefore, the project should (unfortunately) be considered off.
You can only manage the required amount with a significantly higher monthly payment.