ᐅ Affordable Homeownership: Buying an Existing House or a Prefabricated Home?

Created on: 30 Dec 2018 11:07
S
Soraya
Hello everyone,
we are not proud homeowners yet. We currently live in a large and actually very nice rental apartment, but we can’t stand the neighbors above and below us anymore.

At the moment, we are looking in every direction. Specifically: a new rental apartment or an affordable house to buy (or maybe even a prefabricated house?).

I personally prefer the idea of buying. My partner is a bit more uncertain about that (risks, etc.).

Our situation is that unfortunately we have very little equity right now (around 10,000 EUR). I have been self-employed for about ten years (average to good income), and my partner still needs about 7 months before becoming a permanent civil servant for life (upper service).

What do you think would be the best yet affordable solution?

My thoughts are as follows:
Renting an apartment means paying money month after month without effectively gaining anything.
Buying an older house offers many great possibilities later on, but also a lot of work.
Buying a prefabricated house means the quality might not be as good, but you get something newer that better meets your personal requirements.

I would be interested in your (experienced) opinions on this topic.

Best regards
Winniefred1 Jan 2019 09:55
That's true, especially in economically weak regions you absolutely have to take that into account. For us, a decisive factor was that we could sell our house at any time without a loss in case something went wrong. In less desirable areas, you usually can only sell your house at a (significant) loss or sometimes not at all if things go really badly.
G
ghost
1 Jan 2019 17:12
Equity always reduces risk. This applies both to the bank and to the borrower.

If the house has to be sold below market value after x years (e.g. divorce, job relocation, illness), high loan-to-value ratios can result in debt in the worst case.