ᐅ Building a House at 21 Years Old... Too Young?

With such a young homeowner, it’s very likely yes. At twenty-one, you would have to be quite naive to want to start with a second house right away. You can only slow yourself down by diverting energy that should be used for learning and improvement. It’s better to build a learning house now and, once it has served its purpose, move on, rather than overestimating it and trying to “optimize” it now with the limited experience of your early years (which would be unwise anyway). For example, look at Yvonne, Karsten, or @hampshire – all of whom are on their second house (the latter even with international experience) or even @nordanney as a habitual builder of multiple houses: gained maturity is an intangible but very useful factor, and understanding the property ladder “does no harm.” This typically German tendency to live in a house “for eternity,” with a hereditary-monarchy perspective lasting until your last breath, is incredibly outdated nonsense.

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https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/

11ant schrieb:

With such a young homeowner, very likely yes. At twenty-one, you’d have to be out of your mind to want to start your second house right away. You can only hold back your momentum for improvement that way. It’s better to have a learning house now and then move on once it has served its purpose, rather than overestimating it and trying to “optimize” now with the energy meant for moving forward (which would be foolish given the limited experience of youth anyway). Just look at Yvonne or Karsten or @hampshire – all on their second house (the latter even with international experience) or even @nordanney, a frequent repeat home builder: gained maturity is an intangible, yet highly valuable building block, and understanding the property ladder “does no harm.” This typically German habit of living in a house “for eternity” with a hereditary monarchy mindset until your last breath is incredibly outdated nonsense.

Phew, I find that a very, very bold statement. You should never say never, but I claim that we will live in our house, which is still in planning, until very old age.

You may be right, much in life is more fleeting, and wishes/expectations regarding family and career have changed tremendously. Here today, gone tomorrow. But consider: that doesn’t apply to everyone. We have planned our house almost perfectly and invested a great deal of time. It will definitely not be perfect, that’s clear, but we have to be able to live with what we have achieved. If you invest time, you can at least build your dream house, one you can definitely be comfortable with.

Why should I just start building without proper research, without looking at what others have done, without learning from others’ mistakes, and instead make my own mistakes on a project that costs me absolutely everything I have? Honestly, I think that’s nonsense.

Maybe you build again someday? Sure… Then please tell me what the chances are that I can build in the same town, or a nearby area, given the current chances of getting a building plot (which won’t improve in the future)? Maybe I have ties to the place (family, relatives, friends, clubs, workplace) that aren’t easily changed. Who tells me I’ll even get another chance to build in the future? I don’t build something “temporary.” If I acquire a home that’s not meant for renting out but to live in, in a place where I want to live, then tell me why I shouldn’t invest 100% effort, but just say: “Oh, well, let’s borrow for 30 years and see what happens in eight years.”

A house for eternity? Yes! Why not? Not for everyone, of course, but definitely for many (at least for people living in rural areas like us, I can say). There are so many individual life circumstances and relationship situations involved... so you definitely can’t just generalize and say: “Build one quickly and see how you like the result.”

I don’t know if I think too “pragmatically,” but for me, this is not something I can do alongside everything else. I could never be comfortable with a house that was only briefly planned. Let’s see what happens, where life takes me... But the money is definitely spent, and the loan is running... Maybe I’m just too down-to-earth and security-conscious, which nowadays is no longer the norm.

exto1791 schrieb:

They say never say never, but I claim that we will live in our house, which is currently still in the planning phase, until a very old age.

Yes, and... do you notice anything when you compare yourself to the original poster? I do, actually: you are now about as "old" as the OP will be at the end of the learning phase I predicted. And — I forgot to add this earlier — of course the OP shouldn’t put zero effort into optimization, just an appropriately small amount for a first stage. In the Pareto sense, I definitely don’t want to encourage a “whatever” attitude or settling for 80%. But I think the planning quality should be raised to 83% (which can be achieved simply by detailed planning of the kitchen-dining-living area with collective input, plus the straightforward adjustment of the bay window as described). Beyond that, though, it’s not worth exhausting oneself trying to force 100% through sheer will alone (which, in my opinion, at such an early stage could only lead to the remark: “Varus, give me back my legions”).

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https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/

11ant schrieb:

Yes, and ... do you notice anything when you compare yourself to the OP? I do, actually: you are now about as "old" as the OP will be at the end of the learning phase I predicted. And—something I forgot to add earlier—of course, the OP shouldn’t spend no optimization energy at all, but just appropriately little for the first stage. In the Pareto sense, I certainly do not want to encourage him to adopt a careless attitude and settle for 80%. But I think he should raise planning quality to 83% (which can be achieved simply by detailed planning of the living-kitchen area with concentrated collective effort and on top of that the described simple correction of the bay window), but beyond that, he shouldn’t exhaust himself trying to force 100% with his head against the wall (which, in my opinion, at such a young age in the end could only lead to the statement, “Varus, give me back my legions”).

That may be true, but it doesn’t change the points I raised:

- Place of residence (will I ever be able to build nearby again)? Am I willing to take the risk of not building as “perfectly”?
- Everything connected to that: family, relationships, job, etc.
- The level of debt, whether 20 or 40, that immediately puts a strain on your account. Whether you pay it off by 65 or 55.

None of this changes the fact that this could be the home he lives in for the rest of his life. So why wouldn’t I invest exactly that kind of energy? I can’t predict where I’ll end up someday. Of course, I assume this is the dream home.

For me, it’s very clear: 100%!!! No matter how old you are, no matter what you plan or still have ahead. But as I said, maybe I just think too “Swabian” (rigid) or am too much of a perfectionist.

But honestly… we’re talking about Pareto and a 3% increase in planning quality, etc.
To put it in very straightforward terms: Man, invest time—this is your home, your money, you’re taking on long-term debt, you want to live there for a long time, so make the most of it!!

I looked up Pareto.

Basically, it seems accurate to me:
80% of the results are achieved with 20% of the total effort. The remaining 20% of the results require 80% of the total effort and represent most of the work quantitatively.

However, this does not mean to me that I should not strive for a 100% solution.

In any case, nothing is ever truly 100% “the best.”
Internal processes are at least as important as the material aspects... and the effort to find good solutions is not just “hard work” for everyone.

I love working on optimizations.
For me, it’s a pleasure – and “failures” can be not only frustrating but also entertaining.

... and nowhere does it say that you work in a “Pareto way” more at 21 than later.

For many people, 21 is too young to start building a house. However, I have noticed that there is an incredible range among 21-year-olds, so you can’t generalize. I have also come across quite a few younger homebuilders (online)... by that I mean those in their twenties.

I think it’s absolutely legitimate, and it’s fine to put your youthful energy into it. Don’t let yourself be held back, but make sure to think everything through carefully. I would definitely recommend planning an exit strategy in case, for example, a source of income disappears.

And it certainly helps to have a father, grandfather, or uncle involved who may have more life experience.