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?
SumsumBiene schrieb:
According to our mortgage broker, we have an all-in budget of 300,000, which a bank would likely approve. Phew, but quite a few important details are missing to say whether this is feasible or not.
For example (already mentioned above): net income, living expenses, children? Are pets already accounted for? Age is also important because of loan duration.
But okay, you asked if building is possible in your area.
I ask back: how many square meters are needed? What are the requirements?
SumsumBiene schrieb:
Price is not fixed yet, but under €100. Is the plot fully serviced, or will utilities be charged extra?
SumsumBiene schrieb:
We’re not unskilled, but both fully employed with a child, a dog, and a horse. Hobbies will need to take a backseat a bit. At least, you should schedule time for DIY work like painting and flooring, which can save around 6,000 to 10,000 euros. That’s just how it is.
Schleswig-Holstein (SH) is relatively affordable compared to Lower Saxony (NDS). You can manage additional construction costs of about 30,000 euros.
TM Massivhaus, Town & Country, Danwood, Scanhaus Marlow... all build in SH and offer affordable options.
80,000 euros for the plot
30,000 euros additional construction costs
The Perfect 112, including foundation slab, transportation, etc., is around 164,000 euros, so you get it for 200,000 euros total.
With TM, the Bungalow 100 (with some optional features and essentials) is about 160,000 euros.
That leaves 30,000 euros for terrace, driveway, lawn, carport, and flooring. With some manpower from the dog club or the partners of horse enthusiasts, this is doable.
Keep at it!
SumsumBiene30 Dec 2020 05:04Thank you all for your feedback 🙂
I’ll try to address everything.
A condominium is not an option for us, aside from the fact that these don’t exist in our village. We have been living for 8 years in a 75sqm (800 sq ft) apartment in a multi-family building. It was clear from the start that this is not our preferred type of housing. Now our last favorite neighbor, with whom we shared our gardens, has moved away—to a house 930 km (580 miles) away. There’s basically no possibility to rent anything smaller here. This was the main trigger to start thinking about owning something of our own.
We are still looking at existing properties, which is basically our preferred option, since it means no double burden (rent plus mortgage) and better financial planning.
The horse is included in our household budget. I still have a small fixed part-time job that definitely covers this area. Regarding the animals, I can rely on “in-house work” based on my previous professional experience. And basically, this is the only luxury we have.
We don’t really take big vacations, have no problems with used furniture, and we don’t eat caviar 😀
Our age is certainly a critical point at 45 and 48. So ideally, we want to be finished building within 20 years. Although we wouldn’t mind downsizing and selling the house later if it turns out to be unsustainable (our pensions will be quite limited).
As for our budget tracking, it’s been less than a year since we started in summer, but since June I’ve saved around €8000 (about $8500). Together we can save between €1000 and €1300 ($1050-$1370) monthly. Our rent is quite low at €600 ($630), but as I said, we don’t feel comfortable.
Oh, and the building plots are currently being developed. In the neighboring community, the cost per sqm was €65 ($68) for a fully serviced lot. It’s likely to be higher here... the question is by how much. That would at least give us a bit more room for negotiation.
I’ll try to address everything.
A condominium is not an option for us, aside from the fact that these don’t exist in our village. We have been living for 8 years in a 75sqm (800 sq ft) apartment in a multi-family building. It was clear from the start that this is not our preferred type of housing. Now our last favorite neighbor, with whom we shared our gardens, has moved away—to a house 930 km (580 miles) away. There’s basically no possibility to rent anything smaller here. This was the main trigger to start thinking about owning something of our own.
We are still looking at existing properties, which is basically our preferred option, since it means no double burden (rent plus mortgage) and better financial planning.
The horse is included in our household budget. I still have a small fixed part-time job that definitely covers this area. Regarding the animals, I can rely on “in-house work” based on my previous professional experience. And basically, this is the only luxury we have.
We don’t really take big vacations, have no problems with used furniture, and we don’t eat caviar 😀
Our age is certainly a critical point at 45 and 48. So ideally, we want to be finished building within 20 years. Although we wouldn’t mind downsizing and selling the house later if it turns out to be unsustainable (our pensions will be quite limited).
As for our budget tracking, it’s been less than a year since we started in summer, but since June I’ve saved around €8000 (about $8500). Together we can save between €1000 and €1300 ($1050-$1370) monthly. Our rent is quite low at €600 ($630), but as I said, we don’t feel comfortable.
Oh, and the building plots are currently being developed. In the neighboring community, the cost per sqm was €65 ($68) for a fully serviced lot. It’s likely to be higher here... the question is by how much. That would at least give us a bit more room for negotiation.
H
HilfeHilfe30 Dec 2020 07:00SumsumBiene schrieb:
Thank you all very much for your feedback 🙂
I’ll try to address everything.
A condominium is not an option. Besides the fact that they don’t even exist in our village, we have been living in a 75sqm (800 sq ft) apartment in a multi-family building for 8 years. From the start, it was clear that this was not our preferred living situation. Recently, our last favorite neighbor, with whom we shared our gardens, moved away… to a house 930km (580 miles) away. Basically, there’s no possibility to do anything below that distance here. That was the trigger for us to seriously consider owning something ourselves.
We are still looking at existing properties, which is basically our preferred option because there’s no double financial burden and it’s easier to plan for.
The horse is already included in our household budget. I have a steady part-time job that completely covers expenses in that area. Regarding the animals, I can rely on my own skills based on previous professional experience. Essentially, that’s also the only luxury we have.
We don’t really go on vacations, have no problem with used furniture, and we don’t eat caviar 😀
Our age is certainly a factor, 45 and 48 years old. So ideally, we want to be finished building within 20 years. We wouldn’t mind downsizing later and selling the house if it’s no longer sustainable (pension income will be limited).
As for our household budget… it’s less than a year since we started tracking in summer, but since June I’ve saved about €8,000 (around $8,800). We can save between €1,000 and €1,300 ($1,100 - $1,430) per month combined. The rent is quite low at €600 ($660), but as I said, we do not feel comfortable there.
By the way… the building plots are currently being developed. In the neighboring municipality, the cost per square meter was €65 ($72) for ready-to-build land. It’s probably going to be higher here… the question is by how much. That would at least leave some room for flexibility. then keep saving, saving, saving. A full financing with a very tight construction budget and no equity for contingencies—that’s not just tight underwear, that’s naked…
Our price per square meter was also below 100 euros. Despite a modest plot size and living area, as well as only a single carport and own work on the terrace and garden, we still easily ended up well over 300,000 euros by the end of 2018. Such a limited budget cannot realistically include any significant contingency. I would strongly advise against this. In my opinion, staying below this threshold is only possible if the land is very inexpensive and/or the circle of friends consists entirely of skilled tradespeople.
I have no idea why some people here say that €300,000 all in could work without any special requests. If that’s the case, those people can confidently give Jana the green light. So please don’t apply double standards! SH is not BY or BA, but it’s also not Poland or the Czech Republic.
The answer is simple: it didn’t work all in, not even a little. Why is the budget so tight? What does your net monthly income look like? What are your expenses? Finishing in 20 years is also a factor. That means €1,450 (about $1,550) interest and repayment plus monthly additional costs of €400 (about $430). So, €1,850 (about $1,980) per month just for housing. Can you manage that?
The answer is simple: it didn’t work all in, not even a little. Why is the budget so tight? What does your net monthly income look like? What are your expenses? Finishing in 20 years is also a factor. That means €1,450 (about $1,550) interest and repayment plus monthly additional costs of €400 (about $430). So, €1,850 (about $1,980) per month just for housing. Can you manage that?
Zaba12 schrieb:
No idea why some say that 300,000€ all in could work without special requests. Then those people can also give Jana the green light without hesitation. So please don’t apply double standards! SH is not BY or BA, but it’s also not Poland or the Czech Republic. You said it yourself: SH and Berlin.
And furthermore: the land price.
And furthermore: the lifestyle comfort.
And furthermore: childless or wanting children.
All of that MAY make building a house possible, but it doesn’t have to.
Where I’m skeptical is the timeline for the construction loan.