Hello everyone,
I have been a silent reader here for a while. I originally wanted to ask these questions in a thread where people post quick questions and different users respond â as Iâve often seen in other forums â but unfortunately, I couldnât find one. So, I finally decided to start my own thread.
A brief introduction about us.
I am 25 years old and have been with my company for 6 years (including my training period). I work for the city and am basically a civil servant. That means I always get some paperwork for insurance discounts and other typical benefits. Itâs not an official civil servant status, but close enough in terms of job security.
My girlfriend is 22, has been working for a small to medium-sized enterprise for one year, and is doing an evening degree at the same time.
We have been a couple for nearly 6 years, and naturally, buying a house within the next few years is not off the table. We definitely do not plan to have children in the near future.
I am still a complete beginner in this field and would simply like to hear some opinions regarding our plans.
First, I have to say that our spending habits are far from ideal...
I have a net income of at least 2500⏠per month (tax class 1). In addition, I receive Sunday work pay, overtime payments, on-call pay (about 200⏠per month), a company car (only for commuting to and from work), and a total of 14 monthly salaries per year.
However, I only consider these extras as a buffer and do not include them in our budgeting calculations.
She has a fixed net income of 1700⏠(tax class 1), which will increase at the end of the year if she completes her degree successfully.
So, we have a minimum of 4200⏠available. As it stands now, aside from saving 250⏠per month, everything else is basically spent. Our expenses break down as follows:
Rent: 1000âŹ
Electricity: 80âŹ
Internet: 50âŹ
Car (including insurance and tax): 450âŹ
Insurance, mobile contracts, etc.: 150âŹ
Loan repayment (which will end in 2 months): 250âŹ
Public transportation ticket: 100âŹ
Savings: 250âŹ
Since we donât keep a detailed household budget yet, I canât give exact figures for groceries, clothing, etc. We just buy what we need at the moment. With 1900âŹ/month (plus my additional allowances/salaries), our annual holidays are also paid for. The car is unfortunately one of the worst financial decisions I have made, as it is hardly used except on weekends. This will be minimized when we buy a house, but Iâll leave it as it is for now.
As you can see, the 1000⏠rent is a major burden and thatâs exactly what bothers us most.
Currently, we are looking at properties in the area, and decent houses/semi-detached houses are around 350,000 to 450,000⏠range.
No one can say where prices will be in the next few years, but this is the current situation. I have looked even less into building a house than buying one, in case anyone wants to suggest that option.
Is buying a house generally more expensive than building one?
How much mortgage payment would you recommend with this income?
I understand it probably varies a lot, but can you give a rough idea of additional monthly costs, like waste collection, home insurance, etc.? Is there a place where I can look this up for my location?
How much do you put aside monthly for home renovations?
The last two questions are the most important to me, because our spending habits are a factor â one person can do 1000âŹ, but another only 800âŹ.
We have not been to a bank yet. However, I once had an appointment at my house bank for the car financing, and I was âofferedâ roughly 750,000⏠(with 60,000⏠equity) for a house on the side. Since then I donât take that bank seriously and would rather ask here first. We do have equity, but I canât give exact amounts because there are five different contracts with varying details â hence my question about the mortgage payment.
That turned out to be quite a long text for just a few questions, but every journey starts with a first step...
Best regards and good night,
Dani
I have been a silent reader here for a while. I originally wanted to ask these questions in a thread where people post quick questions and different users respond â as Iâve often seen in other forums â but unfortunately, I couldnât find one. So, I finally decided to start my own thread.
A brief introduction about us.
I am 25 years old and have been with my company for 6 years (including my training period). I work for the city and am basically a civil servant. That means I always get some paperwork for insurance discounts and other typical benefits. Itâs not an official civil servant status, but close enough in terms of job security.
My girlfriend is 22, has been working for a small to medium-sized enterprise for one year, and is doing an evening degree at the same time.
We have been a couple for nearly 6 years, and naturally, buying a house within the next few years is not off the table. We definitely do not plan to have children in the near future.
I am still a complete beginner in this field and would simply like to hear some opinions regarding our plans.
First, I have to say that our spending habits are far from ideal...
I have a net income of at least 2500⏠per month (tax class 1). In addition, I receive Sunday work pay, overtime payments, on-call pay (about 200⏠per month), a company car (only for commuting to and from work), and a total of 14 monthly salaries per year.
However, I only consider these extras as a buffer and do not include them in our budgeting calculations.
She has a fixed net income of 1700⏠(tax class 1), which will increase at the end of the year if she completes her degree successfully.
So, we have a minimum of 4200⏠available. As it stands now, aside from saving 250⏠per month, everything else is basically spent. Our expenses break down as follows:
Rent: 1000âŹ
Electricity: 80âŹ
Internet: 50âŹ
Car (including insurance and tax): 450âŹ
Insurance, mobile contracts, etc.: 150âŹ
Loan repayment (which will end in 2 months): 250âŹ
Public transportation ticket: 100âŹ
Savings: 250âŹ
Since we donât keep a detailed household budget yet, I canât give exact figures for groceries, clothing, etc. We just buy what we need at the moment. With 1900âŹ/month (plus my additional allowances/salaries), our annual holidays are also paid for. The car is unfortunately one of the worst financial decisions I have made, as it is hardly used except on weekends. This will be minimized when we buy a house, but Iâll leave it as it is for now.
As you can see, the 1000⏠rent is a major burden and thatâs exactly what bothers us most.
Currently, we are looking at properties in the area, and decent houses/semi-detached houses are around 350,000 to 450,000⏠range.
No one can say where prices will be in the next few years, but this is the current situation. I have looked even less into building a house than buying one, in case anyone wants to suggest that option.
Is buying a house generally more expensive than building one?
How much mortgage payment would you recommend with this income?
I understand it probably varies a lot, but can you give a rough idea of additional monthly costs, like waste collection, home insurance, etc.? Is there a place where I can look this up for my location?
How much do you put aside monthly for home renovations?
The last two questions are the most important to me, because our spending habits are a factor â one person can do 1000âŹ, but another only 800âŹ.
We have not been to a bank yet. However, I once had an appointment at my house bank for the car financing, and I was âofferedâ roughly 750,000⏠(with 60,000⏠equity) for a house on the side. Since then I donât take that bank seriously and would rather ask here first. We do have equity, but I canât give exact amounts because there are five different contracts with varying details â hence my question about the mortgage payment.
That turned out to be quite a long text for just a few questions, but every journey starts with a first step...
Best regards and good night,
Dani
Advantage of buying, if the property is in good condition and suits you personally: everything is ready. Land, driveway, everything. Move in and thatâs it. Disadvantage: high property transfer tax. Willingness to compromise, because in a used house there will always be things you would have preferred differently for yourself. Price: currently, good properties are definitely at new-build level. Bargains are now rare, and if any, only through zvg dot com.
New build: Pros: Itâs exactly how I want it. Everything is new. Lower taxes if house and land are purchased separately instead of together. Disadvantages: bare land, time delays, new development areas often lack charm initially. Bare. Drafty. Undeveloped.
Price: see above. Karsten
New build: Pros: Itâs exactly how I want it. Everything is new. Lower taxes if house and land are purchased separately instead of together. Disadvantages: bare land, time delays, new development areas often lack charm initially. Bare. Drafty. Undeveloped.
Price: see above. Karsten
H
HilfeHilfe2 Jun 2017 12:28I find the savings rate very low, but you consume a lot. Are you willing to practice some restraint? Especially since there is always something to do with an existing house, or you end up spending money on contractors.
Wow, I didnât expect so many responses in such a short time.
Iâll try to answer everything step by step.
A monthly payment of âŹ1300 (about $1400) seems quite high to me, doesnât it? If I add the additional costs of âŹ300-400 (about $320-430) and savings of âŹ400 (about $430), that already totals around âŹ2000 (about $2150). Okay, that does keep things safe, but if my girlfriendâs income drops due to having children or similar reasons, it will get really tight.
What does civil servant mean... I canât really explain it well because I have never used it with insurance companies, only heard about it. I simply work in the public sector.
Well, waste disposal is naturally included in the additional costs. I donât know how high it is for us, but we live in an apartment building and I think that makes waste disposal cheaper because we have larger bins.
About the apartment â itâs a 70sqm (750 ft²) apartment in the northern part of Hamburg. Renovated, with a fitted kitchen... Nothing fancy, but the best price/location/value ratio we found two years ago. So, moving to a cheaper apartment is out of the question. Simply not possible without ending up in socially disadvantaged areas.
Since yesterday, we have started keeping a household budget book where we write down everything we buy during the month. At the beginning of each month, we look for unnecessary expenses to cut.
Our going out habits... We mostly visit friends on weekends and bring a small drink or food with us. For convenience, we tend to shop at Edeka rather than Aldi and also order food several times a week.
We know we really have to adjust our habits quite a bit... Iâm just not a natural saver if I donât get to "enjoy" something from it. Hard to explain. For example, earlier this year we bought all new furniture for the apartment and even booked a vacation. It wasnât a big problem to pay off around âŹ1000 (about $1075) monthly for that until May. So we managed with around âŹ900 (about $970).
So it really seems like building a new home might be cheaper. I didnât expect that, but we should definitely look into it more.
Everyone says this process is very stressful. Thatâs one reason we only considered a purchase.
The advantage is that I have an electrical engineering background, a family member is a construction manager at a homebuilding company, and my job involves working daily with various trades related to home construction.
Garden... I canât say much. I know I always enjoyed time in the garden with my grandparents/parents when I was younger, but that was over 10 years ago... Since then, we havenât had a garden.
Well, in the next days or weeks, we will also sit down with our parents who manage the building savings contracts and probably have some good advice for us.
Iâll try to answer everything step by step.
A monthly payment of âŹ1300 (about $1400) seems quite high to me, doesnât it? If I add the additional costs of âŹ300-400 (about $320-430) and savings of âŹ400 (about $430), that already totals around âŹ2000 (about $2150). Okay, that does keep things safe, but if my girlfriendâs income drops due to having children or similar reasons, it will get really tight.
What does civil servant mean... I canât really explain it well because I have never used it with insurance companies, only heard about it. I simply work in the public sector.
Well, waste disposal is naturally included in the additional costs. I donât know how high it is for us, but we live in an apartment building and I think that makes waste disposal cheaper because we have larger bins.
About the apartment â itâs a 70sqm (750 ft²) apartment in the northern part of Hamburg. Renovated, with a fitted kitchen... Nothing fancy, but the best price/location/value ratio we found two years ago. So, moving to a cheaper apartment is out of the question. Simply not possible without ending up in socially disadvantaged areas.
Since yesterday, we have started keeping a household budget book where we write down everything we buy during the month. At the beginning of each month, we look for unnecessary expenses to cut.
Our going out habits... We mostly visit friends on weekends and bring a small drink or food with us. For convenience, we tend to shop at Edeka rather than Aldi and also order food several times a week.
We know we really have to adjust our habits quite a bit... Iâm just not a natural saver if I donât get to "enjoy" something from it. Hard to explain. For example, earlier this year we bought all new furniture for the apartment and even booked a vacation. It wasnât a big problem to pay off around âŹ1000 (about $1075) monthly for that until May. So we managed with around âŹ900 (about $970).
So it really seems like building a new home might be cheaper. I didnât expect that, but we should definitely look into it more.
Everyone says this process is very stressful. Thatâs one reason we only considered a purchase.
The advantage is that I have an electrical engineering background, a family member is a construction manager at a homebuilding company, and my job involves working daily with various trades related to home construction.
Garden... I canât say much. I know I always enjoyed time in the garden with my grandparents/parents when I was younger, but that was over 10 years ago... Since then, we havenât had a garden.
Well, in the next days or weeks, we will also sit down with our parents who manage the building savings contracts and probably have some good advice for us.
H
HilfeHilfe2 Jun 2017 14:26You are either a civil servant or not. You are an employee in the public sector and therefore not protected against dismissal.
The higher the loan amount, the higher the monthly payment. If you want to borrow $400,000, the payment will be correspondingly high. On top of that, you have no equity saved for additional costs such as land registry fees, notary fees, and possibly real estate agent fees. These can easily add up to $40,000 and are difficult to include in the financing.
If you say yourself that you are not big savers, I would reconsider the desire to own a home, especially at this scale. Your girlfriend is also very young. I also hope that your relationship doesnât suffer because of this. You take on a large loan, end up with less disposable income because THE HOUSE is there, and then the cycle of dissatisfaction starts.
The higher the loan amount, the higher the monthly payment. If you want to borrow $400,000, the payment will be correspondingly high. On top of that, you have no equity saved for additional costs such as land registry fees, notary fees, and possibly real estate agent fees. These can easily add up to $40,000 and are difficult to include in the financing.
If you say yourself that you are not big savers, I would reconsider the desire to own a home, especially at this scale. Your girlfriend is also very young. I also hope that your relationship doesnât suffer because of this. You take on a large loan, end up with less disposable income because THE HOUSE is there, and then the cycle of dissatisfaction starts.
H
HilfeHilfe2 Jun 2017 14:36Hello,
I took another look at your initial post.
Basically, you should really review your spending habits and keep a household budget to see where the money is "leaking."
You also mentioned having five contracts. You should look into exactly what these are, why they were signed, and how much they cost you each month.
If you want to own property, you should get advice on what makes sense, especially considering the additional purchase and construction-related costs, which can be very high. Hamburg is an expensive place anyway and will remain so.
I took another look at your initial post.
Basically, you should really review your spending habits and keep a household budget to see where the money is "leaking."
You also mentioned having five contracts. You should look into exactly what these are, why they were signed, and how much they cost you each month.
If you want to own property, you should get advice on what makes sense, especially considering the additional purchase and construction-related costs, which can be very high. Hamburg is an expensive place anyway and will remain so.
Itâs good that youâre not overly optimistic. You also need to decide for yourselves if you are the type of people who want to own property.
Owning property is not a must. It also comes with stress, effort, and costs.
Do you enjoy traveling? Then just do that and enjoy a worry-free rental.
Or if you really want to own property, try simulating the mortgage payments over the course of a year. If you find that itâs manageable, then go for it.
But you might also realize that you prefer being free and flexible.
Thatâs something you need to figure out.
Yes, the payments are not low. But a high repayment rate makes sense in many ways, even if itâs just to be done with the loan earlier.
A house costs a lot â and I mean everything. Thereâs no landlord to call when a faucet needs to be replaced.
Also, if you are building in the area, you should expect significant expenses related to the plot of land.
Maybe you could just buy a plot to see how financing works out. If I remember correctly, land values are not expected to drop, and you could sell it if you decide itâs not for you...
Owning property is not a must. It also comes with stress, effort, and costs.
Do you enjoy traveling? Then just do that and enjoy a worry-free rental.
Or if you really want to own property, try simulating the mortgage payments over the course of a year. If you find that itâs manageable, then go for it.
But you might also realize that you prefer being free and flexible.
Thatâs something you need to figure out.
Yes, the payments are not low. But a high repayment rate makes sense in many ways, even if itâs just to be done with the loan earlier.
A house costs a lot â and I mean everything. Thereâs no landlord to call when a faucet needs to be replaced.
Also, if you are building in the area, you should expect significant expenses related to the plot of land.
Maybe you could just buy a plot to see how financing works out. If I remember correctly, land values are not expected to drop, and you could sell it if you decide itâs not for you...
Similar topics