Hello everyone,
Since I started exploring the topic of house construction two months ago, I have now registered on this forum.
A brief introduction about me and my wife: We are both employed (civil engineer and real estate assistant) with a net income of 4xxx.
Equity capital: 50,000 euros.
One would actually assume that with this equity and net income, buying a property should be easy. However, since I do not want to repay a loan over 30-35 years but rather a maximum of 25 years, and I don’t want to fully stretch the limit, the monthly installment and therefore the total amount quickly become restricted. A total of 250,000 net plus additional construction costs equivalent to the equity capital would be the limit here. In Berlin and its surrounding area? Practically unthinkable.
I am a civil engineer (although specializing in concrete repair and thus not an expert in single-family houses, etc.) and can therefore assess construction prices, combined with my wife’s interest in the real estate sector, allowing us to understand the high general prices for land.
With 250,000 net plus additional construction costs, there is generally not much you can do nationwide for new builds — this is my initial assessment.
There has already been a lot of discussion here in other threads about construction costs, potential capital, and what is needed. When I see bargain houses on TV, I also facepalm. My assumption is that such homes don’t bring much joy. Heating systems, plumbing, electrical installations, thermal insulation — these are often overestimated.
Currently, I am researching prefabricated houses with self-finishing options. However, I do have some concerns, even though I assume that nowadays the materials at least meet certain standards.
So, what are the options?
Being bound for 30 years and pushing the loan to the limit?
House auctions?
Hoping for a bargain plot including an affordable prefab house as a self-build (lots of work and potentially many worries)
Since I plan to start building within the next 24-36 months, my initial findings are sobering.
At least the construction company I work for could provide the foundation slab plus groundwork like drainage, etc., at a low cost. I also know structural engineers and others involved. Maybe the project can be realized with a “small” budget thanks to these circumstances.
Has anyone managed to do this before?
Since I started exploring the topic of house construction two months ago, I have now registered on this forum.
A brief introduction about me and my wife: We are both employed (civil engineer and real estate assistant) with a net income of 4xxx.
Equity capital: 50,000 euros.
One would actually assume that with this equity and net income, buying a property should be easy. However, since I do not want to repay a loan over 30-35 years but rather a maximum of 25 years, and I don’t want to fully stretch the limit, the monthly installment and therefore the total amount quickly become restricted. A total of 250,000 net plus additional construction costs equivalent to the equity capital would be the limit here. In Berlin and its surrounding area? Practically unthinkable.
I am a civil engineer (although specializing in concrete repair and thus not an expert in single-family houses, etc.) and can therefore assess construction prices, combined with my wife’s interest in the real estate sector, allowing us to understand the high general prices for land.
With 250,000 net plus additional construction costs, there is generally not much you can do nationwide for new builds — this is my initial assessment.
There has already been a lot of discussion here in other threads about construction costs, potential capital, and what is needed. When I see bargain houses on TV, I also facepalm. My assumption is that such homes don’t bring much joy. Heating systems, plumbing, electrical installations, thermal insulation — these are often overestimated.
Currently, I am researching prefabricated houses with self-finishing options. However, I do have some concerns, even though I assume that nowadays the materials at least meet certain standards.
So, what are the options?
Being bound for 30 years and pushing the loan to the limit?
House auctions?
Hoping for a bargain plot including an affordable prefab house as a self-build (lots of work and potentially many worries)
Since I plan to start building within the next 24-36 months, my initial findings are sobering.
At least the construction company I work for could provide the foundation slab plus groundwork like drainage, etc., at a low cost. I also know structural engineers and others involved. Maybe the project can be realized with a “small” budget thanks to these circumstances.
Has anyone managed to do this before?
Berlin85 schrieb:
I wanted to start a serious thread about house construction and costs. To be honest, I still don’t understand what you expect from this thread. You hardly respond to follow-up questions. At first, you give the impression of being almost a novice, but later you seem capable of calculating construction costs...
What exactly do you want to know? What kind of answers are you expecting here?
Berlin85 schrieb:
And as a site manager, I have a thick skin, don’t worry! But I do criticize anything that’s below the belt. Well, I can’t help but say “muahahaha” here. If a site manager with a thick skin calls something below the belt, I don’t know what construction sites you’re working on—below the belt there is usually something quite different going on.
N
nordanney14 Jun 2019 23:10nordanney schrieb:
How are you calculating? How old are you? What are your plans? Family planning? Why aim to be done in 25 years? Why not maximize the loan term? Income and expense calculation? Any other liabilities?
With a net income of around €4,000 (about $4,300), a monthly payment of €1,500 (about $1,600) should definitely be possible—what do your finances say? With that, you could finance around €450,000 (about $485,000) at a 4% fixed mortgage rate. Is that payment too high?
You need to share much more about your situation to get sensible advice. True, after 17 pages the questions from the first reply still haven’t been answered to work on the details.
You say you can calculate well and don’t want to finance a large amount. Let’s take a look at your calculations.
H
HilfeHilfe15 Jun 2019 08:32Sorry, but you come across as quite unpleasant and pretentious with your ‘whining’ thread. You asked the questions, not the other way around. Some of your posts disqualify you.
So you are an engineer and you are talking purely theoretically. Anyone can daydream on paper. That’s called planning. You should know that. And 4xxx net income is rather low for both of you if you are a civil engineer. You really should push yourself professionally.
And what good are those networks to you? Do you get anything for free? Do you get special super discounts so you can ultimately meet your target price? Basically, you are just one of many building your house. The construction industry is booming (you should know that better) and nobody gives anything away. Especially in a position like construction manager, you should think carefully about such advantages. Do you know what compliance is?
You have no commercial understanding. At what quantity? What is the price if only a small quantity is delivered? Is someone installing “third-party materials” on site and only charging labor? 65 plus what? Doesn’t your company have overheads like administration, financing costs, and so on? At the end of the day, the purchase costs are 105 euros NET.
You should either accept these concerns or drop it. Others would be glad if you prove the opposite in 2-3 years and post ‘I MADE IT’.
At this point in time, it’s not going to happen.
It already fails at finding a suitable, affordable plot of land.
And again, you asked, not us.
Berlin85 schrieb:
Since I started looking into house building two months ago, I have now registered on the forum.
Briefly about me and my wife: Both employed (civil engineer and real estate assistant) with a net income of 4xxx.
Since I want to start building a house within the next 24-36 months, the first insights are sobering.
So you are an engineer and you are talking purely theoretically. Anyone can daydream on paper. That’s called planning. You should know that. And 4xxx net income is rather low for both of you if you are a civil engineer. You really should push yourself professionally.
Berlin85 schrieb:
Correct!
I mentioned that I am a civil engineer working as a construction manager at a building company.
I have a network of suppliers, a structural engineer, etc., and can get piping materials, earthworks, foundation slab, all at low prices without VAT through the company.
In addition, the company employs 140 skilled workers. From pipefitters and painters to bricklayers, everything is covered.
And what good are those networks to you? Do you get anything for free? Do you get special super discounts so you can ultimately meet your target price? Basically, you are just one of many building your house. The construction industry is booming (you should know that better) and nobody gives anything away. Especially in a position like construction manager, you should think carefully about such advantages. Do you know what compliance is?
Berlin85 schrieb:
Not for free, but cheaper! Example: List price for one cubic meter of concrete: 120 Euro, purchase price for the company: 65 Euro.
Material: also cheaper, no list prices.
VAT: I recommend getting familiar with input tax for companies. But that should not be part of this thread.
You have no commercial understanding. At what quantity? What is the price if only a small quantity is delivered? Is someone installing “third-party materials” on site and only charging labor? 65 plus what? Doesn’t your company have overheads like administration, financing costs, and so on? At the end of the day, the purchase costs are 105 euros NET.
You should either accept these concerns or drop it. Others would be glad if you prove the opposite in 2-3 years and post ‘I MADE IT’.
At this point in time, it’s not going to happen.
It already fails at finding a suitable, affordable plot of land.
And again, you asked, not us.
nordanney schrieb:
For 400k, you currently pay about €670 (around $720) if you want 20-25 years of fixed interest. That’s somehow less than your cold rent. I was talking about 10 years of rent, not 25.
And please explain a bit more in detail, just throwing numbers around isn’t helpful.
670 what? Interest? Principal repayment? Monthly payment?
Given our income and job security for the next 30 years, I wouldn’t even be able to get 400k from my bank, let alone want to.
N
nordanney15 Jun 2019 10:51Bardamu schrieb:
I was talking about 10 years of rent, not 25. Is 10 years of uncertain rent better than 25 years of certainty? You could also only finance for 10 years.
Bardamu schrieb:
And explain a bit more clearly, just throwing out numbers doesn’t help.
670 what, interest? Repayment? Installment? There isn’t much to explain. You can work it out yourself and see that it relates solely to the “cold rent,” meaning just the pure interest costs (which are already generously estimated). The repayment rate doesn’t matter here; you’d have to add that on top of your cold rent to make a proper comparison.
Bardamu schrieb:
Even with our income and job security for the next 30 years, I wouldn’t get—or even want—400k from my bank. I can’t judge that. But what’s the problem with borrowing money from the bank for 30 years (and repaying it during that time)? Otherwise, you’re committing yourself to a landlord for 30 years.
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