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?
H
HilfeHilfe21 Jun 2019 20:14My garden shed was cheaper!
Bookstar schrieb:
I think a garden shed costing over 50,000 is very expensive!Sounds more like a permanent camper or deluxe allotment garden.
@Holznagel
Old internet rule: Pics or it didn't happen!
S
Stivikivi24 Jun 2019 00:55WilhelmRo schrieb:
The reason people dislike you is not envy. It’s your character. This has been quite clear here over the past weeks. So, if you ever think again, “They don’t like me, must be envy,” no! It’s 90% because of your character. Don’t try to cover this up by lumping all Germans under the label of “envy.”Whether people like you or not—that’s just the way it is. There are always those kinds of people; it’s either thumbs up or thumbs down. We’ve even clashed a bit ourselves, it happens and you just have to move on.
Regarding the actual topic, even if the original poster no longer writes because they were apparently bashed too much (I know that feeling myself, which is why my last real post here was back in December 2017), otherwise I’m just a silent reader.
In the end, no one is better or worse for owning a property. It’s just another form of investment. Some let their money rot in the bank, others gamble it away, some throw it out the window with drinking, parties, or similar.
Real bargains are almost impossible to find. Land costs here in Hesse (around Frankfurt) start at about 200 €/m² (20.5 $/ft²) and go up from there.
What choice did I have? Either a tiny plot where only a standard cookie-cutter house could be built, or a wonderfully large plot that would remain empty for at least 30 years and require taking on another loan.
So what to do at the tender age of 24 in 2017? I looked, compared, viewed, and ruled out options. In the end, I was fed up with the whole land search and bought a small house instead. The land price per m² was 330 € (31.5 $) according to the official land value, with a house on it that is currently being renovated. At least it was a start. What I want to say is that sometimes you have to make compromises. In my opinion, a new build right now just doesn’t add up financially. Too many middlemen want to take their cut, that’s how it is!
Regarding loans, everyone probably has their own preferences. Some swear by security in the current interest rate environment and finance for 20+ years at a fixed rate. Others, myself included, prefer to finish paying off quickly despite low interest rates—not out of fear or anything like that, but simply because we think it’s better. A 1600 € (about 1800 $) monthly payment, 10-year fixed rate at 1.62%. With prepayments, the loan is paid off after 10 years. Ten years is a long time; 20 or 30 years? No thanks, not for me. But everyone can choose what works for them!
For me, a house means a feeling of freedom. Freedom can be achieved in many ways—through travel, or knowing you can end everything anytime and just go somewhere else. Everyone makes that decision individually. Ultimately, it’s just a place to return to after work, where you watch your children grow up, spend your life, and so on. Children care the least about whether they grow up in a rented or owned property, and adults should feel the same way. But as I said, for some it’s a true fulfillment to know that one day it will be their own property. Personally, I don’t mind, because if that were important to me, I’d have to wait a few more years before I could really say “It’s mine” with conviction, since right now it belongs more to the bank than to me.
But I think the topic of houses is simply something typically German. Germans usually drive Mercedes, BMW, or Audi, own a German shepherd with its own house, etc. Some live according to expectations and standards but forget that for real life there are no fixed rules—you should do what makes you happy, not what others expect or what is needed to please or outdo others.
Stivikivi schrieb:
What I mean is, sometimes you have to make compromises.Why call it a compromise? For you, the house is a gain. Your freedom, as you say. A new build is just a house. A very expensive one. The dream of many. Many of them only live in it but don’t really live yet.
Supposed compromises are only ever made when personal expectations are too high.
Well, the original poster probably stopped writing because they were just looking for confirmation of their unrealistic ideas. I think it’s good that many thread starters here are brought back down to reality. @Stivikivi What happened to your original plans for a house costing over 600,000€ (about 640,000 USD) at the end of 2017? Did the forum criticize too harshly, or was the forum perhaps partly right?
Stivikivi schrieb:
Regarding the main topic, even though the original poster hasn’t written anything more, apparently because they have been criticized too often (I can relate, which is why my last real post here was also in December 2017), I have since only been a silent reader.
Well, the original poster probably stopped writing because they were just looking for confirmation of their unrealistic ideas. I think it’s good that many thread starters here are brought back down to reality. @Stivikivi What happened to your original plans for a house costing over 600,000€ (about 640,000 USD) at the end of 2017? Did the forum criticize too harshly, or was the forum perhaps partly right?
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