Hey everyone, I’m new here.
A quick introduction... I work as a HVAC mechatronics technician at a large company where I’m also involved in new ventilation installations, etc. My fiancée is a special needs caregiver. Currently, we pay 800€ rent without utilities for a 2-room apartment. Including utilities, it’s around 1000€. We manage this comfortably and often go on vacation or afford many extras.
Now, I want to build a prefabricated house. Our total budget is 250,000€. The plot costs about 90,000€, so the house itself can cost 150,000€. We have received many offers from Allkauf Haus, Ling4you, and Massa Haus, but there are so many it’s hard to keep track.
I can do a lot myself. I will handle electrical work, plumbing, and underfloor heating. The basement will be partially finished as well. The Allkauf Haus offer for 157,000€ is currently our top choice.
We could comfortably afford a monthly payment of around 1200€ including utilities. Is that amount too low for a house or is it normal?
I will do drywall, tiles, and flooring myself.
Euromac2 is also very affordable—does anyone have experience with them?
Thanks a lot!!!
A quick introduction... I work as a HVAC mechatronics technician at a large company where I’m also involved in new ventilation installations, etc. My fiancée is a special needs caregiver. Currently, we pay 800€ rent without utilities for a 2-room apartment. Including utilities, it’s around 1000€. We manage this comfortably and often go on vacation or afford many extras.
Now, I want to build a prefabricated house. Our total budget is 250,000€. The plot costs about 90,000€, so the house itself can cost 150,000€. We have received many offers from Allkauf Haus, Ling4you, and Massa Haus, but there are so many it’s hard to keep track.
I can do a lot myself. I will handle electrical work, plumbing, and underfloor heating. The basement will be partially finished as well. The Allkauf Haus offer for 157,000€ is currently our top choice.
We could comfortably afford a monthly payment of around 1200€ including utilities. Is that amount too low for a house or is it normal?
I will do drywall, tiles, and flooring myself.
Euromac2 is also very affordable—does anyone have experience with them?
Thanks a lot!!!
I agree with all my predecessors.
However, there is one point that hasn’t been addressed yet, and I want to bring it up now:
You can plan to build a house within your financial means. You are currently assuming a maximum monthly cost of €850 (about $900), and you might even manage €1,000 (about $1,060) (excluding utilities) if you really limit yourselves at the moment. Given the currently low interest rates, you’re planning to lock in a long-term fixed rate, right? Something like a 20-year fixed interest period?
If I’ve read correctly, you are 31 and 25 years old, with no children at the moment but apparently considering them in the future—probably within the next 10 years, correct?
Now back to the fixed interest period: with your current monthly budget fully utilized over 20 (!!!) years of financing, you can probably make it work somehow (I will come back to your personal contribution below). But how will that work if you want children and one income is lost entirely or partially? Have you thought about that? Can you handle the €850 (about $900) or more on your own income? Plus, children cost money, and no, you cannot raise them on child benefits alone...
Regarding your personal contribution, someone has already mentioned that. Since you’re a tradesperson yourself, you probably know your hourly rate. Now calculate how many hours you’d have to work to cover €30,000 (about $32,000)...
It’s also true that you can move into a relatively unfinished house and continue work alongside living there. But certain things have to be ready at move-in: connections, the toilet should be installed (if you move in during summer, you can initially forgo a shower and use an outdoor option in the unfinished garden which saves costs). You also need a place for a bed, and then you can finish room by room. This is possible, but most people don’t want to live like that. So the time you will be paying both rent AND the mortgage will be longer. How long can you afford that?
Regarding outdoor work and exterior finishes: check carefully what is required. I know residential developments where the outdoor landscaping must be completed within two years after purchase. And there’s no “the roses can bloom later” option there. If you have no such restrictions, great, then it really can wait (though it’s not pleasant to live amidst dirt, mud, and darkness when plastering is being done outside or the garden is still a mud pit after a year—but that can be managed).
In short: you can probably manage it somehow, but in terms of life planning, you might want to consider getting a dog instead of kids for now...
Please face reality quickly and don’t take it out on the moderators when they don’t tell you what you want to hear (there’s a reason why they are moderators... usually it’s experience).
However, there is one point that hasn’t been addressed yet, and I want to bring it up now:
You can plan to build a house within your financial means. You are currently assuming a maximum monthly cost of €850 (about $900), and you might even manage €1,000 (about $1,060) (excluding utilities) if you really limit yourselves at the moment. Given the currently low interest rates, you’re planning to lock in a long-term fixed rate, right? Something like a 20-year fixed interest period?
If I’ve read correctly, you are 31 and 25 years old, with no children at the moment but apparently considering them in the future—probably within the next 10 years, correct?
Now back to the fixed interest period: with your current monthly budget fully utilized over 20 (!!!) years of financing, you can probably make it work somehow (I will come back to your personal contribution below). But how will that work if you want children and one income is lost entirely or partially? Have you thought about that? Can you handle the €850 (about $900) or more on your own income? Plus, children cost money, and no, you cannot raise them on child benefits alone...
Regarding your personal contribution, someone has already mentioned that. Since you’re a tradesperson yourself, you probably know your hourly rate. Now calculate how many hours you’d have to work to cover €30,000 (about $32,000)...
It’s also true that you can move into a relatively unfinished house and continue work alongside living there. But certain things have to be ready at move-in: connections, the toilet should be installed (if you move in during summer, you can initially forgo a shower and use an outdoor option in the unfinished garden which saves costs). You also need a place for a bed, and then you can finish room by room. This is possible, but most people don’t want to live like that. So the time you will be paying both rent AND the mortgage will be longer. How long can you afford that?
Regarding outdoor work and exterior finishes: check carefully what is required. I know residential developments where the outdoor landscaping must be completed within two years after purchase. And there’s no “the roses can bloom later” option there. If you have no such restrictions, great, then it really can wait (though it’s not pleasant to live amidst dirt, mud, and darkness when plastering is being done outside or the garden is still a mud pit after a year—but that can be managed).
In short: you can probably manage it somehow, but in terms of life planning, you might want to consider getting a dog instead of kids for now...
Please face reality quickly and don’t take it out on the moderators when they don’t tell you what you want to hear (there’s a reason why they are moderators... usually it’s experience).
B
Bauexperte18 Oct 2016 09:25gueray schrieb:
Strange... the most unfriendly users here seem to be the moderators? I have already met Yvone, hello "Musketeer".... My username is Bauexperte – just for the record – and I consider you a troll.
If you continue to ignore all advice from the users writing here in this manner, meaning your behavior does not change, you will soon have to take your activities elsewhere. The advantage of this is that the participating members will then have more time for genuinely serious user questions.
Regards, Bauexperte
T
toxicmolotof18 Oct 2016 09:37I completely missed this thread...
But guys, don’t worry about it. It will go like this… Planning starts at 150, finishes at 200, and the finished house then costs all in 250.
And then there’s the land on top of that.
Total 350,000 EUR.
Now subtract the “I’m doing it myself savings bonus” and we end up at 300,000.
So it’s almost the same as 150.
Your mileage may differ.
But guys, don’t worry about it. It will go like this… Planning starts at 150, finishes at 200, and the finished house then costs all in 250.
And then there’s the land on top of that.
Total 350,000 EUR.
Now subtract the “I’m doing it myself savings bonus” and we end up at 300,000.
So it’s almost the same as 150.
Your mileage may differ.
T
toxicmolotof18 Oct 2016 09:42toxicmolotow schrieb:
I totally missed this thread...
But guys, don’t worry about it. It will go like this… Planning starts at 150, ends at 200, and the finished house then costs a total of 250.
And then there’s the land on top of that.
Total 350,000 euros.
Now subtract the "I’m doing it myself savings" bonus, and we end up at 300,000.
So it’s almost the same as 150.
Your mileage may vary.Forgot additional construction-related costs, add another 50,000 to each number.
C
Caspar202018 Oct 2016 13:00toxicmolotow schrieb:
So it’s almost the same as 150.That’s right. The bank is lending money for free.
D
Doc.Schnaggls19 Oct 2016 14:35Hello,
let him run with it—if he refuses to accept advice that doesn’t fit his plan, he’ll likely face harsh reality sooner rather than later.
Even TV shows like "The Building Rescue" appreciate new "clients"...
No words—I’ve rarely encountered so much resistance to advice here.
Now I’m probably counted among the “unfriendly” people in this forum, even though I’m not a moderator or admin...
let him run with it—if he refuses to accept advice that doesn’t fit his plan, he’ll likely face harsh reality sooner rather than later.
Even TV shows like "The Building Rescue" appreciate new "clients"...
No words—I’ve rarely encountered so much resistance to advice here.
Now I’m probably counted among the “unfriendly” people in this forum, even though I’m not a moderator or admin...