ᐅ When did you sign the construction contract? Was there any prior planning?

Our current situation: We are waiting for the approval of a building preliminary inquiry and, if the response is positive, we would purchase a plot of land soon after.

This process has been taking longer due to several reasons, and we have used the time to gather information and plan the house as much as possible without having bought the land yet.

Initially, after some online research, we were interested in three general contractors (GCs).

With one of them, even receiving a catalog took forever, scheduling a suitable appointment was difficult, and they didn’t consider prior information about the plot important. That gave us an immediate bad feeling, so we didn’t pursue it further or look deeper into their home portfolio.

With another, we had two conversations, but overall, we felt like they were trying to push us too much toward a specific building style that didn’t fit our budget. We liked their basic house offerings, but not the consultant 🙂

With the third provider, we have been extremely satisfied so far. I’m not sure if I’m allowed to name them here—I don’t want to engage in covert advertising—but they were the only ones willing to have a meeting at our home (due to the baby and everything), who viewed the plot onsite beforehand, who gave us thorough but unobtrusive advice via email, who accompanied us with a groundworks contractor to the plot, and who arranged visits to customer reference homes, among other things. Of course, one might say that such service is standard in project development, but apparently, the other GCs don’t see it that way, and so far, we are only interested parties, not customers.

And that brings me to my point: although we feel confident from an intuitive perspective that we want to build with this provider, since they offer two house models that appeal to us, the consultation has been good, and we couldn’t really find any negative experiences with them online—and the price seems reasonable—we aren’t sure if it’s wise to focus exclusively on one provider for such a big decision. I must admit, we have no real knowledge about building materials and comparing providers’ construction quality in an informed way is very difficult for us as laypeople. Regarding price, we think a good house has its cost, and a quote that’s, say, €30,000 cheaper might not really be cheaper if it comes with poorer quality. Still, people usually say not to go with the first option... hmm. How many providers did you research, and how many did you talk to? From our gut feeling, there’s nothing against our favored provider as far as we can judge, but they are a larger company, and that’s certainly not a “mistake.” Still, I’m a little uncertain now because we simply don’t “know” any other providers.

Regarding the planning, we now have two floor plans that we like, and we know quite precisely what changes we would want to make. The next step would be very detailed planning, including discussions with the architects and getting an exact price quote with the planned modifications, etc. But we are still interested parties, not clients—we haven’t signed anything. Nobody pressured us to sign, not a single word. But I find it “awkward” to have them plan everything in detail and then maybe decide later to go elsewhere? A freelance architect wouldn’t work that way either, right? On the other hand, if we blindly sign a building contract now, committing to building with them before finalizing details, we might put ourselves in a weaker negotiating position as customers. How did this work out for you?

I can understand you very well because we were basically in the same situation. If the chemistry didn’t feel right or the initial sketches didn’t appeal to us, those options were immediately discarded, even if the prices were suitable. The local provider, who we liked in every way, didn’t pressure us to sign anything. Since we really liked the first sketches from this provider, the “internal” decision was made quickly. We then simply continued step by step (still without any signatures) and stopped considering other companies. We only received a construction contract shortly before the start of building. However, we did have a detailed specification and an offer that included everything. We found this approach very convenient. Best regards, Steffi33.

Mizit schrieb:
We actually liked the basic house offer. Just not the advisor 🙂

You quickly forget the advisor/salesperson, since after signing the contract they are rarely seen again. Then you have the architect and site manager around.

Mizit schrieb:
I’m not sure if you’re allowed to name them here; I don’t want to do covert advertising

Covert advertising no longer applies, and yes: you are allowed to name house companies here. However, discussions take place in this moderated forum to prevent any company from being unfairly criticized.
https://www.hausbau-forum.de/forums/erfahrungen-mit-hausbau-firmen.119/

Mizit schrieb:
And with the third provider, we have really been extremely satisfied so far. I don’t know if you’re allowed to name them here; I don’t want to do covert advertising, but they were the only ones willing to come to our home for a meeting (because of the baby, etc.), who checked out the plot in person beforehand, who provided us with detailed yet unobtrusive advice by email, who even went to the site together with an excavation contractor, who arranged visits to customer reference houses, and so on. Of course, one could say that this kind of service is standard in project business, but the other general contractors apparently didn’t see it that way, and after all, so far we’re only interested parties, not customers...

This all sounds great and means they don’t shy away from effort without earning anything, just to offer potential customers good service.

And that’s my point: We are quite sure from a gut feeling that we want to build with this provider. They offer two house types that appeal to us, the advice is good, we couldn’t find any negative experiences with them online, and the price seems reasonable as well.

What more do you want? How did you decide for your husband? Both head and gut need to say YES. There are no guarantees anymore — except for contracts 🙂

Mizit schrieb:
But people usually say you shouldn’t just take the first option.

But you didn’t. You wrote about the third one 🙂

Mizit schrieb:
that a very detailed price offer including the planned changes should be made, etc. But we’re still just interested parties and not customers; we haven’t signed anything. No one has pressured us to sign, not a word about it. But I find it ‘embarrassing’ if we now have everything planned in detail there and then maybe say no, we’re going somewhere else afterwards?

Yes, at some point you have to take the plunge. You don’t let them plan everything in detail upfront, but you can definitely ask about additional costs. You should already have a scope of work document. Before signing any contract, we were given the possible contract and the general terms and conditions, the relevant construction contract rules, and building regulations to review. Size, type, areas, etc. should be fixed, as well as the costs arising if changes are made, windows added, or even more rooms included.

You can’t thoroughly check out 10 companies in housebuilding. You might preselect 10, narrow it down to three, and then go with the one that feels right — that’s probably how it worked with you too, right?

We only signed the construction contract after completing the weeks-long planning phase and making several change requests.

Have you received design plans or a scope of work? I would have them reviewed and then proceed if both are satisfactory.

You commit to a building partner for a certain period, and I don’t think it’s common to even visit the groundwork contractor and take the time to discuss everything. Our experience was similar; they addressed every detail, and everything went well.

However, this is no guarantee for the construction phase later on.

Hello,

first of all, I would buy the plot of land and then proceed with the house planning. I would plan the floor plan as thoroughly as possible and also include the desired extras (e.g., colored windows, fireplace, venetian blinds, etc.) in the quote.

Best regards,
Sabine