ᐅ How do you get started? When should you hire which professionals for which tasks?
Created on: 29 Sep 2019 18:15
D
dr2okevin
Hello,
I have decided to build a single-family house. I have already read a lot about it and could answer many detailed questions, but I can never find information about the first steps. How do I get an approximate idea of the cost of my desired house without immediately paying several thousand for an architect? How do I find a plot of land? How can I tell if my idea for the house will fit on the plot, or how many square meters (square feet) of living space would be suitable for me?
I know what I want:
A basement, underfloor heating, a heat pump with a cooling function (probably with a ground collector), photovoltaic panels and solar thermal system (possibly integrated directly into the roof without tiles underneath?), a smart home system (probably Homematic), a double garage with electric vehicle charging capabilities, and preparations for a home battery.
I also already know the type of rooms I want, the kind of features they should have, and roughly where they should be located in the house.
I assume I will need an architect to realize my wishes. But my questions are: When should I bring the architect on board? When do costs start to occur? And who else do I need? The construction companies will surely need to be coordinated by someone.
Regarding my financial possibilities, I still plan to discuss this with a banker friend, but at the moment, I estimate a budget of about 300,000 euros (approximately $330,000), with about 30% saved as equity so far.
I am currently single but want to plan the house so that it can comfortably accommodate up to four people with minimal renovations.
I have decided to build a single-family house. I have already read a lot about it and could answer many detailed questions, but I can never find information about the first steps. How do I get an approximate idea of the cost of my desired house without immediately paying several thousand for an architect? How do I find a plot of land? How can I tell if my idea for the house will fit on the plot, or how many square meters (square feet) of living space would be suitable for me?
I know what I want:
A basement, underfloor heating, a heat pump with a cooling function (probably with a ground collector), photovoltaic panels and solar thermal system (possibly integrated directly into the roof without tiles underneath?), a smart home system (probably Homematic), a double garage with electric vehicle charging capabilities, and preparations for a home battery.
I also already know the type of rooms I want, the kind of features they should have, and roughly where they should be located in the house.
I assume I will need an architect to realize my wishes. But my questions are: When should I bring the architect on board? When do costs start to occur? And who else do I need? The construction companies will surely need to be coordinated by someone.
Regarding my financial possibilities, I still plan to discuss this with a banker friend, but at the moment, I estimate a budget of about 300,000 euros (approximately $330,000), with about 30% saved as equity so far.
I am currently single but want to plan the house so that it can comfortably accommodate up to four people with minimal renovations.
Nordlys schrieb:
300 a house, 100 land. If it is in sh, that works well.Without the requests from the first post.
Well, these are things that certainly make life more enjoyable. I think the question is justified: why is building now absolutely necessary? Is there a valid reason for it? If not, keep saving, increase your equity, stay on track, maybe a nice plot of land will come along, then you can buy that with your equity, continue saving, and eventually build.
The family situation is still uncertain, so it’s not like there are already two children without rooms that definitely require an expansion. It’s still unknown whether there will be a stable partnership or children at all.
Of course, you can still build now—and if you have the money, that’s perfectly fine, allowing all future options. But if funds are tight, I would wait and consider what you actually need. If you remain single, 150 m² (1,615 sq ft) is generous—but only if you don’t use 30 m² (320 sq ft) for two (then unused) children’s rooms.
Even as DINKs (Dual Income, No Kids), you will build differently than if you have children—and financially, DINKs are usually in a better position.
I would continue to gather information, stay involved, look around, accumulate knowledge, visit trade fairs, tour model home parks—and keep saving. Maybe find a nice plot of land and start by buying that.
In the past, I might have said, “Well, open a building savings plan and save toward that.” But given today’s financial situation, other investment options are wiser. You can also educate yourself on that and invest your money accordingly, always keeping in mind: when I build, I need to have access to it.
To be clear: I’m not against a single person realizing their dream of building a house, but does it really make sense to give up many desirable features just to build a house when you don’t yet really know what your final needs will be?
I started planning our house in my late 40s. At that point, it was clear: no more children, and the partnership was stable. I had always wanted to build a house, but the circumstances hadn’t been right before. In the meantime, I’ve been able to significantly increase my equity, so we could start with a comfortable equity share. We now have a house that fits our needs exactly. It works! A classic single-family home with two children’s rooms would have been a misstep for us.
That’s certainly not the only right way for everyone, but it worked for me. After years of successfully avoiding a committed partnership and not following the traditional partner-family-homebuilding path, this approach was fine.
So, to the original poster: nothing is rushing away from you, you’re under no pressure (like needing to accommodate children immediately), you already have solid equity (around 100,000, right?), and there’s no need to rush anything now.
So let good things take their time!
The family situation is still uncertain, so it’s not like there are already two children without rooms that definitely require an expansion. It’s still unknown whether there will be a stable partnership or children at all.
Of course, you can still build now—and if you have the money, that’s perfectly fine, allowing all future options. But if funds are tight, I would wait and consider what you actually need. If you remain single, 150 m² (1,615 sq ft) is generous—but only if you don’t use 30 m² (320 sq ft) for two (then unused) children’s rooms.
Even as DINKs (Dual Income, No Kids), you will build differently than if you have children—and financially, DINKs are usually in a better position.
I would continue to gather information, stay involved, look around, accumulate knowledge, visit trade fairs, tour model home parks—and keep saving. Maybe find a nice plot of land and start by buying that.
In the past, I might have said, “Well, open a building savings plan and save toward that.” But given today’s financial situation, other investment options are wiser. You can also educate yourself on that and invest your money accordingly, always keeping in mind: when I build, I need to have access to it.
To be clear: I’m not against a single person realizing their dream of building a house, but does it really make sense to give up many desirable features just to build a house when you don’t yet really know what your final needs will be?
I started planning our house in my late 40s. At that point, it was clear: no more children, and the partnership was stable. I had always wanted to build a house, but the circumstances hadn’t been right before. In the meantime, I’ve been able to significantly increase my equity, so we could start with a comfortable equity share. We now have a house that fits our needs exactly. It works! A classic single-family home with two children’s rooms would have been a misstep for us.
That’s certainly not the only right way for everyone, but it worked for me. After years of successfully avoiding a committed partnership and not following the traditional partner-family-homebuilding path, this approach was fine.
So, to the original poster: nothing is rushing away from you, you’re under no pressure (like needing to accommodate children immediately), you already have solid equity (around 100,000, right?), and there’s no need to rush anything now.
So let good things take their time!
Climbee schrieb:
If not, keep saving, increase your equity, stay persistent, maybe a nice plot of land will come along, then you can buy it with your equity, continue saving, and eventually build.Some acquaintances wanted to take the same approach. In the end, the property prices in their preferred location increased over the years more than they could save.