ᐅ Single-Family Home – New Construction Project from Day One – And the Planning Begins
Created on: 7 Feb 2020 22:54
D
DaSch17
Hello dear community,
For the past few weeks, I have been following this forum and have already gathered some valuable tips for our own planning.
I would like to use this thread to keep you updated from the very first day of planning until moving in. I hope to receive some valuable advice from the community and that this thread can also serve as a guide for other first-time homebuilders.
Now, a bit about our building project:
As mentioned, we are still quite early in the process...
It all started, as it probably does for most, with requesting a catalog from a prefabricated house company. In our case, it was FingerHaus around mid-December.
This was followed by a phone call with a sales representative from the mentioned company and arranging a first consultation. This appointment is scheduled for Sunday, 09.02.2020.
Since then, we have been intensively working on budget planning, possible floor plans and building plots, as well as ideal typical living space layouts.
So far, we have not purchased a plot yet. However, we are in contact with a municipality that is currently planning an expansion of a new residential area. Fortunately, this allowed us to help decide the size, location, and shape of our future plot. Our desired plot is reserved for us.
Key details of our planned single-family home:
– Location: Southwestphalia, Siegen-Wittgenstein district
– Living area: 179 sqm (1,925 sq ft)
– Concrete slab foundation
– Gable roof
– 1.5 stories with gable roof
– Single garage with extended length for tools/storage room
Our budget:
– Plot including property transfer tax: 70,000 EUR
– Construction costs: 470,000 EUR
– Additional construction costs including earthworks: 70,000 EUR
Our schedule:
– By May 2021: Selection of the construction company
– By July 2021: Contract signing, building permit / planning permission application
– By July 2023: Completion of construction work
– By October 2023: Completion of owner-performed work (painting and flooring) and move-in
We understand that the start of construction depends on the delivery time of the prefab house company, which can vary between 6 and 24 months.
We have now selected 8 different companies with whom we want to conduct initial meetings:
– FingerHaus
– Hanse Haus
– SchwörerHaus
– Bien-Zenker
– Schäfer Haus (contact via family)
– Büdenbender Haus
– WeberHaus
– a local developer
After these initial talks, we want to proceed with more detailed discussions with 4 of these providers.
–––––––––––––––––––
What should we pay attention to during the initial meetings? What is particularly important? Should we disclose our budget to the sales representatives?
For the past few weeks, I have been following this forum and have already gathered some valuable tips for our own planning.
I would like to use this thread to keep you updated from the very first day of planning until moving in. I hope to receive some valuable advice from the community and that this thread can also serve as a guide for other first-time homebuilders.
Now, a bit about our building project:
As mentioned, we are still quite early in the process...
It all started, as it probably does for most, with requesting a catalog from a prefabricated house company. In our case, it was FingerHaus around mid-December.
This was followed by a phone call with a sales representative from the mentioned company and arranging a first consultation. This appointment is scheduled for Sunday, 09.02.2020.
Since then, we have been intensively working on budget planning, possible floor plans and building plots, as well as ideal typical living space layouts.
So far, we have not purchased a plot yet. However, we are in contact with a municipality that is currently planning an expansion of a new residential area. Fortunately, this allowed us to help decide the size, location, and shape of our future plot. Our desired plot is reserved for us.
Key details of our planned single-family home:
– Location: Southwestphalia, Siegen-Wittgenstein district
– Living area: 179 sqm (1,925 sq ft)
– Concrete slab foundation
– Gable roof
– 1.5 stories with gable roof
– Single garage with extended length for tools/storage room
Our budget:
– Plot including property transfer tax: 70,000 EUR
– Construction costs: 470,000 EUR
– Additional construction costs including earthworks: 70,000 EUR
Our schedule:
– By May 2021: Selection of the construction company
– By July 2021: Contract signing, building permit / planning permission application
– By July 2023: Completion of construction work
– By October 2023: Completion of owner-performed work (painting and flooring) and move-in
We understand that the start of construction depends on the delivery time of the prefab house company, which can vary between 6 and 24 months.
We have now selected 8 different companies with whom we want to conduct initial meetings:
– FingerHaus
– Hanse Haus
– SchwörerHaus
– Bien-Zenker
– Schäfer Haus (contact via family)
– Büdenbender Haus
– WeberHaus
– a local developer
After these initial talks, we want to proceed with more detailed discussions with 4 of these providers.
–––––––––––––––––––
What should we pay attention to during the initial meetings? What is particularly important? Should we disclose our budget to the sales representatives?
DaSch17 schrieb:
– Fingerhaus
– Hanse Haus
– Schwörerhaus
– Bien-Zenker
– Schäfer Haus (contact via the family)
– Büdenbender Haus
– Weberhaus
– a local general contractorHow was this list compiled? It seems to me that you only went by recognition/advertising, which doesn’t always guarantee the highest quality. (In this context, Schäfer Haus and the local GC – not developer! – stand out.) For your building plot, I would definitely also consider Nordhaus.
Regards
K1300S
N
nordbayer8 Feb 2020 08:39A solid construction house is often not more expensive than a prefabricated house. Only achieving KfW40 standard can be somewhat more challenging with this type of building.
hausnrplus258 Feb 2020 09:20When choosing timber frame house providers, we focused on the wall construction! There are significant differences in quality here because this structure is the most important part. Features like the number of electrical outlets or the types of tiles offered by the company should not be the deciding factor. Additionally, we now pay close attention to price transparency when requesting quotes. This way, you can remove individual trades/items and, for example, do the work yourself or hire someone else.
Otherwise, I agree with the previous comments: know which rooms are important to you and focus on the orientation of the plot/house and, therefore, the rooms!
Best regards and have fun
Otherwise, I agree with the previous comments: know which rooms are important to you and focus on the orientation of the plot/house and, therefore, the rooms!
Best regards and have fun
H
hampshire8 Feb 2020 11:08I have a different perspective.
Delivering work for payment alone is not enough. I am looking for identification with one’s own work, the project, and our goals as clients. That is exactly why we chose our construction partners.
I am convinced that this is the best way to ensure quality. Quality comes at a cost, of course – after all, it is called the price-performance ratio.
Delivering work for payment alone is not enough. I am looking for identification with one’s own work, the project, and our goals as clients. That is exactly why we chose our construction partners.
I am convinced that this is the best way to ensure quality. Quality comes at a cost, of course – after all, it is called the price-performance ratio.
face26 schrieb:
Hello,
...that there are not only prefabricated house providers, or where does this “reinforcement” for this type come from?I wouldn’t necessarily call it reinforcement. We mainly selected the different providers based on experience reports from friends and the internet, as well as various test results.
The companies specializing in solid construction somehow don’t appeal to us. It’s just a gut feeling and I can’t really point to anything concrete. Nevertheless, we included a local general contractor in our shortlist who has an excellent reputation. Of course, they would then build using solid construction...
According to our research, there are no advantages in price or quality when building solid. Also (I believe this was already mentioned here), it can sometimes be more difficult and expensive to meet KfW standards (German energy-efficiency funding) when building solid.
ypg schrieb:
Basically, you only have informal talks during initial meetings, feeling out the seller and how they present.
You don’t commit financially yet. Since you don’t have a plot yet, there won’t be any firm commitments or deeper discussions from their side.That’s exactly our intention. First, we want to see if the company philosophy fits us and if the price/performance ratio is right. In the end, the decision for or against a company is always a gut decision.
The plot hasn’t been bought yet but is already reserved. There is a development plan since an existing new building area is being expanded. So the framework conditions for a preliminary plan are already set…
hampshire schrieb:
You have a lot of time. I would mainly use this time to collect and organize your lifestyle preferences and the resulting functional and non-functional requirements. How do you want to live in the new house? What do you enjoy doing? What does a typical weekday and weekend schedule look like? What aesthetic do you both like? ...?
With the answers to these questions, you can conduct conversations with providers much more purposefully and develop criteria to evaluate offers and concepts.
From my point of view, a private house is a container for the life of its residents. A “provider” of well-being, so to speak. A builder who doesn’t clarify the criteria for their well-being before building, in my opinion, skips the most important part of planning.
I find it confusing that you don’t have a plot yet but already know the house should be 179 sqm (1925 sq ft).This might sound a bit unusual, but this is already quite fixed for us. We are very detail-oriented planners and have a 5-year plan that already includes exactly these things. We are quite decided about the location, family planning, and professional future.
We have also already decided on the style and materials for the single-family house. Based on that, among other things, we narrowed the companies down to the ones mentioned above.
Regarding the plot, see above.
haydee schrieb:
Stay open to everything and collect information.
Show homes, consultation meetings, trade fairs, open construction sites.
Develop your needs as Hampshire suggested. Only start planning the house/floor plan once the site plan and development plan are finalized.
And definitely don’t sign anything now.We already know exactly what we want but of course are open to expert ideas... Let’s see what the first meetings bring.
No. Signing will only take place next summer.
Pierre schrieb:
Hello DaSch17, have you already visited show homes from the providers?
We’ve been to several show home parks and looked at various houses there, then gradually narrowed down our final selection. Ultimately, when the numbers came on the table, we made our choice.
Where in Siegerland do you want to build? Our house will be built this year in Kreuztal.Show homes from these companies are of lesser importance to us since we want a custom-designed house. But of course, we will calmly look at them all during initial meetings to get a first impression of the quality.
Our plot is located in the Wittgenstein region.
K1300S schrieb:
How did this list come about? It seems to me that you only went by reputation/advertising, which doesn’t always guarantee top quality. (In this context, Schäfer Haus and the local general contractor – not a developer! – stand out.) I would definitely add Nordhaus for your building site.
Regards
K1300SI already explained earlier how we came to the individual providers. Schäfer and the general contractor got on the list through explicit recommendations.
Thanks a lot for the tip! We will gladly take a closer look at Nordhaus as well!
hampshire schrieb:
I have a different perspective.
Value for money isn’t enough. I look for identification with my own work, the project, and our goals as clients. That’s exactly what we looked for in our building partners.
I’m convinced this is the best way to assure quality. Quality costs, of course—it’s about price-performance ratio.That is exactly our attitude as well.