ᐅ Looking for a construction company in the Greater Stuttgart area!

erazorlll schrieb:

PS: There will be another update on Hauser, U-Haus, and AWS by the end of the week.

Hello @erazorlll, I’m really curious how things went with both companies. Or were the appointments canceled due to the coronavirus situation?

Thank you, Markuss85, for the inquiry. Despite the current COVID-19 situation, here is an update on our selections. Fortunately, we were able to complete all appointments before the situation worsened.

Prefabricated Houses / Timber Construction

• Hanse Haus -> Received a quote | The base price was fairly good, but a few items were missing. Therefore, it will likely be more expensive. Unfortunately, the itemization is very basic, but relevant included points are listed separately. Afterwards, we felt somewhat left on our own. This can be seen positively as not being pressured, but there seemed to be a lack of real sales motivation.
• Bien-Zenker -> Received a quote | The offer was completely off from our expectations and the discussion. Some points were added that we never talked about and do not need. Other points were not considered. The listing is unfortunately very opaque and plain.
• Bittermann & Weiss -> Received a quote | A lot of effort was put into this offer. It already includes a proposal of the plans. The itemization is very detailed; each item is listed separately with a price. This allows you to see where savings might be possible or what, for example, an additional roof window would cost. It was also the most complete offer, including various extras and design elements. The price was higher than the others, which is understandable due to the added value. I must really praise B&W; so far, the best prefabricated house provider.
• Talbau Haus -> excluded (more on this in a few days)
• Fertighaus Weiss -> excluded
• Schwabenhaus -> excluded/terminated
• Albert Haus -> put on hold

Solid Construction Providers

• Haus der Handwerker -> Received a quote | Not pursued further yet. The listing is detailed but still missing some points. Price is mid-range.
• Hauser Massivbau -> Appointment held | The conversation was very friendly and open. I also had the impression that they are transparent and share experiences from other projects. An example plan was drawn together, and the floors were discussed (what needs to be included, etc.). At Hauser, they also offer a kind of "mini sample selection" because the most important standard products are set up there—from wall structure to sanitary fixtures, to flooring and tiles. This gives you a good sense of their standard. At the end, they promised to prepare and send an offer. The only major negative point is availability (even before COVID-19). If you write an email, there is no response or reaction. If you call, the receptionist takes the request and promises a callback that never happens. I could understand this currently, but it was the same during appointment scheduling before the COVID situation. We are currently waiting for the offer.
• Köhler Wildberg -> Appointment held | Very positive contact and a very pleasant conversation. Various reference houses and plans were shown, and then they discussed our building project. At the end, a rough price range was given, and the next steps were explained. The house will be planned with an architect, and the trades will be assigned as a general contractor. We felt that Köhler does "honest" work and will try to find solutions if problems arise. This was not one of those "I have to sell a house now" meetings, but an honest and open conversation. However, we missed a clearer impression of the quality of Köhler’s "standard." What is included in the standard, and does it suit our taste? Also, the price range was just a rough estimate, so we cannot make a real statement about the final price. This is naturally only possible after architectural planning, but a rough price range including our special wishes would have been helpful. This could be addressed again at a follow-up meeting.
• AWS -> Appointment held | Also a very nice contact here, with a long background in the construction industry and open discussions about the topics. I also had the feeling here that they’re not eager to push sales or take advantage, but want to do honest work. They have well-known customers in the region—which hopefully does not affect the price. After some information about AWS, they went through the house floor by floor and noted the key points. Then, using catalogs, you could get impressions of different options (sanitary fixtures, doors, etc.). The statement was that their extensive experience has allowed them to integrate many features into the standard. We are looking forward to the offer and price.
• U-Haus -> Appointment held | Another pleasant conversation. They talked less about completed projects and U-Haus in general, and instead focused immediately on the development plan and floor layout. Many questions were answered, and they made an effort. Then we went through all rooms and discussed features and wishes so that an offer could be prepared. After the appointment, I missed a clear sense of the style and character of U-Haus. Of course, I also looked at the model home, but compared to other providers, it felt like we learned less. Extremely positive was their commitment. They provided feedback on some points the very next day and checked back a few days later with an interim update as well as proactive follow-up. No other provider has been this engaged so far. We are now waiting for the offer and price.
• FERMO -> excluded – clearly too expensive
• Härtter Renningen -> rejected by Härtter due to capacity issues

erazorlll schrieb:

A brief general update:
With another provider, after the initial consultation, we were basically told that they were not interested in our building project. Even after several phone calls, the response remained very dismissive, and the call was even ended abruptly. We had no special requirements and were not unfriendly. We are currently figuring out how to proceed—whether another sales advisor might take over or if we will completely write off the company. Once this is settled, I will provide an update naming the company involved.

As promised, here is another update on this.

There was another conversation with the sales advisor, which went just as “well” as described above. I prefer not to go into details here.

We have therefore decided not to continue with the provider. The company in question was Bien-Zenker.

Wow, thank you very much for the detailed documentation with the different companies. Something like this would have been invaluable to us 1.5 years ago.

Do you have a specific timeline by when you want or need to make a decision? By now, all the quotes should actually be available. Towards the end, it was sometimes difficult for us because some providers had to be “kept waiting” for weeks, while others hadn’t submitted any quotes at all.

Markuss85 schrieb:

Do you have a specific timeline by which you need or want to make a decision? All offers should actually be available soon. In our case, it was sometimes difficult toward the end because some suppliers had to be "kept waiting" for weeks, while others hadn’t submitted any offer yet.

A request for proposal should fundamentally include two “deadlines”: first, an internal “invisible” date known only in your own calendar to follow up, and second, a visible date indicating “please respond by ...”. It should also include a note like “please inform us if you are not interested or are unable to participate due to time constraints.” Additionally, I generally recommend that the requester specify the size of the bidder pool: if participants don’t know whether they are competing against two or ten others, they may not bother preparing a detailed calculation. Also, personalizing the request significantly increases responses. I professionally manage requests for proposals: when a bidder contacts me for the first time, I always call them to introduce myself and explain my process. Preparing proposals requires time and effort; it’s not done lightly for an unknown opportunity.

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Additionally, it should be mentioned that an experienced provider can quickly categorize the candidates. In other words, they know who shoots with a shotgun approach and who takes deliberate shots. Accordingly, their motivation when submitting offers, unsolicited proposals, or no offers at all may vary.