ᐅ Turnkey Prefabricated House – Is the Total Price Reasonable?

Oh, we would like a few more square meters (around 140m² (1507 sq ft) or so – we need a children’s room, bedroom, office, utility room). We could do without a basement if the rest fits. Otherwise, even a half basement (or of course a full one) would be fine (I’m not a big fan of those spider corners, though).

What convinces me, however, is your opinion on completion: prefab house versus conventional building. At least with a turnkey prefab house, the fixed price should be guaranteed, right? Also, the completion date should be set, correct? And the KfW standard is more likely to be met if requested, isn’t it?

Under certain circumstances, we might have to settle for a semi-detached house, which raises some big question marks regarding future neighbors (what happens if they don’t want to build quickly?) and the type of construction, but due to the smaller plot it would save about 30,000 euros that could be invested in the house.

Construction expert, your calculation worries me. I have 380,000 euros (which is about 760,000 DM – even if no one wants to hear it) and apparently I’m not able to comfortably build a detached house!?

Hello,

still online by chance

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Oh, we would like a few more square meters (around 140?? – we need a children’s room, bedroom, office, utility room)

140 square meters (about 1505 square feet) of living space corresponds to roughly 210,000 euros.

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We could do without a basement if the rest fits. Otherwise, a half-basement (or of course a full one) would also be fine (I’m not a big fan of spider corners).

The basement is not included in my figures; besides, a partial basement costs roughly as much as a full basement.

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What convinces me is your opinion on completion: prefabricated house / conventional.
At least the fixed price should be guaranteed for a turnkey prefabricated house, right?

The same applies to conventional construction.

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Also, the completion date, right?

It is the same for both options.

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And the KfW standard is more likely to be met if desired, isn’t it?

Due to the construction method, it is easier and cheaper for the prefab industry to meet this standard; however, that’s all there is to it, since a serious prefabricated house is generally more expensive than a conventionally built house.

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We might also have to settle for a semi-detached house, which raises a lot of questions about future neighbors (what if they don’t want to build soon?) and affects the building type, but saves about 30,000 euros on the smaller plot that could be invested in the house.

The saving on the plot is the only advantage—regardless of the building type. If the second partner in a semi-detached house is not found soon, both sides must be designed as detached single-family houses on all sides.

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Bauexperte, your calculation worries me. I am thinking of 380,000 euros (equivalent to 760,000 Deutsche Marks—even if no one wants to hear it) and apparently I am not able to build a detached house without worries!?

You should free yourself from this comparison. Neither is the euro directly comparable to the Deutsche Mark at 1:1, nor are the building standards from 2001 comparable to today’s requirements. Currently, a Deutsche Mark is worth about as much as the euro—or about as little—depending on the country of the observer.

Best regards

Haha, you must be addicted to the internet if you’re still up at this time... ooooops, me too.

That means I need a total of 410 for 140 sqm (1507 sq ft)... plus the kitchen? So probably more like 420 and up?
That would be over my budget... would that mean the dream of having a house is over...?

Musketier schrieb:

The idea that a prefab house is finished faster than a solid construction house is a misconception. It’s just that it suddenly appears assembled. The production still takes a certain amount of time. Just browse through the forum and you will find a lot of useful information.

Production is the smallest problem. My supplier produces the entire house within 6 hours if it’s a catalog model with no major extras.
I visited the production site and was amazed at how quickly they work on the "assembly line."

The main issue is the number of customers. Our house supplier, as well as the one mentioned, has about a 12-month waiting time.

Regarding the price: Be careful with initial offers. They usually refer to the catalog house. When you have the construction contract drawn up, include as many extra requests as possible; then your offer price might, but only might, come close to the final price. There’s always some change, and it usually makes it more expensive.
Also be wary of cheap houses that promise turnkey completion from around 146,000 for 140 sqm (1,507 sq ft). They don’t give anything away for free; if the base price is that low, the devil is in the details. What exactly is included, and what quality is it? For example, how is the wall build-up? Energy standards like KfW don’t say much about that initially...
Triple-glazed windows are heavy; what is their quality, and how durable are the hinges over the years?
For a highly insulated house, you should also think about a mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery; depending on the system and extras, this can quickly cost around 10,000.
If you need to save money somewhere, a fireplace is the first place to start. Hidden extra costs often appear there. Ground source heat pumps also regularly bring unexpected expenses.

Additional construction costs... here all house suppliers tend to be overly optimistic and present too low numbers. It’s not their responsibility anyway, and they can say whatever they want. You feel reassured and sign... but in the end, it gets more expensive. My supplier estimated a bit over 12,000. By now, we are close to 40,000. Luckily, we were pessimistic enough during planning.

Lucky us: We faced exactly the same problem—too expensive land. The solution was moving to a rural area. Instead of €350–800 per sqm (approximately $380–870 per 10.8 sq ft) in Karlsruhe, prices about 20 km (12 miles) further in the Palatinate region were between €110 and 230 per sqm (approximately $120–250 per 10.8 sq ft). After some luck and searching, we found a plot that cost just under €130 per sqm (about $140 per 10.8 sq ft), saving a lot of money that we needed for the house. We plan similarly to you and now have almost a four-figure price starting point without many extras.

Expect that such a project will cost you exactly that, including everything and all the extras. ;D

Also expect that banks are not too keen on supporting rural locations. That’s exactly what happened to us; we were refused additional financing due to the location—even though financially, with our capital and income, it would not have been an issue.

Moving in quickly? Forget about that—it will save you a lot of headaches. Any competent tradesperson you contact today will probably give you the same answer... We’re fully booked until mid-next year... come back then... Or they raise their prices outrageously. (A tiler wanted €40 per sqm ($44 per 10.8 sq ft) for materials and then suddenly €7,000 for 30 sqm (323 sq ft) of tile area—yeah, right...)
You should use the long waiting time as an opportunity to really inform yourself and become clear about what you want. Having some time also allows you to get several offers. For earthworks alone, it took almost 8 weeks for us to have three quotes on the table. Building permits take longer nowadays, since the authorities are overloaded. Banks slow down and often take 3 to 5 weeks to respond... quite challenging in the current building boom. Once it bursts, things will speed up again, and you can buy 5- or 10-year-old properties cheaply.

P.S. I'm not addicted, just recently became a dad, and the little guy decided we're awake now... well, he’s sleeping again... I’m not.

Hello,

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haha, you’re really addicted to the internet if you’re still here at this hour... oops, me too

No, not really – I just had a lot of paperwork to finish yesterday, so I ended up working a bit later than usual.

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So that means I need 410 for 140 sqm (1507 sq ft) total ... plus the kitchen? So rather 420 and up? That would be over my budget... does that mean the dream of owning a house is over...?

“Der Da” already gave you the right answers. You can save in several areas with little effort, especially by reducing the living area; 120 sqm (1292 sq ft) of well-planned living space can make a nice little house.

Building a house has always been a compromise. You’re surprised that for 380,000, which is by no means a small amount of money, you can’t build the property you imagine. A user recently pointed out here that in the past, only privileged societies could afford to build houses; in that sense, we’ve come a step further today. You simply have to prioritize what is important to you – by the way, a new kitchen doesn’t have to be included in the initial house building project, the landscaping can be done the year after the new build, an unpaved parking space or driveway works for now, etc. Rome wasn’t built in a day; it did burn down eventually though...

You’re from NRW – where do you want to build? Have you already spoken to an independent mortgage broker?

Kind regards