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vorkalmatador25 Apr 2020 16:50Hello dear homebuilding community,
I would like to start with a brief introduction.
My girlfriend (30) and I (29) currently live with our two small children (2 years and 7 months) in a lovely three-room apartment in Berlin.
We are both employed full-time (she as a special education teacher, I as a chemist), and a few weeks ago we made the final decision to build or buy a small but nice house (already our first question).
The rent for a four-room apartment that we would like here in northern Berlin (Pankow/Weißensee) is at least 1500€ cold rent. After some back and forth, it became clear that we don’t want to go down that path and instead want to get something of our own.
Our dream is to find something in the northernmost parts of Berlin (Karow, Buch, etc.): 5 rooms, 2 bathrooms, at least 110m² (1184 sq ft) of living space, and a small but nice garden in the back where the kids can play, splash around, and climb. And where the parents can sunbathe and, as typically German as it sounds, of course grill.
Unfortunately, we have no point of contact at all—neither among friends nor family—who owns a home and can help us with initial questions. So, this is my attempt to get some input from you here.
We have already had a conversation with a financial advisor. The gist is that with our current salary situation, we could finance a house costing about 550,000€ (including property transfer tax, notary fees, etc., the total would be around 650,000€). Browsing well-known portals like immonet, ImmobilienScout, etc., it is already difficult to find something decent within that budget. What other options are there for acquiring existing properties? I assume that the listings that have been on immonet for a while are not the best ones...
There are also several offers for planned properties. My question here is whether someone could roughly estimate what additional costs come up before a property is finally ready to move in.
I know it’s impossible to give exact numbers, but maybe someone could take a quick look and roughly calculate what extra costs on top of the purchase price to expect.
Feel free to share your opinions on prefab houses as well. Since we have no experience with construction projects and no friends or family who know their way around, building ourselves is out of the question.
So the only option is either a prefab house or an existing property.
I hope you can help me a bit.
Thanks and best regards
I would like to start with a brief introduction.
My girlfriend (30) and I (29) currently live with our two small children (2 years and 7 months) in a lovely three-room apartment in Berlin.
We are both employed full-time (she as a special education teacher, I as a chemist), and a few weeks ago we made the final decision to build or buy a small but nice house (already our first question).
The rent for a four-room apartment that we would like here in northern Berlin (Pankow/Weißensee) is at least 1500€ cold rent. After some back and forth, it became clear that we don’t want to go down that path and instead want to get something of our own.
Our dream is to find something in the northernmost parts of Berlin (Karow, Buch, etc.): 5 rooms, 2 bathrooms, at least 110m² (1184 sq ft) of living space, and a small but nice garden in the back where the kids can play, splash around, and climb. And where the parents can sunbathe and, as typically German as it sounds, of course grill.
Unfortunately, we have no point of contact at all—neither among friends nor family—who owns a home and can help us with initial questions. So, this is my attempt to get some input from you here.
We have already had a conversation with a financial advisor. The gist is that with our current salary situation, we could finance a house costing about 550,000€ (including property transfer tax, notary fees, etc., the total would be around 650,000€). Browsing well-known portals like immonet, ImmobilienScout, etc., it is already difficult to find something decent within that budget. What other options are there for acquiring existing properties? I assume that the listings that have been on immonet for a while are not the best ones...
There are also several offers for planned properties. My question here is whether someone could roughly estimate what additional costs come up before a property is finally ready to move in.
I know it’s impossible to give exact numbers, but maybe someone could take a quick look and roughly calculate what extra costs on top of the purchase price to expect.
Feel free to share your opinions on prefab houses as well. Since we have no experience with construction projects and no friends or family who know their way around, building ourselves is out of the question.
So the only option is either a prefab house or an existing property.
I hope you can help me a bit.
Thanks and best regards
bauenmk202025 Apr 2020 17:55vorkalmatador schrieb:
Feel free to share your opinions on these prefabricated houses. Since we unfortunately have no experience with construction projects and no friends or family who are knowledgeable, building on our own is out of the question.
Therefore, the only options are a prefabricated house or an existing property. Prefabricated house = turnkey? -> Until it's actually "finished," the homeowner has to make numerous decisions and ideally oversee the construction process (not necessarily on-site every day, but at least check in during each trade’s work).
Using a developer / buying an existing property would require the least effort.
Can’t you ask some coworkers? I’m not familiar with big cities, but I fear that in the real estate market, an average person without connections has little access.
vorkalmatador schrieb:
Since we unfortunately have no experience with construction projects and no friends or family who are familiar with it, building ourselves is out of the question.
So the only options are prefab house or existing property. What exactly do you mean by "prefab house" – timber frame panels or solid construction?
I would also consider developer-built homes, as these usually come with the land included.
Are there any preferences: detached house, semi-detached house, or terraced house?
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
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hampshire25 Apr 2020 19:07You will need some budget for the landscaping and access path to the house. A few thousand euros can already achieve quite a lot.
People often forget the costs involved with lighting and interior furnishings – here, you can also be very economical and manage under 1000€ by moving many items with you and using inexpensive temporary solutions. More demanding individuals may consider this "impossible."
It is also advisable to keep some reserve funds, as something can always break – even if it is just the washing machine giving out during the move.
The largest expense is often what is not included in the price of a prefabricated house. You need to read very carefully here. Rule: Nothing is guaranteed.
When buying an existing property, it is better to take a professional to check the building condition. It also makes sense to have somewhat larger financial reserves, because if you are unlucky, the heating system or another essential item might break down right away.
People often forget the costs involved with lighting and interior furnishings – here, you can also be very economical and manage under 1000€ by moving many items with you and using inexpensive temporary solutions. More demanding individuals may consider this "impossible."
It is also advisable to keep some reserve funds, as something can always break – even if it is just the washing machine giving out during the move.
The largest expense is often what is not included in the price of a prefabricated house. You need to read very carefully here. Rule: Nothing is guaranteed.
When buying an existing property, it is better to take a professional to check the building condition. It also makes sense to have somewhat larger financial reserves, because if you are unlucky, the heating system or another essential item might break down right away.
hampshire schrieb:
When buying an existing property, it’s better to bring a professional alongWhen considering an existing property, I recommend—also to avoid being worn down by disappointed expectations—a strict and narrowly defined search filter. For non-experts, especially those less experienced, I advise limiting the property age to a maximum of 20 years.https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
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vorkalmatador25 Apr 2020 19:50Thanks in advance for your answers.
By "prefabricated house," I meant ready-made houses. I assumed that you pay a fixed amount and after a certain time, the house is completely finished. But apparently, I was wrong.
First, we need to clarify what options are available.
Regarding point 1), I think there is not much to say since it is relatively straightforward.
Regarding point 2):
My initial research showed that in the area we are interested in, serviced plots of about 440m² (4740 sq ft) are available for €250,000. Additional costs amount to €38,000, making a total of €288,000 for the land.
With the budget I mentioned of €650,000, that would leave roughly €370,000 for building the house.
I have two questions here: Is 440m² (4740 sq ft) enough for a house, garden, and carport? Is €370,000 sufficient to have a house built?
Do you buy the land first and then contact construction companies, or is that done together?
Regarding point 3) How do I find these developer projects? And what exactly do they involve?
Thanks and best regards
By "prefabricated house," I meant ready-made houses. I assumed that you pay a fixed amount and after a certain time, the house is completely finished. But apparently, I was wrong.
First, we need to clarify what options are available.
- Existing property
- Buy a plot of land and then have a construction company build a house
- Developer project (?) Would this be a kind of all-inclusive package, meaning house and land together?
Regarding point 1), I think there is not much to say since it is relatively straightforward.
Regarding point 2):
My initial research showed that in the area we are interested in, serviced plots of about 440m² (4740 sq ft) are available for €250,000. Additional costs amount to €38,000, making a total of €288,000 for the land.
With the budget I mentioned of €650,000, that would leave roughly €370,000 for building the house.
I have two questions here: Is 440m² (4740 sq ft) enough for a house, garden, and carport? Is €370,000 sufficient to have a house built?
Do you buy the land first and then contact construction companies, or is that done together?
Regarding point 3) How do I find these developer projects? And what exactly do they involve?
Thanks and best regards
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