Hello everyone,
Friends of ours have received a very interesting offer from a general contractor. The offer seems almost too good to be true, so we looked up the construction company online. According to Northdata, the company has existed since 2012 and changed its managing director two years ago (probably to his partner). However, the former managing director still acts as the boss and is responsible for planning and selling the houses.
Northdata also shows the network and connections. There is an investment company where the same contact person was managing director until 2018 (also founded in 2012). Now, the same woman is managing director of both companies.
Both companies are registered as limited liability companies with a capital of €25,000 (about 27,000 USD), focusing on construction and real estate sales.
Google provides no references, no client feedback, no building diaries, and generally no information about the two individuals.
This seems quite unprofessional to us, but we don’t want to be overly negative right away.
How can we proceed to get more information? Credit reports?
I’m looking forward to your advice.
Friends of ours have received a very interesting offer from a general contractor. The offer seems almost too good to be true, so we looked up the construction company online. According to Northdata, the company has existed since 2012 and changed its managing director two years ago (probably to his partner). However, the former managing director still acts as the boss and is responsible for planning and selling the houses.
Northdata also shows the network and connections. There is an investment company where the same contact person was managing director until 2018 (also founded in 2012). Now, the same woman is managing director of both companies.
Both companies are registered as limited liability companies with a capital of €25,000 (about 27,000 USD), focusing on construction and real estate sales.
Google provides no references, no client feedback, no building diaries, and generally no information about the two individuals.
This seems quite unprofessional to us, but we don’t want to be overly negative right away.
How can we proceed to get more information? Credit reports?
I’m looking forward to your advice.
PyneBite schrieb:
According to Northdata, this company has existed since 2012 and changed managing directors two years ago (probably his girlfriend). However, the former managing director still acts as the boss and plans/sells the houses.It sounds like he himself has unfortunately lost confidence in the reliability of the 34 series. PyneBite schrieb:
Both companies have a registered capital of €25,000 (they are limited liability companies).An old widespread misconception. What does the most recently published financial statement say about how much of that is actually still available? PyneBite schrieb:
How can one proceed to get more information here? Credit check?I could fill entire comedy nights with information about “me” and “my friends” (or just people with the same name) if it weren’t so sad how poorly the various business credit agencies handle their data. Do you know the thread https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/Bauunternehmen-stellt-arbeiten-trotz-ueberzahlung-ein.31945/?
I would never verify a general contractor or building company based only on paper.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
N
nordanney3 Jun 2020 17:04PyneBite schrieb:
That seems quite untrustworthy to us, but of course, we don’t want to be immediately negative. What exactly seems untrustworthy?
PyneBite schrieb:
Both companies have a registered capital of €25,000 (are GmbHs). That’s the formal share capital. Developer balance sheets / general contractor balance sheets, however, are not really meaningful. Down payments, work in progress, liabilities from goods and services, etc. — even a skilled credit analyst would find it difficult to make sense of that. One year there might be a loss of 5 million, and the next year a profit of 10 million.
PyneBite schrieb:
How can you find more information here? Credit checks (Schufa)? References, references, references, and your personal impression. Quality of answers, responsiveness, and so on.
H
HilfeHilfe3 Jun 2020 18:56Maybe check out the latest projects or current ones. But please do not ask the general contractor for addresses. This way, you get insider information firsthand. Someone once said that companies in the construction industry always try to make themselves look financially strained.
HilfeHilfe schrieb:
Someone once said that companies in the construction industry always underestimate their costs.Hmm, I thought that was true for any industry.11ant schrieb:
That sounds like he unfortunately lost faith in the reliability of the 34 model himself You’re speaking in riddles, my friend.
nordanney schrieb:
What do you mean by unprofessional? He basically offers an A6 quattro at the price of a Dacia. Around 50,000 € (about $54,000) cheaper than affordable solid construction house suppliers like Team Massivhaus or Heinz von Heiden.
nordanney schrieb:
References, references, references and the personal impression. Quality of answers, speed, etc. I obviously can’t judge that since I wasn’t involved in the conversation. And you can’t find any references at all!
HilfeHilfe schrieb:
Maybe check recent or ongoing projects. But please don’t ask the general contractor for addresses. And how else would he get those references? Sure, we can drive around current new development areas, but a house that is not yet finished is simply not finished yet.