ᐅ Prefab house or traditional brick-and-mortar house: which construction company to choose?
Created on: 20 Dec 2012 19:33
B
Bari
Good evening everyone,
My girlfriend and I are expecting our first child in May and need—or rather want—to move out of our rental apartment quickly, as it unfortunately lacks a room for a child. So we have been considering building a house, but we still have some questions.
Let me start with what we have in mind:
- The house should be around 120 to 180 sq meters (1300 to 1900 sq ft), more or less.
- A basement is a must.
- Double garage or garage plus possibly a carport.
- We are still undecided between 1½ or 2 stories.
- Plot size at least 500 sq meters (5400 sq ft).
- ...
- ... (Surely there’s something important we forgot)
Prefab house or masonry/concrete house—what are the exact pros and cons?
Price should not exceed 350,000 euros including the land (own capital is available).
I would be happy to receive plenty of answers!
Best regards
Bari
My girlfriend and I are expecting our first child in May and need—or rather want—to move out of our rental apartment quickly, as it unfortunately lacks a room for a child. So we have been considering building a house, but we still have some questions.
Let me start with what we have in mind:
- The house should be around 120 to 180 sq meters (1300 to 1900 sq ft), more or less.
- A basement is a must.
- Double garage or garage plus possibly a carport.
- We are still undecided between 1½ or 2 stories.
- Plot size at least 500 sq meters (5400 sq ft).
- ...
- ... (Surely there’s something important we forgot)
Prefab house or masonry/concrete house—what are the exact pros and cons?
Price should not exceed 350,000 euros including the land (own capital is available).
I would be happy to receive plenty of answers!
Best regards
Bari
You probably won’t like this answer. Your budget doesn’t match your expectations. Depending on where you want to build and the cost of the land, there might not be much left for the house itself.
Garage about 20,000,
Basement about 50,000,
Land 50,000 to 150,000,
Additional construction costs 35,000,
Floors and wallpaper done by yourself around 8,000.
That might only leave room for a small house.
And it usually doesn’t go quickly either. With good builders, you can expect to wait at least a year.
Sorry.
Garage about 20,000,
Basement about 50,000,
Land 50,000 to 150,000,
Additional construction costs 35,000,
Floors and wallpaper done by yourself around 8,000.
That might only leave room for a small house.
And it usually doesn’t go quickly either. With good builders, you can expect to wait at least a year.
Sorry.
Thanks first of all for your reply!
However, I don’t quite understand one thing, because I check Immobilienscout24 almost every day, and there are many construction companies / agents offering to build solid or prefabricated houses for 300,000 to 350,000 euros including construction. Maybe you can clarify this for me?
Best regards
However, I don’t quite understand one thing, because I check Immobilienscout24 almost every day, and there are many construction companies / agents offering to build solid or prefabricated houses for 300,000 to 350,000 euros including construction. Maybe you can clarify this for me?
Best regards
B
Bauexperte20 Dec 2012 22:54Hello,
There are quite a few who enter the market with a starting price of €850.00/sqm (approx. $90/sqft) of living space... in the end – if both ends are meant to match in quality – you will be at around €1,500.00/sqm (approx. $160/sqft) of living space for a KfW 70 energy-efficient house, plus land, additional construction costs of €35,000 (approx. $38,000), reserves for additional foundation costs, garage, and extra reserves!
Kind regards
Bari schrieb:
... and there are many construction companies / brokers with whom you can build a solid or prefabricated house for 300,000 to 350,000 euros including construction, maybe you can clarify this for me?
There are quite a few who enter the market with a starting price of €850.00/sqm (approx. $90/sqft) of living space... in the end – if both ends are meant to match in quality – you will be at around €1,500.00/sqm (approx. $160/sqft) of living space for a KfW 70 energy-efficient house, plus land, additional construction costs of €35,000 (approx. $38,000), reserves for additional foundation costs, garage, and extra reserves!
Kind regards
I compared several prefab house suppliers and am now building a house without a basement for 235,000 (about 260,000 including approximately 40,000 in additional construction-related costs, of which around 10,000 are unusual). So roughly 260,000 just for the house with nearly 150 m² (1,615 sq ft) of living space.
The other suppliers were in a similar price range, maybe 10,000 less for the base price, but then other aspects didn’t match, like the standard fittings or the costs for our special requests. We had one much cheaper option, a solid construction provider. However, their construction specification had quite a few gaps, and I’m quite sure in the end we would have ended up close to the same total cost, plus a longer construction period.
A basement was offered for 40,000, but after the soil survey the price went up to 50,000. This would bring me to around 310,000 now. Double garages are also expensive—budget around 16,000 to 20,000—and good carports don’t get any cheaper. And there are quite a few additional costs on top of the land price... about 8% in total.
And if you’re unlucky and buy both from the same company, you may have to pay property transfer tax on the total sum, meaning both the land and the house. That really stings.
I’m almost certain that with your plans, you’ll end up with a figure starting with a 4. We’ve nearly reached that already, and that’s without a basement or garage. There are so many small extras that all cost something, which quickly adds up to thousands. Land is much more expensive here. If I’m reading it correctly, land costs you about 100 €/m² (10 €/sq ft).
If you want precise figures, make an appointment with a scout, and ask them to list all extra costs. How much does redesigning the floor plan cost? Which tiles and bathroom fittings are included? Ask for manufacturer names that are part of the standard package. Commonly omitted items are outdoor faucets, base plaster, exterior lighting, often too few power outlets are included, and often not enough windows in the standard package, and so on. It’s easy to hide a lot of extra costs after signing the contract.
That’s our experience, at least. Our house was finally erected three weeks ago after an 11-month wait, and we’re satisfied. Quality came at a price, although not everything was perfect during the construction process. I’m no longer wearing rose-colored glasses.
The other suppliers were in a similar price range, maybe 10,000 less for the base price, but then other aspects didn’t match, like the standard fittings or the costs for our special requests. We had one much cheaper option, a solid construction provider. However, their construction specification had quite a few gaps, and I’m quite sure in the end we would have ended up close to the same total cost, plus a longer construction period.
A basement was offered for 40,000, but after the soil survey the price went up to 50,000. This would bring me to around 310,000 now. Double garages are also expensive—budget around 16,000 to 20,000—and good carports don’t get any cheaper. And there are quite a few additional costs on top of the land price... about 8% in total.
And if you’re unlucky and buy both from the same company, you may have to pay property transfer tax on the total sum, meaning both the land and the house. That really stings.
I’m almost certain that with your plans, you’ll end up with a figure starting with a 4. We’ve nearly reached that already, and that’s without a basement or garage. There are so many small extras that all cost something, which quickly adds up to thousands. Land is much more expensive here. If I’m reading it correctly, land costs you about 100 €/m² (10 €/sq ft).
If you want precise figures, make an appointment with a scout, and ask them to list all extra costs. How much does redesigning the floor plan cost? Which tiles and bathroom fittings are included? Ask for manufacturer names that are part of the standard package. Commonly omitted items are outdoor faucets, base plaster, exterior lighting, often too few power outlets are included, and often not enough windows in the standard package, and so on. It’s easy to hide a lot of extra costs after signing the contract.
That’s our experience, at least. Our house was finally erected three weeks ago after an 11-month wait, and we’re satisfied. Quality came at a price, although not everything was perfect during the construction process. I’m no longer wearing rose-colored glasses.
Thank you both!!!
@ Der Da: To me, this sounds quite worrying when I read it like this, well!
Which construction company (subcontractor/license partner) did you build with, if you don’t mind me asking?
In our case, since the baby is on the way, we want to move out of the apartment as soon as possible. That’s why we looked at houses that are already built, but it’s really hard to find something suitable. The location has to be right, and of course the house itself (both exterior and interior) needs to fit. And since these houses don’t come cheap (usually between 250,000 and 300,000 euros, approximately), we thought, why not build ourselves? Hmm, really difficult!!!
Well, for weeks now I have been almost daily on the internet trying to find good and reliable construction companies in my area, but it’s not as easy as you probably know, well.
The first company I came across was Town & Country, their houses look really nice, built to KfW55 and KfW70 energy efficiency standards, and on average (according to ads) cost about 300,000 euros including shipping plus basement and garage!
Unfortunately, I have read quite a few negative reviews so far, from 'poor quality' to 'unreliable,' and others said that the builder isn’t actually Town & Country but some subcontractor in my area!
Did you research Town & Country BEFORE building your house, and can you tell me what you think about them?
There are really many construction companies, from Town & Country to Okal Haus and Massivhaus, etc. I really don’t know anymore who could be a good choice, it’s really difficult!!!
Best regards
@ Der Da: To me, this sounds quite worrying when I read it like this, well!
Which construction company (subcontractor/license partner) did you build with, if you don’t mind me asking?
In our case, since the baby is on the way, we want to move out of the apartment as soon as possible. That’s why we looked at houses that are already built, but it’s really hard to find something suitable. The location has to be right, and of course the house itself (both exterior and interior) needs to fit. And since these houses don’t come cheap (usually between 250,000 and 300,000 euros, approximately), we thought, why not build ourselves? Hmm, really difficult!!!
Well, for weeks now I have been almost daily on the internet trying to find good and reliable construction companies in my area, but it’s not as easy as you probably know, well.
The first company I came across was Town & Country, their houses look really nice, built to KfW55 and KfW70 energy efficiency standards, and on average (according to ads) cost about 300,000 euros including shipping plus basement and garage!
Unfortunately, I have read quite a few negative reviews so far, from 'poor quality' to 'unreliable,' and others said that the builder isn’t actually Town & Country but some subcontractor in my area!
Did you research Town & Country BEFORE building your house, and can you tell me what you think about them?
There are really many construction companies, from Town & Country to Okal Haus and Massivhaus, etc. I really don’t know anymore who could be a good choice, it’s really difficult!!!
Best regards
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