ᐅ "Traditional" Approach to Selecting a Contractor – To-Do List
Created on: 29 Jul 2020 18:38
M
Mlt1402
Dear Forum,
Now that the ink on the notarized contract for the land purchase (in 64625 Bensheim) has dried, we visited the prefabricated house center in Mannheim for the first time and feel overwhelmed by all the options.
At first glance, we don’t see major differences between the providers—promotional videos and catalogs, of course, only show the positive aspects. On the other hand, you can find some negative comments and reviews online about almost every provider. Moreover, I find it risky to choose a supplier solely based on one consultant.
Without solid reasons, there were still a few prefabricated house manufacturers we felt “sympathetic” towards. These are Bien-Zenker, Weiss, Schwabenhaus, Bittermann and Weiss, Fingerhaus, Hanse, and Weberhaus.
In addition, there are two regional concrete (or masonry) builders we had good initial contact with.
The question we’re asking ourselves is: what is the best way to proceed now?
Should we narrow down our selection or even widen the circle? Should we have a consultation with every company? Should each company plan a house based on our wishes so we can make a meaningful price comparison?
We are at a loss.
Therefore, I hope to receive some tips from you. Is there an approach that has proven effective? How did you proceed?
I look forward to your input.
Best regards and have a pleasant evening
Now that the ink on the notarized contract for the land purchase (in 64625 Bensheim) has dried, we visited the prefabricated house center in Mannheim for the first time and feel overwhelmed by all the options.
At first glance, we don’t see major differences between the providers—promotional videos and catalogs, of course, only show the positive aspects. On the other hand, you can find some negative comments and reviews online about almost every provider. Moreover, I find it risky to choose a supplier solely based on one consultant.
Without solid reasons, there were still a few prefabricated house manufacturers we felt “sympathetic” towards. These are Bien-Zenker, Weiss, Schwabenhaus, Bittermann and Weiss, Fingerhaus, Hanse, and Weberhaus.
In addition, there are two regional concrete (or masonry) builders we had good initial contact with.
The question we’re asking ourselves is: what is the best way to proceed now?
Should we narrow down our selection or even widen the circle? Should we have a consultation with every company? Should each company plan a house based on our wishes so we can make a meaningful price comparison?
We are at a loss.
Therefore, I hope to receive some tips from you. Is there an approach that has proven effective? How did you proceed?
I look forward to your input.
Best regards and have a pleasant evening
FoxMulder24 schrieb:
My brother-in-law signed something like that... just to quickly secure the lower price before the price increase.
It didn’t matter that he didn’t even have a plot of land yet. They are happy to help with the search as well.
But that’s a (horror) story on its own. Those kinds of people must exist, otherwise the pressure wouldn’t still be so intense nowadays.
P
pagoni20205 Aug 2020 12:17Well… and since this type of person has already tried their luck in car sales and insurance, and wouldn’t want to get their hands dirty picking asparagus, they now attempt to quickly sell a dream house to anyone who stands in their way.
A brief update.
We have already had an initial conversation with a well-established local company. For a classic single-family house without many extras, the price came to at least €550,000 (170m2 (1830 sq ft) with a basement). Even without a basement, it would hardly have been any cheaper. That really shocked us. Unfortunately, that is beyond our budget. We have €420,000 available for a house with 170m2 (1830 sq ft) without a basement and without landscaping, including additional construction costs.
Other companies had given us more hopeful estimates and rough price ranges beforehand.
After some good phone calls, we have now narrowed down the options a bit and are currently in discussions with two more local companies as well as the following prefabricated home manufacturers: Schwabenhaus, Fingerhaus, Hanse Haus, Rensch-Haus, and Bittermann and Weiß.
After these discussions, we want to narrow down the choices further, focus more on the details, and continue planning. In these conversations, we also plan to openly share our wishes and see how the sellers respond.
I am always open to further advice! Thanks in advance for your input.
We have already had an initial conversation with a well-established local company. For a classic single-family house without many extras, the price came to at least €550,000 (170m2 (1830 sq ft) with a basement). Even without a basement, it would hardly have been any cheaper. That really shocked us. Unfortunately, that is beyond our budget. We have €420,000 available for a house with 170m2 (1830 sq ft) without a basement and without landscaping, including additional construction costs.
Other companies had given us more hopeful estimates and rough price ranges beforehand.
After some good phone calls, we have now narrowed down the options a bit and are currently in discussions with two more local companies as well as the following prefabricated home manufacturers: Schwabenhaus, Fingerhaus, Hanse Haus, Rensch-Haus, and Bittermann and Weiß.
After these discussions, we want to narrow down the choices further, focus more on the details, and continue planning. In these conversations, we also plan to openly share our wishes and see how the sellers respond.
I am always open to further advice! Thanks in advance for your input.
So, you now have eight providers to choose from (?), which in my opinion is still borderline too many at this stage. Have you gained more clarity or confusion so far?
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
Mlt1402 schrieb:
A brief update.
We already had an initial meeting with a reputable local company. For a classic single-family house without many extras, the price started at a minimum of €550,000 (170m2 (1,830 sq ft) with a basement). It would hardly have been cheaper without the basement. We were quite shocked by that. Unfortunately, that’s a price range we cannot reach. For a 170m2 (1,830 sq ft) house without a basement and without landscaping, including additional construction costs, we have a budget of €420,000.
Other companies had raised more hope beforehand and provided rough price estimates.
After some good phone conversations, we’ve already narrowed down the options somewhat and are now in talks with two other regional companies as well as the following prefab home manufacturers: Schwabenhaus, Fingerhaus, Hanse Haus, Rensch-Haus, and Bittermann and Weiß.
After these discussions, we want to narrow the circle further, focus more on details, and continue planning. During these talks, we also want to openly share our wishes and see how the sellers respond.
I’m always open to further tips! Thanks in advance for your input. Hmm, €550,000 (approx. $600,000) with a basement for 170m2 (1,830 sq ft) can be possible. Honestly, I think that’s a bit high, and you should be able to get a better price from another local company. The question is: what exactly is included in that price? Prices can be quite misleading. Some companies include excavation work or additional services like surveying, etc.
You definitely need to check that carefully first. In general, you have to compare apples to apples. The quality of the house could be significantly better. It’s important to review and compare the building and service specifications!
€420,000 (approx. $460,000) for that size of house INCLUDING additional construction costs??? That’s impossible with any manufacturer, trust me. You will have to quickly adjust your expectations.
A fair rough estimate for what you’re looking for, EXCLUDING additional construction costs, is about €500,000 (approx. $540,000). Then there are the additional construction costs, which can quickly add up to around €60,000 (approx. $65,000) – and that still doesn’t include landscaping.
Please don’t be misled by prefab home companies claiming low prices. They simply cannot build for that price in reality. In the end, prefab homes often turn out to be more expensive than a local solid construction builder when it really counts.
In conclusion, here’s my advice: don’t get fooled by prefab home companies. They lure you in with low prices. Your solid construction builder will be upfront about what the final costs will be from the start. That’s the experience we’ve had ourselves… You need to stay realistic and not be tempted.
We also visited several prefabricated house providers and went quite far in the process, almost reaching a contract signing.
The original budget of 350,000€ quickly rose to 420,000€. We couldn’t find it any cheaper elsewhere. However, we knew that an additional 10% or so would be added since many things were not included. So, we might have ended up around 450,000€, WITHOUT additional construction-related costs.
Our house had 140m² (1,507 sq ft) according to the providers, including a basement.
The original budget of 350,000€ quickly rose to 420,000€. We couldn’t find it any cheaper elsewhere. However, we knew that an additional 10% or so would be added since many things were not included. So, we might have ended up around 450,000€, WITHOUT additional construction-related costs.
Our house had 140m² (1,507 sq ft) according to the providers, including a basement.
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