ᐅ Single-family house, estimated costs, and layout suggestions

Just to start with:
If I’m looking for an apartment for a family of five, for example, I can’t move into a 3-room apartment with 75m² (800 sq ft) just because it might be 150 euros cheaper. In that case, I need to ensure that more budget is available. But first, I should know what the larger apartment actually costs. It might be that I can only increase the budget by a small amount.

The same probably applies to a house. It wouldn’t make sense to build a house with 120m² (1,290 sq ft), as that would be about the same size as the current apartment (but then I would have roughly 150 euros per month in extra costs for the next 15 years). The next problem is if I had to heat with oil or gas, I would face additional expenses due to rising fossil fuel prices in the coming years. So it might not be worthwhile.
Therefore, the goal is to find out the actual costs of a suitable house with appropriate heating, etc., and whether the monthly payments would realistically increase within an acceptable range or not.
Some points may certainly apply. But for me personally, I don’t want to do things halfway. I need to know exactly what will happen beforehand. Being informed is simply sensible and, in my opinion, necessary.
For that reason, I will not enter into any construction contracts or similar agreements if the finances are not clear or the conditions don’t remotely fit.
In the worst case, I might just stay in a rental apartment for life (which of course has the advantage that you could theoretically move regularly).

The budget I initially set was just an estimate. Thanks to your hints, I now have a better understanding. It should also be said that it is partly feasible, as Schdin also mentioned.

Best regards
Zeiti

Sorry, but Schdin hasn’t started building yet. Everything here is still based on strong belief and hope. He might be able to tell you the final cost of his planning in about a year.

I agree with Musketier. First, set your financial limits. Then plan accordingly. And with three children, your budget needs to be solid, or your equity high enough.
If your finances only allow for 130 sqm (1400 sq ft), then that’s the maximum you can build.

We built a prefabricated house, and it has 150 sqm (1615 sq ft). Theoretically, three children’s rooms, no basement, gas condensing boiler, solar system, and mechanical ventilation with heat recovery. KfW55 standard, and the house alone cost €235,000. Without the land and additional building-related costs (which amounted to almost €40,000 more). We also invested quite a bit of own labor, and even so, it couldn’t have been much cheaper. Maybe another €20,000 if we had left out the ventilation system and the fireplace. The rest are fixed costs.

@Der Da: This looks much better to me now. This way, I can also realistically picture the costs.

As I said, if the price ends up around €250,000 plus additional construction costs and the land, then I can consider a total amount of about €360,000. That’s an amount I can really work with. Of course, I will only get exact figures once I have the land and the final plans. But at least now I can say it’s within the realm of possibility. That was basically what I wanted to know. I have received quite a few suggestions. Thanks to Schdin for the plans. They look great! Hopefully it works out for you too!

BUT without a basement and garage...
We keep very detailed records of every expense, including the fuel costs that accumulate from the almost daily driving back and forth.
We’re soon approaching €300,000 (about $320,000) excluding the land. A few pieces of furniture, a dozen lamps, etc., also need to be purchased. People often underestimate how much these extras add up in the end.

And the outdoor landscaping hasn’t been done yet either.

Zeiti schrieb:
To start with:
If I’m looking for an apartment for a family of five, I can’t move into a 3-room apartment with 75m² (800 ft²) just because it might be 150 euros cheaper. In that case, I need to make sure there is a larger budget available. But first, I should really know what the bigger apartment actually costs. Maybe I can only manage a slight increase in my budget.

I think you still don’t quite understand what this is about.
There are 150m² (1,615 ft²) apartments in older buildings that are partly renovated for 6€/m² (0.56 $/ft²) with a 900€ rent,
there are 150m² (1,615 ft²) luxury new builds for 20€/m² (1.86 $/ft²) = 3,000€ rent, and
there are 45m² (484 ft²) luxury new builds for 20€/m² (1.86 $/ft²) = 900€ rent.

You go to apartment viewings and of course you like the 150m² luxury apartment.
You finalize everything with the landlord, plan your furniture into the floor plan, and only at the very end do you check what you can afford monthly. And then you realize your monthly budget is only 900€. Kind of the wrong approach, right?
With children, the 45m² luxury apartment is too small, so the partly renovated older building will have to do.

To apply this to your example:
If you have a budget of 260,000€ and need 150m² (1,615 ft²), then you probably have to accept compromises in other areas. So there is no “luxury.” A double garage becomes just a parking space, and the basement turns into a slab foundation. Since there is no longer space for the pellet heating system, it will be replaced by a gas condensing boiler. For that, the utility room has to be larger, because the heating system now suddenly has to fit in there.
Since you don’t want to do anything halfway, you have already pointed out your alternative: → keep paying rent.

Also, 250,000€ plus additional construction costs will not be enough for 150m² plus a basement if you had added up the numbers.

Our self-set starting budget was 230,000€, now it’s 280,000€.
And painfully the chimney was already cut, and the garage-carport combination is planned for later.

First of all, Schdin is female and already has the construction contract with cost calculation fixed at this price. I find it alarming how everything is constantly being dismissed here as theoretically impossible.

In the end, our financing is secured, the plot is available, and our house was offered to us by the developer as a turnkey project for 287,000. It turned out a bit larger than planned but remains within the financing scope. We have about 160 sqm (1,722 sq ft) including a finished room in the basement... After deducting our own contributions, as mentioned, the cost is 245,000.

So, that was the word for the weekend.