ᐅ Single-Family Home – New Construction Project from Day One – And the Planning Begins
Created on: 7 Feb 2020 22:54
D
DaSch17
Hello dear community,
For the past few weeks, I have been following this forum and have already gathered some valuable tips for our own planning.
I would like to use this thread to keep you updated from the very first day of planning until moving in. I hope to receive some valuable advice from the community and that this thread can also serve as a guide for other first-time homebuilders.
Now, a bit about our building project:
As mentioned, we are still quite early in the process...
It all started, as it probably does for most, with requesting a catalog from a prefabricated house company. In our case, it was FingerHaus around mid-December.
This was followed by a phone call with a sales representative from the mentioned company and arranging a first consultation. This appointment is scheduled for Sunday, 09.02.2020.
Since then, we have been intensively working on budget planning, possible floor plans and building plots, as well as ideal typical living space layouts.
So far, we have not purchased a plot yet. However, we are in contact with a municipality that is currently planning an expansion of a new residential area. Fortunately, this allowed us to help decide the size, location, and shape of our future plot. Our desired plot is reserved for us.
Key details of our planned single-family home:
– Location: Southwestphalia, Siegen-Wittgenstein district
– Living area: 179 sqm (1,925 sq ft)
– Concrete slab foundation
– Gable roof
– 1.5 stories with gable roof
– Single garage with extended length for tools/storage room
Our budget:
– Plot including property transfer tax: 70,000 EUR
– Construction costs: 470,000 EUR
– Additional construction costs including earthworks: 70,000 EUR
Our schedule:
– By May 2021: Selection of the construction company
– By July 2021: Contract signing, building permit / planning permission application
– By July 2023: Completion of construction work
– By October 2023: Completion of owner-performed work (painting and flooring) and move-in
We understand that the start of construction depends on the delivery time of the prefab house company, which can vary between 6 and 24 months.
We have now selected 8 different companies with whom we want to conduct initial meetings:
– FingerHaus
– Hanse Haus
– SchwörerHaus
– Bien-Zenker
– Schäfer Haus (contact via family)
– Büdenbender Haus
– WeberHaus
– a local developer
After these initial talks, we want to proceed with more detailed discussions with 4 of these providers.
–––––––––––––––––––
What should we pay attention to during the initial meetings? What is particularly important? Should we disclose our budget to the sales representatives?
For the past few weeks, I have been following this forum and have already gathered some valuable tips for our own planning.
I would like to use this thread to keep you updated from the very first day of planning until moving in. I hope to receive some valuable advice from the community and that this thread can also serve as a guide for other first-time homebuilders.
Now, a bit about our building project:
As mentioned, we are still quite early in the process...
It all started, as it probably does for most, with requesting a catalog from a prefabricated house company. In our case, it was FingerHaus around mid-December.
This was followed by a phone call with a sales representative from the mentioned company and arranging a first consultation. This appointment is scheduled for Sunday, 09.02.2020.
Since then, we have been intensively working on budget planning, possible floor plans and building plots, as well as ideal typical living space layouts.
So far, we have not purchased a plot yet. However, we are in contact with a municipality that is currently planning an expansion of a new residential area. Fortunately, this allowed us to help decide the size, location, and shape of our future plot. Our desired plot is reserved for us.
Key details of our planned single-family home:
– Location: Southwestphalia, Siegen-Wittgenstein district
– Living area: 179 sqm (1,925 sq ft)
– Concrete slab foundation
– Gable roof
– 1.5 stories with gable roof
– Single garage with extended length for tools/storage room
Our budget:
– Plot including property transfer tax: 70,000 EUR
– Construction costs: 470,000 EUR
– Additional construction costs including earthworks: 70,000 EUR
Our schedule:
– By May 2021: Selection of the construction company
– By July 2021: Contract signing, building permit / planning permission application
– By July 2023: Completion of construction work
– By October 2023: Completion of owner-performed work (painting and flooring) and move-in
We understand that the start of construction depends on the delivery time of the prefab house company, which can vary between 6 and 24 months.
We have now selected 8 different companies with whom we want to conduct initial meetings:
– FingerHaus
– Hanse Haus
– SchwörerHaus
– Bien-Zenker
– Schäfer Haus (contact via family)
– Büdenbender Haus
– WeberHaus
– a local developer
After these initial talks, we want to proceed with more detailed discussions with 4 of these providers.
–––––––––––––––––––
What should we pay attention to during the initial meetings? What is particularly important? Should we disclose our budget to the sales representatives?
Alessandro schrieb:
The choice of the chimney should be decided beforehand, as the route of the chimney pipe (and the ventilation duct if you choose that option) through the upper floor can cause issues. You can always reduce its size later if needed. As mentioned, the planning in #200 was only for initial cost calculation. We haven’t started the floor plan design with the architect yet. The next step will be to do exactly that and discuss this point with him in detail.
Elokine schrieb:
A 5-month construction period until moving in is quite short. Was that timeline promised to you? Don’t such schedules usually arise from the desire, like in our case, to "spend Christmas in our own home"?
No, seriously… Depending on when the building permit / planning permission is granted, we might be able to start 2 months earlier. But if we can only move in by February/March 2022, that’s fine too.
DaSch17 schrieb:
Otherwise, the current schedule looks like this:
- Early September 2020: Decision on construction partner and signing of planning contract
- By October 2020: Written reservation of the plot followed by soil survey and land surveying
- By December 2020: Purchase of the plot, completion of detailed planning, and finalization of construction financingHow secure is the situation with the plot? Personally, I would definitely wait for the purchase contract of the plot before proceeding with the construction company. In the worst case, a godchild of the mayor might claim your plot, and you could end up with the right house on the wrong plot.
@OWLer
You are right. So far, we have only been able to make a verbal reservation and are waiting for the opportunity to make it official. The construction partner we will likely choose continues working with us and on the detailed planning without any contractual basis (at their own risk).
The construction contract with the general contractor (GC) is usually signed only 2-3 months before the assembly date. To complete the building permit/planning permission documents, a planning agreement is signed with the GC.
However, we will only sign the planning agreement after purchasing the plot.
Therefore, we basically have no legal risks. In the unlikely worst-case scenario, it would just be lost time, but even then, we would have already gained a lot of knowledge and experience for the next steps.
You are right. So far, we have only been able to make a verbal reservation and are waiting for the opportunity to make it official. The construction partner we will likely choose continues working with us and on the detailed planning without any contractual basis (at their own risk).
The construction contract with the general contractor (GC) is usually signed only 2-3 months before the assembly date. To complete the building permit/planning permission documents, a planning agreement is signed with the GC.
However, we will only sign the planning agreement after purchasing the plot.
Therefore, we basically have no legal risks. In the unlikely worst-case scenario, it would just be lost time, but even then, we would have already gained a lot of knowledge and experience for the next steps.
DaSch17 schrieb:
As mentioned, the plan from #200 was only used for cost estimation. We haven’t even started the floor plan design with the architect yet.The price differences suggest that the selection process is probably not fully ready for the tender yet.DaSch17 schrieb:
The fixed-price contract with the general contractor is usually signed only 2-3 months before the installation date.Then they should already have initial production slots available for you the next day.https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
11ant schrieb:
The price differences suggest that the selections are not yet fully ready for tendering. The final selection phase takes place during the detailed planning stage, which is starting now. For the trades where the final selections are still pending, preliminary estimates based on experience have been applied:
Electrical installation: 16,550 EUR (approx. 18,400 USD)
Rough installation and sanitary fixtures: 27,110 EUR (approx. 30,200 USD)
The house price is a fixed price and binding for the general contractor (GC) from the start of planning commissioning. It includes all other trades except for tiling, floor coverings, painting, and plastering.
Therefore, the price differences are because provider 1 is a small local GC, while the other two are large nationwide prefabricated house manufacturers. In addition, the difference between provider 1 and 2 is only 16,000 EUR (approx. 17,800 USD). Provider 3 has indicated that a significant discount on the quoted final price is possible...
However, it is possible that material price increases may occur between the offer submission and the signing of the planning contract, which would then be passed on to us.
11ant schrieb:
Then they would likely already have initial production slots available for you the next day. It’s roughly like that. If we proceed with them now, the company will reserve one of the 10-15 production slots in their 2021 schedule for us.
This is a former small carpentry business from the region that has specialized in single-family home construction for 15 years. As a result, a lot of cooperation is based on mutual trust.
Two acquaintances of ours have also built with this GC and are very satisfied. Commitments were always kept. There were no hidden costs or significant subsequent price increases.
DaSch17 schrieb:
This is a former small carpentry company from the region that has specialized in building single-family homes for the past 15 years.I was just about to ask you via private message if you had mentioned this before, but once again, it’s not working :-(https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/