ᐅ Semi-detached house: two contracts (landowner and construction company)

Hello everyone,

it’s me again... but you advised me so well last time that I backed out of my last house purchase attempt (rightly so!). Now I have something new, and here too there seem to be one or two potential pitfalls. It is a semi-detached house (a total of 12 are being built). The seller is a real estate agency. The land belongs to an investor and is being legally divided. There will be two contracts: one with the landowner for the purchase of the land and one with the construction company (contract for work). The notarized purchase contract covers the total price package (just over 600,000 plus additional costs). Since this is a so-called initiator model (never heard of it before, but according to the marketer it is common), extras can be added afterwards—for example, an additional bathroom. These costs are then charged separately and added on, with so-called layout variants offered. The advantage is that property transfer tax and notary fees are only calculated on the base package. The savings are limited. Depending on the chosen variants, the price increases by another 15,000-20,000, depending on what you want.

I spoke with a lawyer who advised me to stay away. Why? Because you sign two contracts and could face difficulties deciding from whom to claim warranty if something goes wrong. What do you think? The company seems reputable, and my impression is that this is a common approach, but apparently it is not a developer in the usual sense. Anyway, I’m uncertain whether this is a good idea. I could reserve now. For that, I would have to pay 1,000 euros, which I would get back if I withdraw from the reservation within four weeks. These four weeks are intended for clarifying financing, further consultations and planning discussions, and the notarization appointment. Is this reasonable? Otherwise, everything looks okay so far; the house and land are fine (260 sqm (2800 sq ft)). I think building myself (I am still on the waiting list for a building plot) wouldn’t be cheaper, and existing properties are usually just as expensive if not more so. I have an appointment this Saturday to look at a smaller terraced house (125 sqm (1350 sq ft) versus 140 sqm (1500 sq ft) like in this offer). First, it is considerably older and the price is also around 600k. Oh, one thing that surprised me about this offer: the construction period from the start of building (planned from September—planning permission should already be granted) is 20 months. That seems quite long to me. So moving in would only be possible in about two years.

Best regards, Hubi