ᐅ Stopping or pausing a home construction project? Costs too high
Created on: 23 Nov 2021 12:06
C
Coffee82
Good morning,
My husband and I want to build a house.
We already have the plot of land. We are now facing an unpleasant situation.
We planned the house roughly with an architect, which went very quickly.
No building permit / planning permission has been applied for yet, and no detailed execution plan has been made.
The architect provided a cost estimate that surprised us a lot.
Of course, we had previously asked acquaintances, friends, and family members about the costs of their construction projects.
Obviously, we only considered recent projects.
The architect’s estimate is more than double what we initially expected—around 4500-5000€/sqm (420-465 USD/sqft).
After this, we consulted a few others locally and two from a bit further away. Everyone seems to agree on the construction costs.
I’m not allowed to share the documents here, but there is really nothing unusual. It’s a KW40+ house with 198 sqm (2132 sqft) of living and usable space, plus a double garage attached to the left side of the house. Of course, no basement.
The specifications given to the architect were average and typical. No marble floors, no smart home features. A simple house like my uncle’s, just new.
It looks like the house will cost around 1 million euros. On top of that, of course, there are additional costs such as fees for the architect, landscaping, etc. Together with the land, the total is so high that we neither can finance it nor afford to pay it.
Unfortunately, the architect had to do quite some work before he could estimate the costs.
Now we are worried that if we cancel the project, the architect will want 15,000 to 20,000 euros for the work he has already done.
What would you do in our place?
Best regards,
Coffee82
My husband and I want to build a house.
We already have the plot of land. We are now facing an unpleasant situation.
We planned the house roughly with an architect, which went very quickly.
No building permit / planning permission has been applied for yet, and no detailed execution plan has been made.
The architect provided a cost estimate that surprised us a lot.
Of course, we had previously asked acquaintances, friends, and family members about the costs of their construction projects.
Obviously, we only considered recent projects.
The architect’s estimate is more than double what we initially expected—around 4500-5000€/sqm (420-465 USD/sqft).
After this, we consulted a few others locally and two from a bit further away. Everyone seems to agree on the construction costs.
I’m not allowed to share the documents here, but there is really nothing unusual. It’s a KW40+ house with 198 sqm (2132 sqft) of living and usable space, plus a double garage attached to the left side of the house. Of course, no basement.
The specifications given to the architect were average and typical. No marble floors, no smart home features. A simple house like my uncle’s, just new.
It looks like the house will cost around 1 million euros. On top of that, of course, there are additional costs such as fees for the architect, landscaping, etc. Together with the land, the total is so high that we neither can finance it nor afford to pay it.
Unfortunately, the architect had to do quite some work before he could estimate the costs.
Now we are worried that if we cancel the project, the architect will want 15,000 to 20,000 euros for the work he has already done.
What would you do in our place?
Best regards,
Coffee82
Oetzberger schrieb:
You can take the architect’s floor plan and go to various general contractors to get a fixed price quote. We don’t even know how valuable his floor plan is.
He simply put our wishes regarding the rooms, size, and location within the house onto paper, created a 3D model, and added some facade cladding.
At the moment, it’s more on a conceptual level.
No structural engineer has reviewed it yet. There is also no building permit / planning permission.
It’s possible that a general contractor might say, “Nice, but this can’t be built as it is.”
Then the planning or redesigning process has to start all over again.
O
Oetzberger23 Nov 2021 13:01RotorMotor schrieb:
I see it completely differently.Well then, show your payback calculation.Coffee82 schrieb:
We don’t even know how valuable his floor plan is.
He just put our wishes regarding the rooms, size, and location in the house onto paper, created a 3D model, and added some cladding to the facade.
At the moment, it’s more at a conceptual stage.
No structural engineer has seen it yet. There is also no building permit / planning permission.
It’s possible that a general contractor might say, “Nice, but this can’t be built like this yet.”
Then planning or redesigning starts all over again. Well, but you said yourselves that you haven’t been working on this for long. It’s not like you have to scrap months of planning. If a general contractor plans things differently, you just write off the architect’s work as a learning experience. I understand that you’re frustrated. But giving up so quickly? Building itself will be stressful anyway. Unfortunately, you need a thick skin for this.
WilderSueden schrieb:
But I would like to have an honest expectation regarding the costs. "More than double" is not precise. At 4500-5000€/m² (419-465 USD/ft²) that would clearly be under 2500€ (265 USD) as an expectation. That is currently more wishful thinking. The mentioned 4500-5000€/m² (419-465 USD/ft²), of course, exclude additional costs.
The honest expectation was that we could get the house (without the land) in the worst case for 850,000–900,000 euros (about 890,000–940,000 USD), all inclusive.
That was the worst-case scenario.
Now we are at 1 million euros (about 1.05 million USD) in pure construction costs. Without photovoltaic systems, without additional costs, without architectural fees, without driveway, without kitchen, without anything like sewer connections and related items. Just a building that is warm and dry.
I'll take a bit of a risk here. Gifhorn is rather affordable, so I don’t understand the estimate, or are the expectations quite high? The standard is very flexible.
I wouldn’t suggest not building at all; I would recommend cutting costs.
Remove the double garage.
Simplify the floor plan.
Save on fittings and finishes.
I wouldn’t suggest not building at all; I would recommend cutting costs.
Remove the double garage.
Simplify the floor plan.
Save on fittings and finishes.
H
hampshire23 Nov 2021 13:10Most of the time, people here complain that architects underestimate the construction budget. Now it’s the other way around.
About the estimated price:
I would verify the estimated price by talking to local tradespeople and a general contractor. These conversations give you an idea of the architect’s assessment and information about potential cost drivers. Afterwards, you can decide on the next steps, such as requesting specific quotes.
About paying the architect:
Of course, the architect must be paid for their work — but they cannot simply work beyond the agreed scope. Therefore, it is important to consider what role, for example, a budget limit played in the contract. A "missed target" should not result in the full fee being charged.
About the desired house size and features:
It is completely reasonable to have expectations and to want to realize them. The house is large and built to an energy-efficient standard that is costly. If the house differs too much from your expectations because of the budget, sometimes scaling back is a good option.
At the start of planning, we aimed for a desired optimum, knowing we would face a price shock. And that did happen. Once we identified the cost drivers, we found alternatives that came as close as possible to our ideal and that we were confident would not bother us on a daily basis. We determined this by comparing our wishes with their actual contribution to our quality of life. Not everything you want is necessary for your life satisfaction.
About family discussions:
Depending on the family structure, it can sometimes be quite useful to kindly set boundaries for those who tend to be intrusive. I hope your situation is not one where “everyone” feels entitled to weigh in on your building project.
About the estimated price:
I would verify the estimated price by talking to local tradespeople and a general contractor. These conversations give you an idea of the architect’s assessment and information about potential cost drivers. Afterwards, you can decide on the next steps, such as requesting specific quotes.
About paying the architect:
Of course, the architect must be paid for their work — but they cannot simply work beyond the agreed scope. Therefore, it is important to consider what role, for example, a budget limit played in the contract. A "missed target" should not result in the full fee being charged.
About the desired house size and features:
It is completely reasonable to have expectations and to want to realize them. The house is large and built to an energy-efficient standard that is costly. If the house differs too much from your expectations because of the budget, sometimes scaling back is a good option.
At the start of planning, we aimed for a desired optimum, knowing we would face a price shock. And that did happen. Once we identified the cost drivers, we found alternatives that came as close as possible to our ideal and that we were confident would not bother us on a daily basis. We determined this by comparing our wishes with their actual contribution to our quality of life. Not everything you want is necessary for your life satisfaction.
About family discussions:
Depending on the family structure, it can sometimes be quite useful to kindly set boundaries for those who tend to be intrusive. I hope your situation is not one where “everyone” feels entitled to weigh in on your building project.
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