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
Ysop*** schrieb:
Yes, that's how it is right now. Begging for an appointment, begging for the building permit / planning permission to be processed, begging for a quote, following up, following up, following up. If you don’t have your own property, you need luck or you buy an existing one. Unbelievable. Thank you very much, we were not aware of this.
O
Oetzberger23 Nov 2021 14:09Ysop*** schrieb:
Begging for an appointment, begging for the processing of the building permit / planning permission, begging for an offer, following up repeatedly. What was missing here was the begging for the plot of land, since it came from the family. In that regard, the bitter shock is only coming now. Still, I am optimistic that with some effort in discussions, a significantly more affordable solution can be found. Just don’t give up too quickly. And definitely avoid sounding demanding or like you have special requests. Keyword kfw40 🙂 Many local small masonry builders don’t really like that so much. They prefer to deal with “everything standard without large special features” inquiries. Those can be processed more efficiently following a standard routine.
Local home building fairs are a goldmine for small construction companies,
and don't start with KfW40,
the smaller companies secure their projects for the next two years and regain canceled orders this way.
Have them show you floor plans for 6 or 7 people and don’t go for a castle that no one wants or can build.
and don't start with KfW40,
the smaller companies secure their projects for the next two years and regain canceled orders this way.
Have them show you floor plans for 6 or 7 people and don’t go for a castle that no one wants or can build.
W
WilderSueden23 Nov 2021 14:20Coffee82 schrieb:
The honest expectation was that we would get the house (without the land) for 850-900 thousand at worst. All inclusive. Okay, I was wrong about you, and your expectation seems quite realistic to me. Searching for companies, something should be possible within that budget.
Oetzberger schrieb:
I really like KfW 40, but you have to be able and willing to afford it. And if I understand the thread correctly, this is about solid construction, not timber frame. Not a big deal even with solid construction. We achieve this monolithically with 40cm (15.7 inches) Ytong blocks. During the whole process, we even reduced 40+ to 55cm (21.7 inches) because I had the impression a lot could be saved. But since we still planned with photovoltaics, we asked again shortly before signing what the extra cost would be, and apparently with additional polystyrene, it only costs a few euros more.
It might look different with a basement or with bricks. But solid construction = low energy efficiency class is not correct.
Nida35a schrieb:
and don’t start with KfW40 Couldn’t that backfire?
Applied for KfW55, planned everything, and then switched to KfW40+ after all.
We chose KfW40+ because the future is completely uncertain.
Currently, electricity and gas prices have risen sharply. And this trend won’t stop there. This confirms that KfW40+ is the right direction.
We prefer to pay a bit more now in order to have lower fixed costs later, which are easier to plan.
Of course, this increases the loan amount, but only insignificantly compared to the whole.
Coffee82 schrieb:
It actually started with a phone call.
When you call, you can only say that you want to schedule an appointment.
It was always repeated: "Please send us an email with your details."
Is it normal to have to beg just to build a house?
We were looking for a partner who would be motivated and enthusiastic about bringing our project to life.
Constantly chasing after them and calling, "Please finally do something"?
We won’t do that. Not because of pride, but because it feels wrong. Visiting model homes can also help. That’s how we started and received our first floor plan 😎