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
Pinkiponk schrieb:
May I ask why you want to build an architect-designed house if you just want a "simple house like at uncle’s"? We were naive. We still are.
Back then, we received a great recommendation to build with an architect.
The advantages seemed obvious. You could design your own house and stay flexible.
The architect would handle all the work for us.
The architect already knows many contractors and can negotiate prices well.
The architect…
The architect…
The architect is the best person, and in the end, it would only cost maybe 20,000-30,000 euros more because he negotiates the prices well.
Online, it says that building with an architect is often more expensive. But often doesn’t mean always, and definitely not twice as much.
It was a mistake, that’s clear now.
The contract, as I understand it, was never formally signed. We only talked about it, he made a few sketches with his pencil during some meetings, and somehow an oral agreement came about without us noticing.
We don’t want to put the architect in a bad light. Nor do we blame him.
We just wish he had informed us about the costs earlier—before LS 1 and 2 (planning stages 1 and 2) were completed.
Oral agreements like this are common.
He also handled everything quickly.
Going back is difficult, the architect has to be paid.
Building at this price is not possible.
ypg schrieb:
Hello,
Please send me the plans confidentially (including) the 3D version, as you mentioned, along with the architect’s name to kriminelle@freenet.de.
I want to see what has been produced in 300 hours, that is, 4 months of planning time at 4 hours per day. Again, maybe it wasn’t clear: I want to check if the design is complex and identify the main cost drivers. Also, if possible, to suggest ways to improve the costs.
H
hanghaus200023 Nov 2021 18:46Billing should be done according to HOAI only, and not with exorbitant prices per square meter. In my opinion, a maximum of 3000 Euros/m2 (3000 Euros per square meter) is reasonable for standard projects. For cost verification, I would even consider 2500 Euros/m2 (2500 Euros per square meter).
Architects usually charge based on cubic meters of enclosed space. In that case, the rate is probably around 900 to 1100 Euros/m3 (900 to 1100 Euros per cubic meter).
Architects usually charge based on cubic meters of enclosed space. In that case, the rate is probably around 900 to 1100 Euros/m3 (900 to 1100 Euros per cubic meter).
soneva2012 schrieb:
How is the relationship with the architect? Actually, it’s good.
After the estimate, we are quite unsettled, but we haven’t told him anything yet.
We’re waiting and thinking about what we should do.
soneva2012 schrieb:
But I find it strange that the architect didn’t ask about the budget. We assume the mistake was on our side.
A neighbor built their house for 610,000, an acquaintance Peter for 570,000. Others had a price range between 400,000 and 600,000.
So we thought that with our maximum of 900,000 € (about $970,000) we’d definitely be covered. We don’t need a luxury house anyway.
Money just hasn’t been a topic of conversation yet.
H
hanghaus200023 Nov 2021 18:51@ypg maybe the email address doesn’t come across as very trustworthy. 😉
ypg schrieb:
Once again, maybe it wasn’t clear: I want to check if the design is complex and identify where the major cost drivers are. Additionally, if possible, to suggest ways to reduce costs. Thank you very much for your willingness to help. We are considering it.
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