ᐅ Stopping or pausing a home construction project? Costs too high
Created on: 23 Nov 2021 12:06
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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
In der Ruine schrieb:
How can you get quotes if you’re not allowed to show anyone the plans? The question "How much does an approximately 200 sqm (2,150 sq ft) three-adult house built to KfW40+ standard cost on our plot?" should not put a general contractor in a difficult position, even without detailed plans. They will typically respond: according to my scope of work description, the price per square meter is xyz – and the price per square meter for the granny flat is the same. Only with direct subcontracting is it impossible to provide more than a shrug of the shoulders without plans. But that doesn’t matter, because the total of all cost items doesn’t differ significantly – no matter how many apprentices in construction don’t believe it until they have tried.
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Benutzer20024 Nov 2021 13:3011ant schrieb:
The question "how much does a 200 sqm (2,150 sq ft) three-adult house in KfW40+ standard approximately cost on our plot" shouldn’t embarrass a general contractor even without plans. Usually, they will respond: according to my scope of work, the price per square meter is xyz – grandmother’s square meter costs the same. The worst part is that the architect could have done this directly as well 😳
Benutzer200 schrieb:
The frustrating part is that the architect could have handled that directly from the start 😳With my architect, after the initial consultations, sketches, and two or three meetings, it was made clear that if we wanted to proceed, we would need a contract for design phases 1 to 4. That’s why I find such a vague verbal agreement puzzling. Is that even legally acceptable?
We agreed on a fixed price for:
90 planning hours plus the costs for submitting the building permit / planning permission application.
That settled everything.
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Myrna_Loy24 Nov 2021 13:52It is important to clearly discuss the budget at the very first meeting. Additionally, it is helpful to regularly check whether the planning is still within budget throughout the process.
This is not very common in Germany. I get the impression that people tend to avoid the topic in order not to appear either too wealthy or too poor.
Being upfront about a firm budget limit also benefits the architect. This limit should not be the absolute maximum you can bear, but rather about 20% below that threshold. I would suggest using the next meeting with the architect solely to address the budget, especially if there has been any misunderstanding regarding the overall construction cost planned.
This is not very common in Germany. I get the impression that people tend to avoid the topic in order not to appear either too wealthy or too poor.
Being upfront about a firm budget limit also benefits the architect. This limit should not be the absolute maximum you can bear, but rather about 20% below that threshold. I would suggest using the next meeting with the architect solely to address the budget, especially if there has been any misunderstanding regarding the overall construction cost planned.
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Benutzer20024 Nov 2021 13:56TmMike_2 schrieb:
So I’m surprised by such a general verbal agreement. Is that even allowed?The contract with the architect is concluded just as simply as a contract at a bakery when you buy a bread roll. No special formalities or legal requirements are needed. Verbal agreement and corresponding actions are completely sufficient.P
Pinkiponk24 Nov 2021 14:29Benutzer200 schrieb:
The contract with the architect is established just as simply as the contract you have with a baker when you buy a roll. No special formalities or requirements are necessary. Oral agreement and corresponding actions are completely sufficient. You are probably right. However, with a baker, you can clearly see the price of a roll; I believe there is even something like a price display requirement.
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