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
Benutzer200 schrieb:
The contract with the architect is established just as simply as when you buy a roll at the bakery. No special formalities or requirements. A verbal agreement and corresponding actions are completely sufficient. So why then written construction contracts? Everything is verbal.
Of course, there is no doubt about the validity,
but the fee is usually based on the construction cost.
TmMike_2 schrieb:
Of course, there is no doubt about the validity,
but the fee is usually based on the construction cost. However, there is no construction cost established here yet. The architect’s estimate alone does not constitute a basis for calculating their fee.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
B
Bertram10024 Nov 2021 17:28I don’t think it takes much to end up with a misunderstanding about the budget: the original post talks about "just everything very normal, basically standard things," while listing nearly 200 sqm (2,150 sq ft), KfW insulation requirements, and an attached double garage. If someone meets with an architect who also happens to be a bit loose about what "nothing special, basically just standard" means, then both parties have found each other—at least for now until the budget issue is resolved.
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karl.jonas24 Nov 2021 17:41Have you discussed with the architect which services you expect from them (HOAI service phases 1-2, 1-4, 1-5, 1-8?) and what they will charge for these? If not, you should do so promptly. If I missed that: sorry.
Coffee82 schrieb:
The neighbor built the house for 610,000, an acquaintance Peter for 570,000. Others had a price range from 400,000 to 600,000.
So we thought that with our maximum budget of 900,000 € (about 960,000 USD) we would be fine. We don’t need a luxury house anyway.
Money wasn’t even a topic yet. In der Ruine schrieb:
How can you get quotes if you’re not allowed to show the plans to anyone? Of course, you are allowed to show the plans!
Coffee82 schrieb:
It would be unfair to pass on his documents, especially since he explicitly states that they must not be shared with third parties. If you show and discuss the plans with family, friends, or advisors and consultants, this is not considered passing them on.
The prices of the other houses confuse me: shouldn’t those be prices from two years ago or so? Those houses are already built. Two years ago, 600,000 was considered very expensive! Those must be quite elaborate villas.
And if you are now planning something similar but just “only” 200 sqm (about 2,150 sq ft) for 6 people, then the additional costs must be related to complex structural engineering, some extra features, or a combination of smaller expenses. You might not see the overall effort because Uncle or whoever has a similar house.
House construction has actually increased by around 20% over the past three years, whether felt or reported. That’s why many projects are being scaled back, much is being retrofitted later (technical installations), and some work is being done by the owners themselves.
For example, if you plan 4 bathrooms for 6 people, that’s a significant part of the design and can become quite expensive. Sliding doors, exterior doors, window areas: these add costs quickly, and suddenly another 100,000 is spent.
karl.jonas schrieb:
Have you discussed with the architect which services you expect from them (HOAI service phases 1-2, 1-4, 1-5, 1-8?) and what they will charge for those? Apparently, this was not discussed, and instead an architect contract was implicitly entered into: without an agreed limitation, this then covers service phase 8 (since phase 9 is uncommon for single-family houses, and no limit such as only up to phase 4 was set), and it is (unless otherwise agreed) billed according to HOAI. Simply saying "Please give us an offer first" would have been enough to prevent this. If the client withdraws beforehand, the architect can in principle claim compensation for lost profits from the subsequent service phases – in terms of amount, however, they would still need to specify (and justify) this. Since the usual procedure was deviated from, and no records or interim approvals exist, it will be difficult to reconstruct exactly which services were actually provided. If there was no intention to exploit the situation, this approach is at least highly unprofessional.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
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