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
Oetzberger schrieb:
The original poster also has a few acquaintances who have recently builtThey could take a look as well, yes 🙂 Although they might also view many things with a less neutral perspective.
Tassimat schrieb:
One could also argue more simply that only design phase 2 was completed: a design and an initial cost estimate. Since design phase 1 is missing, I find the view that all phases were commissioned to be questionable.Good argument. While unusual, it is understandable, and in that case, only the payment for design phase 2 would be owed (and it would not be necessary to terminate the contract to prevent further work).https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
H
hampshire24 Nov 2021 23:05ypg schrieb:
Maybe they are also viewing many things with a less neutral perspective.Your offer is certainly generous.hampshire schrieb:
Your offer is certainly generous.I’m not sure. What often bothers me are discussions without a clear basis or actual data. It’s basically a conversation with few practical solutions. Always these “could,” “would,” and so on. People want to help, but the reason for the discussion is missing. Many things have been said on many pages. Eventually, you have to take action.
@11ant would do it too. Some people here can. Just having built a house often isn’t enough. Those who are well-versed in homebuilding, can read plans, take 10 or 30 minutes to assess, and then provide honest feedback. Personally, I often notice things that can be eliminated without sacrificing individual value. But sometimes that also has to be considered.
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Gerddieter24 Nov 2021 23:53Oh dear, dear original poster – this sounds very familiar to me. It seems to me that you might have fallen for the architect who lost interest in working for you and is now hoping for an unreasonably high settlement, which of course will not be fair.
And if I’m right and there is deliberate intent behind this, then you will end up paying it...
Gerddieter
And if I’m right and there is deliberate intent behind this, then you will end up paying it...
Gerddieter
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karl.jonas25 Nov 2021 00:07Even if the architect may not have acted very professionally, there is no need to assume malicious intent. Perhaps a polite inquiry will reveal that, from his point of view, phases 1-2 were completed and the fee is calculated fairly based on that. The original poster seems to worry that tens of thousands of euros will now be demanded – without first asking if that is actually the case.
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