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
Dear original poster,
You are definitely not the first to be shocked by the estimated costs. It was the same for us with every design. I also only wanted “standard.” A classic bungalow for 4 people, columned entrance, built-in bathtub (don’t ask me why), spacious bathroom with a walk-in, non-complex shower, 2 entrances to the storage room, and so on. The first general contractor laughed out loud when I mentioned our budget. He was in tears! It then dawned on me that my idea of “standard” was far from reality. So we made adjustments until we reached our budget.
Note: I only got my walk-in (not complex) shower.
You are definitely not the first to be shocked by the estimated costs. It was the same for us with every design. I also only wanted “standard.” A classic bungalow for 4 people, columned entrance, built-in bathtub (don’t ask me why), spacious bathroom with a walk-in, non-complex shower, 2 entrances to the storage room, and so on. The first general contractor laughed out loud when I mentioned our budget. He was in tears! It then dawned on me that my idea of “standard” was far from reality. So we made adjustments until we reached our budget.
Note: I only got my walk-in (not complex) shower.
Evolith schrieb:
Dear original poster,
You are definitely not the first to be shocked by the estimated costs. It was the same for us with every design. I also just wanted a "standard" house. A classic bungalow for four people, columned entrance, a freestanding bathtub (don’t ask me why), a spacious bathroom with a walk-in, slightly angled shower, two entrances to the storage room, and so on. The first general contractor laughed out loud when I mentioned our budget. He literally couldn’t stop laughing! It dawned on me then that my idea of "standard" was far from reality. So we adjusted the plans until we met our budget.
Note: In the end, I only got my walk-in (not angled) shower. Great post! It is indeed surprising how quickly so-called "small details" can push the price into the five-digit range, which might have been in the four-digit range just a few years ago.
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Pinkiponk29 Nov 2021 11:55Evolith schrieb:
...There was once a thread discussing what home builders have chosen to give up, whether reluctantly or with acceptance. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find that thread again through the "Search," but it would definitely be worth reviving. :-) One possible imbalance might be that construction costs have risen significantly, so newer builders may have to make more compromises compared to those who built earlier. A comparison in this regard would still be interesting... and if experienced builders feel happy about this, even better. :-) Honestly, you also have to be able to genuinely appreciate and share in others’ successes. 🙂
By the way, it also depends a bit on who the contracting party is:
About 6 years ago, I paid exactly 7,500 EUR for adding a walk-in shower in the second bathroom of my condominium.
The original estimate was even over 10,000 EUR, but they generously gave me a discount because the developer was so kind.
If I had simply asked them to leave the drywall on one side open, I probably could have had it done for half the price or less. Unfortunately, that seems to be the standard practice nowadays.
About 6 years ago, I paid exactly 7,500 EUR for adding a walk-in shower in the second bathroom of my condominium.
The original estimate was even over 10,000 EUR, but they generously gave me a discount because the developer was so kind.
If I had simply asked them to leave the drywall on one side open, I probably could have had it done for half the price or less. Unfortunately, that seems to be the standard practice nowadays.
Pinkiponk schrieb:
There was once a thread here discussing what home builders have given up on, whether reluctantly or willingly. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the thread again using the “Search” function; however, it would definitely be worth revisiting. There were several:
https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/plaudern-was-habt-ihr-euch-beim-haus-gegoennt-worauf-verzichtet.11606/
https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/erklaerung-der-hype-s.24943/
https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/was-wuerdet-ihr-beim-naechsten-hausbau-anders-machen.26814/
(no guarantee of completeness) ...
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
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