Hello everyone!
We are currently considering three companies as potential builders. One of them is Laux Fertigbau from Saarland. They have offered to design our house according to our wishes (we sent them a list in text form). They have their own draftsmen but also work with architects.
The agreement would be that we pay €1500 (about $1600) for this planning work if we decide NOT to choose the company in the end. However, we would receive the plans and drawings and could have the house built by another company if we wanted to. If we decide in favor of Laux, then this planning is part of the project and costs nothing extra.
Overall, I find this arrangement fair, and I think it’s interesting to see what a local architect comes up with if given free rein. Still, I have some reservations about paying this money upfront because I worry it might create a sort of "pre-selection" for the builder and that we might then feel influenced to go with them, just so we don’t waste the €1500.
The second company (currently ranked third in my mind) is called DHI, and the third one is a very local provider with no website or brochures but has been building houses in the region for over 20 years and relies almost entirely on word-of-mouth recommendations. I had a long phone conversation with them, and it was all very likeable. However, I don’t have a price estimate yet, and their aversion to anything digital (no smartphone, no website) puts me off a bit. On the other hand, their workload despite having no advertising clearly speaks in favor of the builder.
Best regards,
Kati
We are currently considering three companies as potential builders. One of them is Laux Fertigbau from Saarland. They have offered to design our house according to our wishes (we sent them a list in text form). They have their own draftsmen but also work with architects.
The agreement would be that we pay €1500 (about $1600) for this planning work if we decide NOT to choose the company in the end. However, we would receive the plans and drawings and could have the house built by another company if we wanted to. If we decide in favor of Laux, then this planning is part of the project and costs nothing extra.
Overall, I find this arrangement fair, and I think it’s interesting to see what a local architect comes up with if given free rein. Still, I have some reservations about paying this money upfront because I worry it might create a sort of "pre-selection" for the builder and that we might then feel influenced to go with them, just so we don’t waste the €1500.
The second company (currently ranked third in my mind) is called DHI, and the third one is a very local provider with no website or brochures but has been building houses in the region for over 20 years and relies almost entirely on word-of-mouth recommendations. I had a long phone conversation with them, and it was all very likeable. However, I don’t have a price estimate yet, and their aversion to anything digital (no smartphone, no website) puts me off a bit. On the other hand, their workload despite having no advertising clearly speaks in favor of the builder.
Best regards,
Kati
As far as I know, HHN has filed for bankruptcy? I think that leaves only FFM, or the Americans’ airbase. 😉
But yes, we have actually already discussed with all the general contractors that we would like to have enhanced noise protection. So it probably won’t be Ytong again.
But yes, we have actually already discussed with all the general contractors that we would like to have enhanced noise protection. So it probably won’t be Ytong again.
M
MeinHaus9914 Mar 2022 16:42We had the same problem back then. Since we had quite precise ideas of how we wanted our house to look, we didn’t want to sign a contract first and then start planning. Instead, we wanted to plan the house first and then find a provider. We obtained several offers from architects, but unfortunately, they were all far too expensive in the end. Through a recommendation, we came across an engineering firm that eventually settled the services directly with the construction company. Maybe take a look at epch Weinheim.
MeinHaus99 schrieb:
We came across an engineering firm through a tip back then, which eventually even billed the construction company directly. That’s a nice arrangement, but it will limit your options since not every general contractor agrees to such a setup.
MeinHaus99 schrieb:
We had the same issue back then. Since we had quite clear ideas of how our house should look, we didn’t want to sign a contract first and then start planning; we preferred to plan the house first and then find a provider. That is indeed a “challenge”—starting the planning process with fixed ideas. I would recommend completing design phase 1 first and then discussing with the architect whether to choose a standard house model or develop a custom design in design phase 2. Not every building project requires a fully custom design.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
We have now placed the order, mainly because we thought 1500€ (about $1,650) isn’t a huge amount and it would give us an idea of what a house built into a slope could look like.
We submitted two DIN A4 pages of text outlining everything we wanted—the full program, really pushing the “wish for whatever you want” and “what if money were no object” approach.
In the end, we received the first draft plan and we’re completely, head-over-heels in love. Especially my husband, who usually has more of a “yeah, it’ll do” and “that works for me” attitude, is totally blown away. I’ve never seen him look at floor plans that often. 😀
The thing is, because the plan implements about 98% of our wishes, it has become quite large.
We’re going to run the numbers now anyway. If it somehow fits within an affordable range, we might just build our dream castle.
We submitted two DIN A4 pages of text outlining everything we wanted—the full program, really pushing the “wish for whatever you want” and “what if money were no object” approach.
In the end, we received the first draft plan and we’re completely, head-over-heels in love. Especially my husband, who usually has more of a “yeah, it’ll do” and “that works for me” attitude, is totally blown away. I’ve never seen him look at floor plans that often. 😀
The thing is, because the plan implements about 98% of our wishes, it has become quite large.
We’re going to run the numbers now anyway. If it somehow fits within an affordable range, we might just build our dream castle.
kati1337 schrieb:
We received the first draft plan and are completely head over heels. Especially my husband, who is usually more of the "whatever works" and "this is fine for me" type, is totally blown away. I have never seen him look at floor plans so often. (When) can we have a look over your husband’s shoulder?
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
