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
M
Myrna_Loy19 Mar 2022 13:08I'm definitely becoming a fan girl of Kati too. 😀
11ant schrieb:
(When) are we allowed to watch your husband work? I wanted to post that earlier, but the draft says you’re not allowed to share it without permission, and I am a very rule-abiding person. 😀 I’ll talk to them next week to see if it’s okay to publicly critique the plans, haha. 😀
M
Myrna_Loy19 Mar 2022 13:25How many square kilometers of dream castle will it be? 😀
Myrna_Loy schrieb:
How many sq km of dream castle will it be? 😀 I hardly dare to say it.
The current floor area is about 220 m² (2,370 sq ft). 🤨
Two full stories, so no sloping ceilings upstairs. :O
From the street, it looks like a modest bungalow with a garage. But on the garden side, virtually the entire area is repeated below. 😱
montessalet19 Mar 2022 13:39That sounds promising.
I have built three times. The last time was definitely the best. However, it’s important to remember that expectations change with age. Additionally, there are always new developments. Fingers crossed for you!
I have built three times. The last time was definitely the best. However, it’s important to remember that expectations change with age. Additionally, there are always new developments. Fingers crossed for you!
Thank you 🙂
I’m curious to see how it goes. The company is now working on the elevations (so far we only had floor plans, which I’m also looking forward to), and especially a cost estimate. We would be building with them on a fixed-price basis, and ideally, I’d also like to have them handle the painting and flooring.
It depends on the final figure on paper.
And then it also depends on what the bank is willing to approve. We have a good income, but the house would be quite rural, so even with 220m² (2,370 sq ft) including the garage, I’m not sure if it can be financed for 480k. That would be my personal limit for how much we would want to borrow.
For our last loan, we got 420k with significantly lower incomes for 150m² (1,615 sq ft) of living area. But that house was closer to a larger city (Oldenburg). Here we would be near Kaiserslautern / Saarbrücken. KL is about as far as OL is from us, but KL is smaller than OL.
The commute here would be about 40 minutes, whereas to OL it’s closer to 30. Location has a big impact on price, so I wonder whether we’d be able to get financed for that amount, being so far out in the countryside.
I’m curious to see how it goes. The company is now working on the elevations (so far we only had floor plans, which I’m also looking forward to), and especially a cost estimate. We would be building with them on a fixed-price basis, and ideally, I’d also like to have them handle the painting and flooring.
It depends on the final figure on paper.
And then it also depends on what the bank is willing to approve. We have a good income, but the house would be quite rural, so even with 220m² (2,370 sq ft) including the garage, I’m not sure if it can be financed for 480k. That would be my personal limit for how much we would want to borrow.
For our last loan, we got 420k with significantly lower incomes for 150m² (1,615 sq ft) of living area. But that house was closer to a larger city (Oldenburg). Here we would be near Kaiserslautern / Saarbrücken. KL is about as far as OL is from us, but KL is smaller than OL.
The commute here would be about 40 minutes, whereas to OL it’s closer to 30. Location has a big impact on price, so I wonder whether we’d be able to get financed for that amount, being so far out in the countryside.
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