ᐅ Building a house is more complicated than expected – prices keep changing constantly!

Greetings everyone!

The house construction is actually supposed to start soon. After finding a plot of land here in our rural area, I inquired locally about all the costs related to the land (surveying, water/electricity/telephone connections, notary fees, etc.). I also have the exact notary costs, including the mortgage registration and so on. Some of the costs were significantly higher than I expected, while others were much lower. Overall, the total amount balances out in the end.

Since I basically want to build a log house, I have realized that the contractors are not flexible enough in their scheduling. Of course, I’m glad that all the contractors are busy. However, I also need to ensure that the respective companies can start on my construction site on time. It’s no good if weeks pass between the different phases. Unfortunately, with a log house, I have to manage all the contractors myself. There aren’t many, but they all need to be available at the required time. For this reason, I started looking into prefab houses. Specifically, I’m considering the following models:

Town & Country "Raumwunder 100" and Heinz von Heiden "Bungalow, der Unverbesserliche B760"

When searching online about both companies, you find a mix of positive and negative reviews. I personally believe that most people tend to share negative experiences on the internet, so I don’t include that heavily in my assessment! For both providers, I am increasingly confronted with new prices every few days, which makes me feel like they are trying to pressure me as a customer. So far, I have not signed any purchase contract. However, both houses are viable options for me.

So far, my costs are as follows:

Plot (750 sqm (8,073 sq ft)): 24,500€
Notary fees (including mortgage registration, etc.): 1,945€
Connections/lines/surveying: 6,300€

The Raumwunder 100 costs 210,000€ turnkey, including electric shutters, heat pump but NO underfloor heating.
The Heinz von Heiden bungalow costs 205,000€, including electric shutters, heat pump, and underfloor heating.

Ideally, I would have to commit immediately to Heinz von Heiden. However, my final bank meeting is not until the week after next, and I don’t want to sign any contract before that. I just don’t know if I would still have the option to back out if something goes wrong with the bank. Although, the bank told me in advance that I should have no problem obtaining the credit amount I need. In that case, the price would at least be “safe” for now...

What bothers me most, however, is that the Heinz von Heiden salesperson told me that if I signed the contract this May, I might not be able to build the house until October to December of next year. Building earlier is not possible due to material shortages and the high demand from many people currently wanting to build a house.

As an alternative, I have considered buying an older house again. However, I would have to completely renovate it. Still, I would never reach the current energy standards and would be left with the old water pipes in the house.

What would you do? Do you have any advice for my situation? Are there any alternatives?

I often read that despite a nearly agreed price, sudden price increases occur. Then there’s the fact that materials for continued construction are often missing. This makes me wonder whether it makes sense to take an older house and renovate it step by step, working with the materials currently available.