ᐅ House Construction: Prefabricated House or Solid (Masonry) House? Experiences and Price Range
Created on: 10 Jun 2022 16:50
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ollininjo
Hello everyone,
We have been looking into the topic of building a house for several months now. Unfortunately, we are quite new to this field and are not familiar with all the details. Of course, we have read a lot and searched online, but you often come across different information, especially older and not so up-to-date sources.
We have a plot of land in the city that we are considering. It is about 830 m2 (0.2 acres) including partial utility connections. The cost of the plot is 130,000 euros, and of course, you need to add property transfer tax, notary fees, and land registry costs (anything else we might be forgetting?). Since the plot only has partial utility connections, all the connections are apparently in front of the street because the land was subdivided. So, naturally, there will be additional development costs; we estimate around 10,000 euros. Overall, we would be looking at about 150,000 euros for the land, which is fine so far.
Now comes the house. We are leaning more towards a prefab house since a custom architect-designed home requires a lot of work, right? I have, of course, checked out several providers, and the prices are always quite attractive. We are assuming a 150 m2 (1,615 square feet) prefab house, which shows a price of 380,000 euros including all the services the provider offers. This is assuming a turnkey package. What other costs should we expect? I assume garage and landscaping are obvious extras, but are there other expenses we should factor in? Perhaps someone here has experience with this kind of build and could help us.
We would like to have a rough estimate to see if many additional costs might come up since, otherwise, the total would exceed 600,000 euros for a 150 m2 prefab house, which seems a bit unclear to me.
Thanks in advance to everyone!
We have been looking into the topic of building a house for several months now. Unfortunately, we are quite new to this field and are not familiar with all the details. Of course, we have read a lot and searched online, but you often come across different information, especially older and not so up-to-date sources.
We have a plot of land in the city that we are considering. It is about 830 m2 (0.2 acres) including partial utility connections. The cost of the plot is 130,000 euros, and of course, you need to add property transfer tax, notary fees, and land registry costs (anything else we might be forgetting?). Since the plot only has partial utility connections, all the connections are apparently in front of the street because the land was subdivided. So, naturally, there will be additional development costs; we estimate around 10,000 euros. Overall, we would be looking at about 150,000 euros for the land, which is fine so far.
Now comes the house. We are leaning more towards a prefab house since a custom architect-designed home requires a lot of work, right? I have, of course, checked out several providers, and the prices are always quite attractive. We are assuming a 150 m2 (1,615 square feet) prefab house, which shows a price of 380,000 euros including all the services the provider offers. This is assuming a turnkey package. What other costs should we expect? I assume garage and landscaping are obvious extras, but are there other expenses we should factor in? Perhaps someone here has experience with this kind of build and could help us.
We would like to have a rough estimate to see if many additional costs might come up since, otherwise, the total would exceed 600,000 euros for a 150 m2 prefab house, which seems a bit unclear to me.
Thanks in advance to everyone!
We also had to sell beforehand. The payout was quite early, but the handover date was much later. We lived there rent-free for a while, then stayed in my old childhood bedroom at my parents’ house, and later in a holiday apartment close to the construction site for the parental allowance… You could also set up a container; at 30 square meters (approximately 320 square feet), you can do quite a lot to enrich your life 😉
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ollininjo11 Jun 2022 22:50That is all very kind and definitely provided a lot of input and further considerations. It’s great that there is such a forum and especially users like these. I want to thank everyone!
Without children, I would first live in a motorhome on the property. At the same time, I would start building the house using the timber frame (EL) method. I would plan for a construction period of three years, or even five, and then source materials only from leftover stock. I would learn Albanian and hire an Albanian construction company.
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Pinkiponk12 Jun 2022 09:22ollininjo schrieb:
Thank you very much! That really helped a lot and revealed many hidden costs I hadn’t even considered. Thanks again!
When you add everything up, it only comes to about €245,000. That can’t be the total price for the complete turnkey house including the land, or am I missing something? 😀 I’m glad I could help. 🙂
I left out the house price because, as far as I understood, you didn’t ask for it in your original post. Comparing prices is probably difficult or even impossible, so that number wouldn’t be very helpful. The turnkey house cost €343,092. Because we faced a price increase of €40,000 halfway through, partly caused by ourselves, we had to give up many wishes and some features that are nowadays considered standard. The most painful were raising the number of floors and the gas fireplace. We had to exclude shutters from the start because they would have cost at least €40,000 (apparently, we have more windows and larger ones on the ground floor than average). We also dropped decorative moldings due to the price increase; these would have cost €50.00 per running meter. We might add shutters and moldings later. We were positively surprised by the relatively low price for a plastered garage, where we can now even store our caravan. (It is the only caravan on the market in terms of height that fits into a “standard garage.”) The house and the aforementioned additional construction costs have been paid for. We are currently paying for the land with a monthly installment of €400. The loan is scheduled to be paid off by the end of September 2024.
Nothing else comes to mind right now, so feel free to ask for more details if it helps you. 🙂
Osnabruecker schrieb:
As many other posts show: nowadays it’s more the rule than the exception to end up over €600k. Not necessarily. We could have gotten a nice house for significantly less, but I really wanted as many windows as possible and (almost) all of them floor-to-ceiling on the ground floor. To me, it’s still not enough windows.
Osnabruecker schrieb:
It doesn’t have to be an architect-designed house or a hexagonal bathtub like Pinki’s (I just had to Google what that is 😉 ). Osnabruecker schrieb:
Well… after some Googling, a hexagonal bathtub isn’t necessarily extravagant 🙂 rather a stylish corner solution. That’s true. For various reasons, the bathtub had to be placed in a corner, so we chose the relatively affordable option that wastes the least space. Also, my husband is a bit taller, so the tub was made bigger. 🙂 Besides that, I find multi-angled bathtubs a bit “tacky” (it gives off some ‘70s vibe), but my husband wanted it. I wouldn’t have chosen it.
Andre77 schrieb:
@ollininjo
...@Pinkiponk the structural engineer’s fees were charged separately.... That was a structural engineering firm associated with the house building company; we got those services at a special price, or rather they were added and then deducted again. Maybe it’s due to professional regulations.
ollininjo schrieb:
Yes, I know it’s really not doable…
it’s all nonsense, but thanks anyway to all of you! Please don’t get discouraged so quickly. If you relied on this forum alone, almost no one in Germany would be able to build a house.
Now I regret my post—I wanted to encourage you. First, get fully informed. Buying the land is a good first step; after that, you’ll see what comes next.
I repeat: it’s far too early to give up already.
My suggestion: buy the land, look around for houses, and then share your ideas here. We can then tell you what’s missing from the construction specification and what costs you should expect going forward. There used to be a prefab house website where you could filter options well and get starting prices. Please stay engaged with this topic. The rental market won’t ease significantly.
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ollininjo12 Jun 2022 15:04Where can I find the detailed construction specifications for Heinz von Heiden? Or am I just missing it? How much would this house cost with
- Efficiency House 55 / air-to-water heat pump underfloor heating
- controlled ventilation system
- electric roller shutters (window blinds)
- facing bricks (brick cladding)
- smart home system
- triple glazing
- electrical installation
- sanitary fittings
- garage
- garden
- painting work
And are there any additional costs that are not yet disclosed? Did I forget anything? I’m curious about this.
- Efficiency House 55 / air-to-water heat pump underfloor heating
- controlled ventilation system
- electric roller shutters (window blinds)
- facing bricks (brick cladding)
- smart home system
- triple glazing
- electrical installation
- sanitary fittings
- garage
- garden
- painting work
And are there any additional costs that are not yet disclosed? Did I forget anything? I’m curious about this.
@ollininjo
Nobody here can give you a definite answer. The house comes with a certain basic package included in the price, similar to a base model car. Anything beyond that will cost extra—the upgrades.
For electric roller shutters, I paid almost 300€ per shutter at the time. Triple glazing is probably standard now, but back then it cost me around 2500€ (I would have to check exactly). I upgraded the main bathroom sink for 70€ more compared to the standard version. Additional electrical work, like more outlets or similar, was done by my electrician. Heinz von Heiden’s electrician could have done it too, but for an even higher price. You could also have ordered more outlets directly from Heinz von Heiden, but that would have been more expensive than paying the trade directly. Just a little insight.
Nobody here can give you a definite answer. The house comes with a certain basic package included in the price, similar to a base model car. Anything beyond that will cost extra—the upgrades.
For electric roller shutters, I paid almost 300€ per shutter at the time. Triple glazing is probably standard now, but back then it cost me around 2500€ (I would have to check exactly). I upgraded the main bathroom sink for 70€ more compared to the standard version. Additional electrical work, like more outlets or similar, was done by my electrician. Heinz von Heiden’s electrician could have done it too, but for an even higher price. You could also have ordered more outlets directly from Heinz von Heiden, but that would have been more expensive than paying the trade directly. Just a little insight.
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