Dear Homebuilders,
We signed a contract for a prefabricated house with Fingerhaus in March 2021. We were informed that construction would not start before April 2024, which means a waiting period of at least 25 months. We reluctantly accepted this due to other advantages.
Now I have spoken with several other homebuilders, and none—absolutely none—have experienced a waiting time even close to this length. By now, I’m starting to wonder if these 25 months are completely off.
So I have some questions for the group:
- Has anyone else signed a prefabricated house contract with any company since March 2021, and if so, what was your waiting time?
- Has anyone maybe signed with FINGERHAUS since March 2021 and can share the waiting time?
- If the waiting time is indeed excessive: does anyone have ideas or arguments that could help convince them to prioritize our project?
I appreciate any tips!
Best regards,
schlimmerfingerhaus
P.S. Comments like “Serves you right if you…” or “Why choose a prefab house at all?” won’t be helpful, as the contract is already signed ;-)
We signed a contract for a prefabricated house with Fingerhaus in March 2021. We were informed that construction would not start before April 2024, which means a waiting period of at least 25 months. We reluctantly accepted this due to other advantages.
Now I have spoken with several other homebuilders, and none—absolutely none—have experienced a waiting time even close to this length. By now, I’m starting to wonder if these 25 months are completely off.
So I have some questions for the group:
- Has anyone else signed a prefabricated house contract with any company since March 2021, and if so, what was your waiting time?
- Has anyone maybe signed with FINGERHAUS since March 2021 and can share the waiting time?
- If the waiting time is indeed excessive: does anyone have ideas or arguments that could help convince them to prioritize our project?
I appreciate any tips!
Best regards,
schlimmerfingerhaus
P.S. Comments like “Serves you right if you…” or “Why choose a prefab house at all?” won’t be helpful, as the contract is already signed ;-)
S
schlimmerfinge10 May 2023 09:33KingJulien schrieb:
What do you mean by delayed? They’re not going to keep you waiting for no reason. If their schedule is full, that’s just how it is.
Why should you be prioritized?
I think it’s more important that this is communicated honestly right from the start.
We built with FingerHaus. The waiting time was already quite long back then, though not as long as now.
But the sales representative’s time estimate was fairly accurate.
By the way, be prepared for a long waiting time for any claim or complaint after that; it doesn’t get any better 😉
From what I’ve heard, other prefab house builders are the same.
Where are you at in the progress? At least everything is nicely visible online. They certainly wouldn’t keep us waiting just for fun; that would imply a sadistic streak ;-) But who says the waiting list is only due to full schedules? If that were normal waiting time, I would regularly meet people with 20 or 28 months waiting. In reality, 18 months is the absolute maximum wait I’ve heard anywhere—and that’s suspicious, isn’t it?
Yes, it was communicated honestly, that’s true. And the web portal does make it transparent.
How long did you have to wait from signing the contract until construction started?
When we were still searching, I also had a few phone calls with prefabricated house builders. That was probably around the end of 2021/beginning of 2022, and at that time, I was also given similar timelines to what you have now. (I also remember being told about an in-house brand with around a 2.5-year+ wait. But don’t ask me exactly who, and I don’t think I spoke with Fingerhaus at all.)
The massive rise in interest rates and the drop in demand came later, and I doubt many of the people who signed contracts before you would want to withdraw now, since the current situation is more difficult. I guess you pretty much hit the "peak waiting time" 😉
The massive rise in interest rates and the drop in demand came later, and I doubt many of the people who signed contracts before you would want to withdraw now, since the current situation is more difficult. I guess you pretty much hit the "peak waiting time" 😉
KingJulien10 May 2023 10:31schlimmerfinge schrieb:
Actually, 18 months is the absolute maximum I have heard of anywhere.But from whom? FingerHaus homeowners or others?schlimmerfinge schrieb:
How long did you have to wait from signing the contract to the start of construction?I don’t remember exactly, around 15 months. But the signing was in late summer/early autumn 2019.mayglow schrieb:
I guess you pretty much caught the "peak waiting time" 😉I think so too.
mayglow schrieb:
I guess you pretty much hit the "peak waiting time"Thinking it over again... I vaguely remember that interest rates had already started rising since early 2022 (initially at a slower pace), but then there were reports that more contracts were still being signed because people wanted to lock things in quickly, fearing rates would skyrocket (even before the war started, and even more so after). So, on top of already full order books, there was an additional demand peak.So yes, my assessment would be: this is a long wait and likely longer than for many who placed orders before or after you. But considering the timing of your contract, I’m not surprised.
S
schlimmerfinge10 May 2023 11:43KingJulien schrieb:
But by whom? FingerHaus homeowners or others? Yes, FingerHaus. However, I only personally know two, and the one with the 18 months had already signed months before me, so under a completely different market situation.