ᐅ Is it possible to build a new house for €900 per square meter?
Created on: 3 Sep 2024 21:04
O
Ottowillswisse
Hello everyone,
After my house purchase unfortunately fell through, I happened to start a conversation with someone from a new development in town.
He told me that the average cost for new builds is usually around €3000 per m² (approximately $280 per ft²), which is quite expensive. But he built his 100 m² (1,076 ft²) flat-roof bungalow with an architect for only €900 per m² (around $85 per ft²). How he managed that: wall construction consists of 17.5 cm (7 inches) calcium silicate bricks + 15 cm (6 inches) insulation with a thermal conductivity of 0.035 W/(mK) + 1.5 cm (0.6 inches) plaster (this is apparently the cheapest possible wall build-up).
Most of the interior work was done by himself, so for example, the kitchen cost €2000 (about $2200) purchased from a DIY store, and the bathrooms were tiled and the fixtures installed by himself. Laminate flooring and tiles were also installed as DIY for a maximum of €15 per m² (about $1.40 per ft²). Interior plaster on ceilings and walls, interior doors, windows, and the front door were also installed by himself.
The design is very simple with small window areas, and the excavated soil was reused in the garden, for example. The house has no photovoltaic or solar system. Hot water is provided by a tankless water heater, and heating is done with an air-to-air heat pump, that is, a split air conditioning system.
What do you think about such a construction cost? It seems somewhat unrealistic to me.
Best regards
After my house purchase unfortunately fell through, I happened to start a conversation with someone from a new development in town.
He told me that the average cost for new builds is usually around €3000 per m² (approximately $280 per ft²), which is quite expensive. But he built his 100 m² (1,076 ft²) flat-roof bungalow with an architect for only €900 per m² (around $85 per ft²). How he managed that: wall construction consists of 17.5 cm (7 inches) calcium silicate bricks + 15 cm (6 inches) insulation with a thermal conductivity of 0.035 W/(mK) + 1.5 cm (0.6 inches) plaster (this is apparently the cheapest possible wall build-up).
Most of the interior work was done by himself, so for example, the kitchen cost €2000 (about $2200) purchased from a DIY store, and the bathrooms were tiled and the fixtures installed by himself. Laminate flooring and tiles were also installed as DIY for a maximum of €15 per m² (about $1.40 per ft²). Interior plaster on ceilings and walls, interior doors, windows, and the front door were also installed by himself.
The design is very simple with small window areas, and the excavated soil was reused in the garden, for example. The house has no photovoltaic or solar system. Hot water is provided by a tankless water heater, and heating is done with an air-to-air heat pump, that is, a split air conditioning system.
What do you think about such a construction cost? It seems somewhat unrealistic to me.
Best regards
You seem to be quite lucky. Not in your current living situation, but in the coincidences that fall into your lap.
First of all, it’s a bit surprising that when someone is unhappy with their living situation, they immediately think about building a house. Most single renters would rather look for a different, better apartment.
What a coincidence: connections really are worth their weight in gold (as seen with the builder who managed to build for 900 €/m²). The question is why someone would sell a plot so cheaply, and then specifically to you. But okay, as I said: lucky you! And then the coincidence with the bricklayer who tells you how cheaply you can build—at 900 €/m².
Lucky is the one who can do it all.
Coincidentally, he was a bricklayer himself—and doubly lucky because he could choose his workers...
... meaning he probably has many construction contacts he could ask, but in addition has friends who are skilled tradespeople. Most likely his contacts and colleagues are also his friends, who then spent their evenings building a house for him without pay. A roofer has their own tools, scaffolding isn’t needed for a bungalow, and other equipment can be driven to the site after work with the company vehicle. That works out. The building price of €900/m² even beats a small Ytong (aerated concrete) kit house, which at the cheapest level, for a closed shell without groundwork, already costs almost €1,200/m².
You already recognized it: it is unrealistic. So now you’re asking if €1,700/m² would be more realistic.
Let’s take the Ytong kit house as an example: we won’t take the biggest one, where the per square meter price is relatively cheaper, but the small and compact one, where you can build a 1950s-style apartment replacement yourself without scaffolding and with less material.
€104,000 for 87 m² (936 sq ft) — that’s real luxury for a DIY build. Groundwork costs of €25,000 extra. Then interior finishing, plumbing, electrical, heating. Installation costs charged by tradespeople or you do it yourself. In #10 I mentioned my neighbor, who had to pay cash for the kit (because the bank did not grant credit for complete self-build). Every six months he bought some material, while he and his elderly wife already lived in the shell with the technology installed. Patchwork tiling and a basic kitchen from a discount store, constantly forced to keep going because you want to finish at some point. Unfortunately, he was overtaken by death. Too much worry.
But you are probably young and can finish the house. Counting €200,000 including technology through tradespeople, you’re looking at about €2,300/m² for 87 m² (936 sq ft). Hmm... that’s not what you wanted.
Where do the €1,700/m² come from? Is that purely hypothetical, or have you calculated backward what you can afford?
Let me put it this way: if you still can’t say, “Max will do the plumbing, and Moritz will do the roofing, and I will do the bricklaying,” then your “sweat equity” won’t get you far beyond simple painting work.
At my age, I’d even trust myself to lay bricks, but honestly? I see nowhere what skills you have or what you feel confident doing. You keep asking the hypothetical popcorn question, “Is it possible...?” instead of asking yourself, “Can I handle this or that?”
First, go to a financing advisor and ask whether you can get a loan. Because most of the time, these discussions are just hot air when people speculate without knowing if they can afford real prices. First, even a lucky person has to buy the plot and sign the purchase contract with a notary.
Most real lucky ones think realistically and lease a piece of land where they can live year-round in a mobile home.
Ottowillswisse schrieb:
The problem is that I am currently living in an unrenovated attic apartment from 1950 because the prices here are just completely crazy,
Ottowillswisse schrieb:
So I had the idea to build a new house for myself
First of all, it’s a bit surprising that when someone is unhappy with their living situation, they immediately think about building a house. Most single renters would rather look for a different, better apartment.
Ottowillswisse schrieb:
Through connections, I can get cheap, serviced building land.
What a coincidence: connections really are worth their weight in gold (as seen with the builder who managed to build for 900 €/m²). The question is why someone would sell a plot so cheaply, and then specifically to you. But okay, as I said: lucky you! And then the coincidence with the bricklayer who tells you how cheaply you can build—at 900 €/m².
Ottowillswisse schrieb:
100 m² (1,076 sq ft) flat-roof bungalow built with an architect for €900 per m², as he claimed: wall construction 17.5 cm (7 inches) sand-lime brick + 15 cm (6 inches) insulation with thermal conductivity 0.035 + 1.5 cm (0.6 inches) plaster (supposedly the cheapest wall build). Most of the interior work was DIY: a €2,000 kitchen from a discount store, bathrooms tiled by himself, bathroom fittings installed personally, laminate and tiles done by himself for max €15 per m², interior plaster on ceilings and walls also DIY, interior doors, windows, and front door DIY. Very simple architecture with small window areas. Excavated soil was reused in the garden, for example.
Lucky is the one who can do it all.
Ottowillswisse schrieb:
The walls were still built by a bricklayer,
Ottowillswisse schrieb:
and he told me he works as a bricklayer himself.
Coincidentally, he was a bricklayer himself—and doubly lucky because he could choose his workers...
Ottowillswisse schrieb:
and he has friends in the different trades so that although everything was done by professionals, he had very low labor costs and practically only paid for materials.
... meaning he probably has many construction contacts he could ask, but in addition has friends who are skilled tradespeople. Most likely his contacts and colleagues are also his friends, who then spent their evenings building a house for him without pay. A roofer has their own tools, scaffolding isn’t needed for a bungalow, and other equipment can be driven to the site after work with the company vehicle. That works out. The building price of €900/m² even beats a small Ytong (aerated concrete) kit house, which at the cheapest level, for a closed shell without groundwork, already costs almost €1,200/m².
Ottowillswisse schrieb:
What do you think about such a construction price?
Ottowillswisse schrieb:
It somehow seems unrealistic to me.
You already recognized it: it is unrealistic. So now you’re asking if €1,700/m² would be more realistic.
Ottowillswisse schrieb:
My question is: Do you think it’s possible to build such a house with DIY flooring and painting work for €1,700 per m² of living area?
Let’s take the Ytong kit house as an example: we won’t take the biggest one, where the per square meter price is relatively cheaper, but the small and compact one, where you can build a 1950s-style apartment replacement yourself without scaffolding and with less material.
€104,000 for 87 m² (936 sq ft) — that’s real luxury for a DIY build. Groundwork costs of €25,000 extra. Then interior finishing, plumbing, electrical, heating. Installation costs charged by tradespeople or you do it yourself. In #10 I mentioned my neighbor, who had to pay cash for the kit (because the bank did not grant credit for complete self-build). Every six months he bought some material, while he and his elderly wife already lived in the shell with the technology installed. Patchwork tiling and a basic kitchen from a discount store, constantly forced to keep going because you want to finish at some point. Unfortunately, he was overtaken by death. Too much worry.
But you are probably young and can finish the house. Counting €200,000 including technology through tradespeople, you’re looking at about €2,300/m² for 87 m² (936 sq ft). Hmm... that’s not what you wanted.
Where do the €1,700/m² come from? Is that purely hypothetical, or have you calculated backward what you can afford?
Ottowillswisse schrieb:
If that’s the case, before I contact a company advisor, I will turn to a local architect and plan with them how I envision an affordable but solid house, and see where I can contribute DIY work with friends and family.
Let me put it this way: if you still can’t say, “Max will do the plumbing, and Moritz will do the roofing, and I will do the bricklaying,” then your “sweat equity” won’t get you far beyond simple painting work.
At my age, I’d even trust myself to lay bricks, but honestly? I see nowhere what skills you have or what you feel confident doing. You keep asking the hypothetical popcorn question, “Is it possible...?” instead of asking yourself, “Can I handle this or that?”
First, go to a financing advisor and ask whether you can get a loan. Because most of the time, these discussions are just hot air when people speculate without knowing if they can afford real prices. First, even a lucky person has to buy the plot and sign the purchase contract with a notary.
Most real lucky ones think realistically and lease a piece of land where they can live year-round in a mobile home.
Ottowillswisse schrieb:
I have done some more research now, and almost everywhere it says that an architect-designed house costs at least 2400€ per m2 (about $220 per ft2). [...] I am talking about a house without any frills, with simple layouts, laminate flooring instead of wooden planks, small window areas, and no roller shutters.The term "architect-designed house" can mean many different things. By all means, research until you are maximally confused. I prefer a more methodical approach. And of course, you can initially leave the roller shutter boxes empty and darken the windows with curtains if you are fond of the 1950s standard. But that reduces the price less than you might think.https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
O
Ottowillswisse26 Nov 2024 19:01ypg schrieb:
First of all, it’s confusing that when people are unhappy with their living situation, they immediately think about building a house. Most single renters would rather look for a different, better apartment. Try finding a rental apartment under 1200€ per month (about $1300) if you have pets—in many cases, you don’t even get a response, especially if you have a German Shepherd. If landlords get nervous just hearing "German Shepherd," I probably shouldn’t expect to get an apartment from them.
ypg schrieb:
First, go to a mortgage advisor and ask if you can get a loan. Usually, people just speculate when asking hypothetically because they can’t afford the real prices. Because even a lucky person first has to buy the land and sign the notary contract. I currently have 40,000€ (about $43,000) in equity and a net monthly income of 2300€ (about $2500). I can get the land through my grandparents—they own 2300 m² (about 0.57 acres) and want to downsize. The garden is a corner lot with two large gates, consisting of two plots. I can get one with 1200 m² (about 0.30 acres). The part of the plot where I’m considering building is easily accessible for machinery and currently just lawn.
11ant schrieb:
There are so many different things people can mean by "an architect-designed house." Right now, I’m thinking about an architect-designed house as a shell or plus build, meaning that with an architect, the construction would be finished up to the electrical work, plumbing and sewage, heat pump installation, and screed. I would then do the interior plastering, flooring, kitchen, and bathrooms including fixtures myself. You can plan a one-and-a-half-story house so that initially only the ground floor is developed, right? I hope to save money on the kitchen, since you can spend €20,000 (about $21,500) or more on a kitchen, but you can also buy kitchens online with appliances for less than €1,500 (about $1,600).
Ottowillswisse schrieb:
You can spend €20,000 or more on a kitchen and buy kitchens online with appliances for less than €1,500. With appliances for less than €1,500 ... yes, used kitchens, but new kitchens? No, I would say no.
Ottowillswisse schrieb:
Right now I’m considering a custom architect-designed house either as a shell plus or as a turnkey with some parts done myself. That means with the architect I’ll build up to the electrical, water/sewage, and heat pump installation with screed finished, and then I’ll complete the interior plaster, floor coverings, kitchen, and bathrooms including fixtures on my own. What do you think the cost per square meter would be? At least 1700. Because it remains
Ottowillswisse schrieb:
interior plaster, floor coverings, kitchen, and bathrooms including fixtures done by yourself which is nice, but won’t really reduce the overall cost significantly.
O
Ottowillswisse26 Nov 2024 19:29kbt09 schrieb:
With appliances for less than 1500 euros... yes, used kitchens, but new kitchens? No, I would say no.What about the Obi Respekta kitchen unit KB210WGC 210 cm (83 inches) gray-white, for example? It’s probably just an affordable DIY store kitchen, but should be sufficient for now, right?