ᐅ Do you get the impression that “house sellers” (prefabricated homes) tend to ...
Created on: 10 Nov 2019 14:30
P
Pinkiponk
... Are builders sufficiently motivated and do they work well and reliably due to the construction boom, or are they rather somewhat careless or overworked because of the many (potential) customers? In other words, how do you currently assess your position and negotiating power as a prefabricated house buyer (Leipzig region)?
C
cloudwalker11 Nov 2019 21:07Hello everyone,
first of all, apologies for my long post. Maybe someone will read it. I just wanted to vent my frustration and ask whether this is currently normal or if we are somehow "unusual."
We have been searching for a property for about a year now, initially focusing on used houses. However, even the prices for houses in serious need of renovation are unaffordable for us. Sometimes real estate agents lure you in with a reasonable price for a viewing, only to ask you to submit a bid for a bidding process that was never mentioned beforehand.
Believing we could build a house with a budget of around €400,000 (approximately $440,000), we registered with local municipalities as house seekers looking for building plots. But in some places, we are on waiting list number 500. In small communities, this could mean waiting for years. So, we decided to contact house building companies directly, as some claim to have land available or offer help in the search.
House Builder 1: A local company advertised a new build on a gap site on a real estate portal. We arranged a viewing of the plot on site (both by phone and clearly confirmed by email) and a first meeting. The only one who didn’t show up was their employee. Later, we got a call: “Oh, sorry, I must have misunderstood. We can arrange a virtual walkthrough by phone.” We were already a bit put off but agreed to visit the show home. There, we were met with a boastful off-topic monologue about various “amazing projects.” The house they offered was not even permitted on that plot according to the development plan. Despite repeated requests, we never received an offer for an alternative house.
House Builder 2: Initially easy to reach by phone, so we quickly arranged a consultation at their show home. We were upfront on the call: we don’t yet have a building plot but are searching intensively and were hoping for the support that was explicitly mentioned on their website. The consultation lasted about an hour and was much more pleasant than with Builder 1. However, the promised offer never materialized. We never received any proposal, despite several follow-ups.
Semi-finished semi-detached house: A semi-detached house offered by a real estate agent for a building company. The shell construction was almost complete with so far decent fittings, but the price was ambitious. The first viewing was promising. We really wanted to buy the house. However, many questions remained unanswered. We had a meeting with the real estate agent and builder at the agent’s office, but it was short because both arrived late and then had little time. For financing, we had to request numerous documents, which were provided only slowly. Another issue: There is no detailed construction specification document to date. We even considered drafting such a document ourselves, based on our experience, to send to the builder for review and completion. Buying a new build without such a document is simply impossible from our perspective. Furthermore, the brochure advertised a bathroom with daylight and high-quality fittings. We were given a budget to choose bathroom fixtures at a wholesale showroom. The budget only covers the cheapest items from a hardware store, not even the wholesaler’s own brand.
It just feels like we are always supplicants. Every inquiry is a nuisance and can lead to the other party not responding or pretending not to be there at all. If this continues, we will have to give up on our dream of owning a home.
first of all, apologies for my long post. Maybe someone will read it. I just wanted to vent my frustration and ask whether this is currently normal or if we are somehow "unusual."
We have been searching for a property for about a year now, initially focusing on used houses. However, even the prices for houses in serious need of renovation are unaffordable for us. Sometimes real estate agents lure you in with a reasonable price for a viewing, only to ask you to submit a bid for a bidding process that was never mentioned beforehand.
Believing we could build a house with a budget of around €400,000 (approximately $440,000), we registered with local municipalities as house seekers looking for building plots. But in some places, we are on waiting list number 500. In small communities, this could mean waiting for years. So, we decided to contact house building companies directly, as some claim to have land available or offer help in the search.
House Builder 1: A local company advertised a new build on a gap site on a real estate portal. We arranged a viewing of the plot on site (both by phone and clearly confirmed by email) and a first meeting. The only one who didn’t show up was their employee. Later, we got a call: “Oh, sorry, I must have misunderstood. We can arrange a virtual walkthrough by phone.” We were already a bit put off but agreed to visit the show home. There, we were met with a boastful off-topic monologue about various “amazing projects.” The house they offered was not even permitted on that plot according to the development plan. Despite repeated requests, we never received an offer for an alternative house.
House Builder 2: Initially easy to reach by phone, so we quickly arranged a consultation at their show home. We were upfront on the call: we don’t yet have a building plot but are searching intensively and were hoping for the support that was explicitly mentioned on their website. The consultation lasted about an hour and was much more pleasant than with Builder 1. However, the promised offer never materialized. We never received any proposal, despite several follow-ups.
Semi-finished semi-detached house: A semi-detached house offered by a real estate agent for a building company. The shell construction was almost complete with so far decent fittings, but the price was ambitious. The first viewing was promising. We really wanted to buy the house. However, many questions remained unanswered. We had a meeting with the real estate agent and builder at the agent’s office, but it was short because both arrived late and then had little time. For financing, we had to request numerous documents, which were provided only slowly. Another issue: There is no detailed construction specification document to date. We even considered drafting such a document ourselves, based on our experience, to send to the builder for review and completion. Buying a new build without such a document is simply impossible from our perspective. Furthermore, the brochure advertised a bathroom with daylight and high-quality fittings. We were given a budget to choose bathroom fixtures at a wholesale showroom. The budget only covers the cheapest items from a hardware store, not even the wholesaler’s own brand.
It just feels like we are always supplicants. Every inquiry is a nuisance and can lead to the other party not responding or pretending not to be there at all. If this continues, we will have to give up on our dream of owning a home.
cloudwalker schrieb:
It still feels like we’re just begging everywhere. Every inquiry is a nuisance and can lead to the other party not responding at all or pretending not to hear. If this continues, we will have to give up on the dream of owning our own home. I get the feeling that your budget for your build location is too low and that’s why you are not being taken seriously. How much does a square meter (square foot) cost there?
C
cloudwalker11 Nov 2019 22:50Building directly in the city is very expensive. Prices are around 450€/m2 (approx. $450 per sq ft). New condominiums in the city are about 4500€/m2 (approx. $418 per sq ft) of living space.
Therefore, we are already looking a bit outside the city. The municipality that interests us most recently offered plots at 170€/m2 (approx. $158 per sq ft). The plot from Company 1 (someone divided their 1000m2 (10,764 sq ft) plot) should go for about 230€/m2 (approx. $214 per sq ft). The second municipality where we are registered as looking recently offered plots at 150€/m2 (approx. $139 per sq ft). About 500m2 (5,382 sq ft) would be sufficient for us.
My rough estimate so far was:
250,000€ for the house (130m2 (1,399 sq ft) of living space should be enough depending on the layout)
100,000€ for the plot
17,500€ for development costs (surveying, soil analysis, gas, electricity, water/sewage, telecommunications)
15,000€ additional costs (property transfer tax, notary, building permit / planning permission, builder’s liability insurance, shell construction insurance, temporary construction electricity, construction water, builder’s protection association BBQK)
15,000€ for paving work, fence, carport, terrace, lawn
If we manage to get a plot, this should actually be feasible, right?
Used houses are well above 300,000€ and tend to be original from the 1950s with heavy oak wall units, pea-green bathrooms, oil heating from the Stone Age, etc. Damp basements. A renovation project with hard-to-calculate follow-up costs.
Therefore, we are already looking a bit outside the city. The municipality that interests us most recently offered plots at 170€/m2 (approx. $158 per sq ft). The plot from Company 1 (someone divided their 1000m2 (10,764 sq ft) plot) should go for about 230€/m2 (approx. $214 per sq ft). The second municipality where we are registered as looking recently offered plots at 150€/m2 (approx. $139 per sq ft). About 500m2 (5,382 sq ft) would be sufficient for us.
My rough estimate so far was:
250,000€ for the house (130m2 (1,399 sq ft) of living space should be enough depending on the layout)
100,000€ for the plot
17,500€ for development costs (surveying, soil analysis, gas, electricity, water/sewage, telecommunications)
15,000€ additional costs (property transfer tax, notary, building permit / planning permission, builder’s liability insurance, shell construction insurance, temporary construction electricity, construction water, builder’s protection association BBQK)
15,000€ for paving work, fence, carport, terrace, lawn
If we manage to get a plot, this should actually be feasible, right?
Used houses are well above 300,000€ and tend to be original from the 1950s with heavy oak wall units, pea-green bathrooms, oil heating from the Stone Age, etc. Damp basements. A renovation project with hard-to-calculate follow-up costs.
cloudwalker schrieb:
We wanted to get in direct contact with home construction companies, as some claim to have plots of land or offer assistance in finding one. Note: claim. See also https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/Grundstück-erst-nach-vertrag-beim-Bauträger.30401/page-2#post-311916 and https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/vorgehen-und-Planung-Grundstück-efh-im-mtk.32091/page-2#post-342353
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
cloudwalker schrieb:
My rough estimate so far was:
€250,000 house (130m² (1,400 sq ft) of living space, depending on layout)
€100,000 plot of land
€17,500 site development (surveying, soil report, gas, electricity, water/sewage, telecommunications)
€15,000 additional costs (property transfer tax, notary, building permit/planning permission, builder’s liability insurance, shell insurance, temporary power, construction water, builder protection association BBQK)
€15,000 paving, fence, carport, terrace, lawn No, that unfortunately won’t work. The €250,000 for the house is already ambitious, and €17,500 especially if that is supposed to include all earthworks, soil removal, etc. How high is your property transfer tax? With your €100,000 assumed land price, that alone would be €6,000 here in our case.
Your calculation is tight everywhere, so as soon as one item exceeds its budget, no other can make up for it—because where is the buffer?
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