ᐅ Approach for Initial Contact with Developers and Prefabricated Home Providers
Created on: 26 Mar 2021 16:33
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Baumeister86
Hello everyone,
I have been browsing this forum on and off for several weeks now, but I haven’t really found what I’m looking for yet.
Specifically, we are two people (soon three in autumn) searching for our own property in the Berlin metropolitan area. Stable net income, equity available for the plot...
Existing properties are not so easy to find, as there seems to be hardly anything suitable on the market (neither too old nor with a garden so small you can hardly turn around – after all, we want to move “out” of Berlin partly for this reason).
So the topic of building a house (single-family home) came up.
We are already looking for a plot in the east of Berlin (Erkner, Rüdersdorf, etc.) or the north (Oranienburg, Bernau), as well as around Potsdam/Falkensee. Good public transport connection to the center of Berlin is very important, and nothing close to BER Airport (we already notice aircraft noise even though we officially are not even in a flight path).
My gut feeling tells me that for someone inexperienced in construction, a building project with an architect who takes responsibility is better than working with a large company. Or in other words, as a first-time home builder, you basically have to rely on them blindly, don’t you?
Now we come to the “core of the problem”: almost all plots are sold through turnkey home providers.
Posts here on the forum and elsewhere on the internet warn about “binding contracts” that only allow changes against disproportionately high surcharges, and offers where the fine print is crucial.
If I understand correctly, with these comprehensive providers, it is always recommended to have an independent surveyor/construction supervisor involved before signing a contract.
However, we are still one step before that: How do you recognize the bad actors during the first meetings? What are important questions to ask in an initial conversation?
These companies are probably all good at selling themselves, but what questions can help separate the wheat from the chaff?
And of course, also very welcome: What experiences have you had with general contractors in Berlin? Who would you recommend? Who does their job well even without a constant additional external construction supervisor?
Thank you very much and best regards,
Stephan
I have been browsing this forum on and off for several weeks now, but I haven’t really found what I’m looking for yet.
Specifically, we are two people (soon three in autumn) searching for our own property in the Berlin metropolitan area. Stable net income, equity available for the plot...
Existing properties are not so easy to find, as there seems to be hardly anything suitable on the market (neither too old nor with a garden so small you can hardly turn around – after all, we want to move “out” of Berlin partly for this reason).
So the topic of building a house (single-family home) came up.
We are already looking for a plot in the east of Berlin (Erkner, Rüdersdorf, etc.) or the north (Oranienburg, Bernau), as well as around Potsdam/Falkensee. Good public transport connection to the center of Berlin is very important, and nothing close to BER Airport (we already notice aircraft noise even though we officially are not even in a flight path).
My gut feeling tells me that for someone inexperienced in construction, a building project with an architect who takes responsibility is better than working with a large company. Or in other words, as a first-time home builder, you basically have to rely on them blindly, don’t you?
Now we come to the “core of the problem”: almost all plots are sold through turnkey home providers.
Posts here on the forum and elsewhere on the internet warn about “binding contracts” that only allow changes against disproportionately high surcharges, and offers where the fine print is crucial.
If I understand correctly, with these comprehensive providers, it is always recommended to have an independent surveyor/construction supervisor involved before signing a contract.
However, we are still one step before that: How do you recognize the bad actors during the first meetings? What are important questions to ask in an initial conversation?
These companies are probably all good at selling themselves, but what questions can help separate the wheat from the chaff?
And of course, also very welcome: What experiences have you had with general contractors in Berlin? Who would you recommend? Who does their job well even without a constant additional external construction supervisor?
Thank you very much and best regards,
Stephan
11ant schrieb:
I believe the original poster was not referring to the fact that when you buy from a developer, you are purchasing a future completed property. That is exactly the point I addressed in my response.
Baumeister86 schrieb:
Almost all plots are sold through prefabricated building suppliers. The posts here in the forum and elsewhere on the internet all warn about "binding contracts." P
paddelpat27 Mar 2021 16:5311ant schrieb:
By searching for the keyword "11ant Barthel" in the forum search, you can find my tips on how to find off-market land properties yourself.I think I'm just too bad at using the search function to find the posts – when I search for "11ant Barthel," I only get a few results saying to search for "11ant Barthel." It's a bit of a frustrating loop...
I just looked up townhouse projects in Berlin, a new building project in Berlin Weissensee. For comparison, some nearby have just been occupied, priced between €630,000 and €680,000. I’m not sure if it’s cheaper outside the city, but public transport is within walking distance here.
paddelpat schrieb:
When I search for "11ant Barthel," I only get a few results suggesting to search for "11ant Barthel." It feels like I'm going in circles...https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/neuling-sucht-rat-wann-sollte-planung-beginnen.37627/page-11#post-462013 ;-)
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
We also searched for a long time in the Berlin area. Unfortunately, most good plots of land are immediately bought up by developers and prefab house companies, so finding an unbound plot is very difficult. Additionally, new development projects are often located in areas where there was a good reason not to build before – for example, Bienenweg in Neuenhagen, Igelweg in Fredersdorf (both right next to the highway), or Ritterschlag in Schulzendorf (quite far from everything). In the end, we decided on a developer for the land and made some compromises with the house itself to meet our main criteria (very quiet and within walking distance to the S-Bahn).
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Baumeister8631 Mar 2021 21:20Wow... at first, I was worried whether this post would even be approved, then I didn’t check back for a few days and now there are so many replies.
Thank you all very much!
And yes, you’re right. It’s obviously about EITHER a plot with an existing house OR a building plot (two different options).
So, where do I start:
11ant, thanks for the link. I’ve often read your recommendations to check my own posts, but I never really got along with the forum search function!
The issue of inheritance tax on real estate always comes up with existing properties, as well as when buying a turnkey property. However, I thought that when dealing with developers, you first purchase the land and then enter into a construction contract with the general contractor/developer (GU/BT) in a notarial process?
What’s the story with Werner/Wengertner?
ypg: By “tying contracts,” I didn’t mean the combination of land and house construction, but rather the fact that additional charges on these prefabricated houses, when they come up during construction (e.g., different tiles in the bathroom/different flooring, etc.), are disproportionately expensive. At least, that’s what I’ve read here and in house-building blogs a few times.
Nida35a: What kind of houses are those for 630-680K (and where exactly in Weissensee)? A semi-detached house is unfortunately not an option. Otherwise, I’m all ears ;-).
Best regards
Stephan
Thank you all very much!
And yes, you’re right. It’s obviously about EITHER a plot with an existing house OR a building plot (two different options).
So, where do I start:
11ant, thanks for the link. I’ve often read your recommendations to check my own posts, but I never really got along with the forum search function!
The issue of inheritance tax on real estate always comes up with existing properties, as well as when buying a turnkey property. However, I thought that when dealing with developers, you first purchase the land and then enter into a construction contract with the general contractor/developer (GU/BT) in a notarial process?
What’s the story with Werner/Wengertner?
ypg: By “tying contracts,” I didn’t mean the combination of land and house construction, but rather the fact that additional charges on these prefabricated houses, when they come up during construction (e.g., different tiles in the bathroom/different flooring, etc.), are disproportionately expensive. At least, that’s what I’ve read here and in house-building blogs a few times.
Nida35a: What kind of houses are those for 630-680K (and where exactly in Weissensee)? A semi-detached house is unfortunately not an option. Otherwise, I’m all ears ;-).
Best regards
Stephan