Hello,
I have been looking into house building for some time now, as we will likely be able to purchase a plot of land soon and would like to build a house on it. Through various websites, catalogs, and model home parks, we have already made some contacts and gathered ideas for planning.
In the first three initial meetings with prefabricated house companies, we realized that the candidates we selected all fall within a similar price range (not down to the last cent, but roughly speaking):
Is there a kind of categorization of companies by quality/price that a newbie should know? Like: Audi is more expensive than Skoda, this one is more like Porsche, and that one a Mercedes, which is about the same as the Audi?
For example, we have spoken with Baufritz, Kampa, Rensch-Haus, and Streif Haus, and still plan to talk with Weberhaus and Keitel-Haus.
Have I only chosen BMW, Audi, and Mercedes, or is there also a Ford in the group?
If you can roughly classify this, what is your impression?
(I understand that a Dacia is not only cheaper but also less capable/less well equipped than a Mercedes — but it would be helpful to know what kind of company you are dealing with and what the market offers, possibly without having calculated a project with every manufacturer — or am I the only one who thinks about such things?
Thank you very much and best regards,
Björn
I have been looking into house building for some time now, as we will likely be able to purchase a plot of land soon and would like to build a house on it. Through various websites, catalogs, and model home parks, we have already made some contacts and gathered ideas for planning.
In the first three initial meetings with prefabricated house companies, we realized that the candidates we selected all fall within a similar price range (not down to the last cent, but roughly speaking):
Is there a kind of categorization of companies by quality/price that a newbie should know? Like: Audi is more expensive than Skoda, this one is more like Porsche, and that one a Mercedes, which is about the same as the Audi?
For example, we have spoken with Baufritz, Kampa, Rensch-Haus, and Streif Haus, and still plan to talk with Weberhaus and Keitel-Haus.
Have I only chosen BMW, Audi, and Mercedes, or is there also a Ford in the group?
If you can roughly classify this, what is your impression?
(I understand that a Dacia is not only cheaper but also less capable/less well equipped than a Mercedes — but it would be helpful to know what kind of company you are dealing with and what the market offers, possibly without having calculated a project with every manufacturer — or am I the only one who thinks about such things?
Thank you very much and best regards,
Björn
balbi21 schrieb:
I have already talked to Baufritz, Kampa, Rensch-Haus and Streif Haus and still want to speak with Weberhaus and Keitel-Haus...
Did I just pick BMW, Audi, and Mercedes, or is there a Ford in there as well?I could have listed your desired ranking in my sleep 30 years ago, as I was deeply involved with prefab house manufacturers back then. Today, almost all brands in this market segment are those that had a good reputation at the time—unfortunately, often just as acquired brand names, similar to Grundig for radios.
Baufritz sounded good back then—I’m not sure who owns them now. Kampa was a clear brand with a distinct style at the time: gabled roofs, partially brick-clad, in a Münsterland-modern style. I would rate Rensch-Haus slightly above Streif Haus both then and now. Weberhaus targets clientele ranging from school directors up to factory executives, specialists, or chief physicians, etc. I haven’t heard anything negative about Keitel-Haus. However, when I browse for floor plan ideas, the most conservative ones often come from them.
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Baufritz is more high-end and eco-friendly. Kampa... after their third bankruptcy, it’s hard to say, more on the high-end side, they seem to be doing well again and have left their problems behind. So there’s no objection there.
Rensch-Haus, hmm, Streif Haus is more mid-range.
For budget options, I would rather classify Hanse Haus and Fingerhaus.
But all of this is, well, subjective. Almost all timber frame providers can be expensive or affordable. The final price mostly depends on the specifications. There isn’t much difference on the rest.
Sometimes, more doesn’t necessarily mean better. It’s better to think carefully about what the house should include or what is absolutely not acceptable. For example, wall construction, timber frame or panel system, insulation: wood, mineral wool, extruded polystyrene (XPS).
Or simply look for a local timber builder.
Rensch-Haus, hmm, Streif Haus is more mid-range.
For budget options, I would rather classify Hanse Haus and Fingerhaus.
But all of this is, well, subjective. Almost all timber frame providers can be expensive or affordable. The final price mostly depends on the specifications. There isn’t much difference on the rest.
Sometimes, more doesn’t necessarily mean better. It’s better to think carefully about what the house should include or what is absolutely not acceptable. For example, wall construction, timber frame or panel system, insulation: wood, mineral wool, extruded polystyrene (XPS).
Or simply look for a local timber builder.
Spunk schrieb:
Baufritz is more upscale and eco-friendly. That still seems to be the case. In the past, their direct competitors were Platz and ExNorm.
Spunk schrieb:
Kampa... after their third bankruptcy, hard to say, rather upscale, they seem to be doing well again and have left their problems behind. However, they now offer a completely different architectural style, or rather several styles. Overall, I suspect that their construction and production methods are also no longer what they used to be, meaning only the association between the name, brand image, and target customer group remains the same.
Spunk schrieb:
Almost all prefab house manufacturers can be expensive or cheap. And for that reason, they sometimes have several brands under their portfolio, which used to be competing manufacturers but are now just target-group brands. For example, to have a separate sales channel exclusively for shell homes.
Spunk schrieb:
Or just look for a local timber builder. This is how prefab house manufacturers all started: as carpentry businesses. My impression is that anyone moving from craftsman to house builder makes the same rookie mistakes. In that sense, a carpenter offering house construction today is like prefab house manufacturers in the 1960s—just updated to comply with current energy-saving regulations and modern equipment standards. There may be exceptions, but generally, I wouldn’t feel confident—although I tend to prefer local or regional providers for solid construction.
Does your question about prefab house manufacturers mean you are excluding solid construction, or is it just to avoid mixing apples and oranges in the same ranking?
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
11ant schrieb:
So, does your question actually mean you are only interested in prefabricated house manufacturers, thus excluding solid construction, or is it just to avoid comparing apples and oranges in the same ranking?For our project, I haven’t excluded anything in principle yet — currently, I’m focusing more on prefabricated/wood-frame construction because of the wood material and insulation values, but I’m not ruling anything out (I also found the building biology insights from Roth Massivhaus useful, and so on). For an overview of the market, though, I would actually prefer to have separate lists for apples and for oranges.
Of course, I’m aware that all manufacturers can build both “affordable” and luxury homes — to continue the comparison — and even in the car market, opinions would probably differ in detail, but generally, everyone knows what kind of cars Porsche makes and what Skoda is... What I’m looking for is this kind of broad, ADAC-style rough classification, to set a proper “expectation level.”
Thank you very much and have a great Easter holiday already.
Björn
11ant schrieb:
That probably still applies. Baufritz: It’s still the case. I’m not aware of anything to the contrary. Fully eco-friendly and owner-managed.
11ant schrieb:
But today they offer a completely different architectural style, or rather several. Overall, I have the "suspect" that the construction and production are no longer as they were before, meaning only the connection between name - brand image - target customer group remains the same. Kampa: Some of the plants are probably still the old ones... Construction is continuously developing. Cost optimization and technical progress.
Only the target audience remains.
11ant schrieb:
And for that reason, they sometimes have several brands in their portfolio that used to be competitors as manufacturers, but now are just target group brands. For example, to have a separate sales channel just for shell homes. Yes, that’s correct, see Deutsche Fertighaus Holding. Bien-Zenker and Hanse Hause, Streif Haus and Schwabenhaus, although the latter’s classification is unclear to me, especially Schwabenhaus.
11ant schrieb:
This is how all prefabricated house manufacturers started: as carpentry businesses. My impression is that everyone who transitions from craftsman to house builder makes the same rookie mistakes. In this sense, a carpenter offering house construction today is like the prefab manufacturers in the 1960s—only up to the current standards of the energy saving regulations and equipment trends. Exceptions may exist, but mostly, I would not feel confident—although I tend to prefer local or regional providers for solid construction. Hopefully not. I have two local timber builders here. I trust them to build houses equivalent to the big chains.
11ant schrieb:
So does your question actually mean only prefabricated house manufacturers, excluding solid construction, or is it just to avoid comparing apples and oranges within one ranking? That’s probably a question the original poster should answer: Why only prefab houses?
But to me, the approach of just going through many prefab manufacturers is the wrong one.