Dear builders community,
I am new to this forum. About 20 years ago, I built a solid (masonry) house and now I want to build/buy a prefab house from Fingerhaus. What surprises me is that the pricing is completely unclear and makes comparison practically impossible. A base price (“off the shelf”) for the house type is not provided, so any price increases or decreases due to the design changes I intend are not transparent. The seller refuses to provide a detailed quote—which is common practice in all other industries—citing protection of the construction plans. The attitude is basically: buy it or leave it!
Who would buy a car without being able to compare price lists and product specifications of different brands?
My question to you: is this common in the prefab house industry? How have you, as buyers, managed to deal with this?
Regards from Feuerwehr
I am new to this forum. About 20 years ago, I built a solid (masonry) house and now I want to build/buy a prefab house from Fingerhaus. What surprises me is that the pricing is completely unclear and makes comparison practically impossible. A base price (“off the shelf”) for the house type is not provided, so any price increases or decreases due to the design changes I intend are not transparent. The seller refuses to provide a detailed quote—which is common practice in all other industries—citing protection of the construction plans. The attitude is basically: buy it or leave it!
Who would buy a car without being able to compare price lists and product specifications of different brands?
My question to you: is this common in the prefab house industry? How have you, as buyers, managed to deal with this?
Regards from Feuerwehr
We had similar experiences with four prefabricated house companies, each making it to the second round of discussions. They always quoted overall prices, and when you tried to adjust something here and there, the costs usually increased significantly. For a small extra, you suddenly had to book an entire package, adding around 12,000 Euro (about $13,000) more to the total. We constantly felt like they kept the main sum wide open, eagerly collecting euros at the top. Of course, you end up with a finished house in the end, but whether you paid 50,000 Euro (about $54,000) more than necessary, you never really find out.
I honestly wonder how many rounds you have to go through before you truly understand the details. Four providers with two appointments each already took almost six weeks.
Since transparency and trust were at the top of our priorities, we eventually decided to drop the prefabricated house option altogether.
I honestly wonder how many rounds you have to go through before you truly understand the details. Four providers with two appointments each already took almost six weeks.
Since transparency and trust were at the top of our priorities, we eventually decided to drop the prefabricated house option altogether.
MarcWen schrieb:
Since transparency and trust were our top priorities, we eventually decided to rule out the prefabricated house option.This insight still seems to be far from being adopted by all construction companies. We received specific quotes from all providers including surcharges for the extras we wanted. If something was already included in the base price, they did not subtract it. However, that wasn’t necessary, since the surcharges for the individual extras were quite similar anyway.
B
Bauexperte22 Apr 2016 11:17Hello,
I am always surprised by the kinds of comparisons buyers make when dealing with a complete offer 😕
If you are convinced by the offer from your current favorite, you have to accept their terms and conditions; after all, their complete offer including a fixed price is what interests you.
If you want to specify every last detail, similar to buying a car and naming the final screw, you need to consult an architect you trust to design your house and execute it via separate contracts for each trade. In that case, you give up some of the conveniences of a complete provider but gain full cost transparency.
Both options have their advantages and disadvantages, and the choice depends on your personal preferences for a construction project.
Regards, Bauexperte
Feuerwehr schrieb:
A base price ("off the shelf") is not provided for the house type, so surcharges or discounts for constructive changes I intend are not visible. The seller refuses to give me a detailed offer, which is standard in all industries, citing protection of the building plans, etc. The attitude seems to be: buy it or leave it!
I am always surprised by the kinds of comparisons buyers make when dealing with a complete offer 😕
If you are convinced by the offer from your current favorite, you have to accept their terms and conditions; after all, their complete offer including a fixed price is what interests you.
If you want to specify every last detail, similar to buying a car and naming the final screw, you need to consult an architect you trust to design your house and execute it via separate contracts for each trade. In that case, you give up some of the conveniences of a complete provider but gain full cost transparency.
Both options have their advantages and disadvantages, and the choice depends on your personal preferences for a construction project.
Regards, Bauexperte