ᐅ Looking for a construction company in the Greater Stuttgart area!

11ant schrieb:

Apparently, some homebuyers confuse requesting quotes with running amok. Just imagine that happening where you earn your living: one customer would face twenty time-wasters first :-(

??? What does requesting quotes from as many companies as possible have to do with “running amok”? This is usually the biggest investment of a lifetime, and I would have requested even more quotes if more builders had been an option.

The real time-wasters are rather the construction companies themselves, who make price comparisons nearly impossible with vague and incomplete offers.

Where I earn my living, prices are transparent for customers and can be compared without spending weeks on it. But in the construction industry, it seems to be different overall—avoiding any comparability or transparency at all costs.

Markuss85 schrieb:

Where I earn my living, prices are transparent for customers and comparable without having to spend weeks on it. But in the construction industry, this seems to be generally different—no comparability or transparency at all.

That is not the case at all.

Markuss85 schrieb:

This is usually the biggest investment of your life.

Then it would be reasonable to take the time to learn how to prepare a proper tender, because

Markuss85 schrieb:

The real time-wasters are the construction companies themselves, who make price comparisons nearly impossible with as opaque and incomplete offers as possible.

should actually mean: the clients, who with unstructured inquiries trigger the reception of hard-to-compare offers. Suppliers would even be grateful if more "effort" were put into it—this actually significantly increases the rate of qualified responses (i.e., that replies are not just rejections).

Markuss85 schrieb:

What does this have to do with a "rampage" when you request quotes from as many companies as possible?

By "rampage," I mean shooting blind requests all around without consideration, assuming the more hits, the better; and the time-waste is caused by asking many suppliers to do the work without regard or appreciation for the time required to prepare a quote. Inviting twenty-one suppliers to bid—in other words a closing probability of 4.76%—is simply disgusting consumer behavior from a entitled perspective. Imagine it applied to yourself: you would only be working meaningfully for about two and a half weeks per year, and spend the rest of the time on clients who just wanted to see if you were the cheapest option.

Four or five requests are understandable for every homeowner, the "puppy bonus" of being a layperson is factored in—but sending out a dozen inquiries is clearly underestimating other people’s time. Leaving others to clean up because you are too lazy to prepare proper, well-structured tender documents—and then complaining that the responses are as unstructured as the requests you sent—is really strong stuff. It’s clear that the generation of only children is entering buying power age. Poor economy :-(

You’re only building or buying ONE house—by what right do you let such an unreasonable number of companies write offers just for your royal pleasure? Twenty-one inquiries mean twenty no-gos. Kids don’t get bedtime stories from their dads because they are working overtime on your request—or do you think offers get written during smoke breaks? Beyond a certain point, thoughtlessness becomes seriously antisocial.

---

https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/

Thanks @11ant for your opinion, but I think we are not on the same page or you misunderstood me.

By the way, the request was indeed well-structured and detailed (with a specifications sheet, floor plans, site plan, and other points that were important to us, heating type, and essential requirements from the zoning plan). I actually do this professionally as a purchaser of relatively complex services.

And of course, it was never expected to receive fully developed offers based on this request. Except for one company, no one did that. But as a customer who is going to spend around 400,000 to 500,000 (approx.) with the company, I do expect the company to make an effort (at least a 1-2 hour consultation) or otherwise just decline directly. That did happen, and that’s good. It’s better if 9 providers decline upfront than if I make everyone spend hours working on this only to find out later that price, timing, or the scope don’t fit. However, I would never find that out if I don’t ask.

11ant schrieb:

Closing probability of 4.76%

For us, the closing probability was not based on the number of companies we contacted, but rather on who responded appropriately to the request, provided a good initial consultation, and after one hour of consultation, it was clear that things would basically work (start of construction, price, trust). In the end, we received full, reasonably comparable offers from 4 providers.

11ant schrieb:

Single child generation

11ant schrieb:

Seriously antisocial.

I find that comment “antisocial,” because you neither know the background, nor am I an only child.

If you believe you have submitted a structured inquiry but are dissatisfied with the responses, this is no coincidence. My requests for quotes always include a note stating that only responses following the specified format will be considered—meaning 1. alternative formats are welcome as an addition, but not as a replacement, and 2. only responses that comply with the required format count, while any "hidden" exclusions elsewhere do not apply. I ALWAYS make personal contact with new recipients of my inquiries.

Most importantly, my very first step is to ensure the number of inquiry recipients is reasonable in relation to the project scope: the fair deal is "effort for a qualified quote in exchange for a fair chance of being awarded the contract"—and I clearly do not see this at a ratio of 21:1. Such a request is unreasonable and is not appropriate between business partners. Inquiry spam is a serious issue and, moreover, leads to an undesirable "market cleanup": these types of denial-of-service attacks threaten family-owned businesses existentially, while private equity firms easily survive—and even benefit from—this for the reasons mentioned above. Just a suggestion for some (social) common sense.

11ant schrieb:

im Umkehrschluss also eine Abschlusswahrscheinlichkeit von 4,76%

Sorry, wrong wording. It should have read: a closing probability handicap factor of 0.0476 (and that is simply unfair—unless the inquiry explicitly states, "twenty other bidders were also invited").

Markuss85 schrieb:

denn du kennst weder die Hintergründe, noch bin ich Einzelkind.

My comment was not meant to imply that you personally are an only child, but rather to address the mindset of a generation that assumes the entire store is their royal court whenever Their Majesty considers making a purchase.

---

https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/

...Said the patriarch generation... It’s funny how you can twist things to suit your view. The right approach is, as always, somewhere in the middle.

I’ll try to get back to the topic again. What was the outcome of the conversation with the provider from post #60?

I will now ignore the posts that are off-topic and return to the main subject. Here is a brief update on the current status:

Prefab House / Timber Construction

• Hanse Haus – Received an offer, looks "okay" initially, but we have not yet gotten to breaking down the scope of work
• Bien-Zenker – Offer still pending
• Bittermann & Weiss – Offer received – expensive – details to follow
• Talbau Haus – Appointment took place. Overall, a friendly salesperson and we like the approach of a slightly smaller company, but somehow the spark didn’t catch. There was a lot of talking, but in the end, we left the meeting with little information. I also need to take a closer look at their wall and ceiling construction. They advertise good sound and insulation properties, but from my perspective that results in very thick floor and ceiling structures, which unfortunately reduces ceiling height and knee wall height in the upper floor.
• Fertighaus Weiss – excluded
• Schwabenhaus – excluded/terminated
• Albert Haus – set aside

Solid Construction Providers

• Haus der Handwerker – Offer received, price looks reasonable initially. Breakdown of content and scope of work still pending. (Yes, I am aware of the opinions about HdH)
• Hauser Massivbau – Appointment scheduled for early March
• Köhler Wildberg – Appointment took place. Very positive contact and a very pleasant conversation. They showed us various reference houses and plans and then addressed our building project. At the end, we received a rough price range and the next steps were outlined. The house will be planned with an architect and the trades will be contracted through a general contractor. We got the impression that Köhler does “honest” work and will try to find solutions if problems arise. This was not one of those “I have to sell a house now” meetings, but an honest and open discussion. However, we missed a clearer feeling of what the “standard” quality at Köhler actually is—that is, what is included in the standard package and whether it suits our taste. The price range was also roughly estimated, so we cannot make any definitive statements about the final price yet. Of course, this can only be done in detail after the architect’s planning, but it would be helpful to have a rough price range including our special requests. This might need to be addressed again at a follow-up appointment.
• AWS – Appointment scheduled for mid-March
• U-Haus – Newly added based on a recommendation from acquaintances. Appointment scheduled for mid-March
• FERMO – excluded – clearly too expensive
• Härtter Renningen – Declined by Härtter due to capacity

By the way, to return to that topic again: we have excluded Albert Haus, Fertighaus Weiss, and FERMO without a meeting. That means the only time investment by the salesperson was about 10–15 minutes of conversation in the show house. And Härtter rejected us outright without a discussion.