ᐅ Construction Project: New Build – Budget Exceeded – Any Experiences?

Anne1983 schrieb:
We are now considering possibly reducing to 145 square meters (1560 square feet) or maybe managing all the contracting ourselves.

Try using the search function yourself; there are several threads from just the past year that deal extensively with the potential of self-managing contracts. In summary, not much leverage is expected from this approach, and depending on the market situation, it may not be a wise strategy.

A ratio of expected versus “estimated” costs of 560:310 won’t be balanced out by cutting 20 square meters (215 square feet), even with a lot of self-performed work. And for landscaping, there wouldn’t be much left either; at that point, you’d have to rely on letting the construction site grow over with bushes to achieve a green look :-(

Primarily, I see the financing gap as the first issue to address. If I were in your position, I’d want the designer to help work through that gap.

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11ant schrieb:
You won’t be able to fix the financing gap with just 20 square meters (215 square feet) of kitchen exhaust.

... Primarily, I see the need to close the financing gap first.QUOTE]

Well, they have to start somewhere, otherwise the latter won’t work either.

But I believe most people take this approach (we are doing so right now, for example). You start with the dream house on the dream plot, but once that meets the real financial framework, you have to bring both closer together:

- Can you also live with 150 square meters (1,615 square feet)?

- Does it really need to be a €50,000 garage, or would a ready-made double carport from a hardware store suffice, which can be upgraded later (walls built with stud framing, etc.)?

- Is a basement still practical, or just a storage area and guest room for people who visit twice a year for one night (in that case, I’d just pay them €100 for a hotel stay and call it a day)?

- Are there maybe plots available for less than €250 per square meter or smaller plots?

- Outdoor areas: Are a few concrete paving slabs, a wooden pallet as an entrance, and €20 for grass seed enough in the first few years? Or does it need to be the full setup right away, with a 50 square meter (540 square feet) tiered patio and raised beds?

Yes, and that is the typical situation. The main thing is to have a house, then the budget is exceeded, and you start cutting costs. It’s like buying a Ferrari and removing the tires and red paint because you don’t have enough money.

Of course not the tires and essentials, but otherwise: definitely yes. When it comes to things you have no idea about the prices, you really have to. Our dream kitchen is currently 5000 € (about $5,400) over budget – I’m not going to start refinancing right away but will first eliminate the solid bamboo countertop and the designer extractor hood. It would have been nice, but you quickly forget about it if you don’t have it.

Hmm, we included something like paving (just that, not the entire garden stuff) and a patio roof in the loan right away – it’s part of it, we want it, so the money has to be planned for directly.
However, we didn’t think about a porch roof – I’m curious how that will fit in later.

Personally, I would rather build smaller or not at all if there’s only enough money for the house itself without the extras around it.

We initially thought we wouldn’t run out of money so quickly. Then came the unplanned demolition of the old garage (it probably wouldn’t have survived the vibratory plates) and the construction of a new carport as a replacement (we couldn’t postpone that because the garage belongs to my mother, and if we’re already damaging it, we have to provide a replacement). The wooden basement ended up costing more than expected, and we need quite a few retaining walls outside (no, and we can’t do without them temporarily, otherwise you’d basically fall off the terrace. Also, the planned and municipality-required parking spaces wouldn’t work without them)… and now we’re painting.

With a heavy heart, we first had to give up on the planned Cero windows for the two large sliding doors *cry*, but if we go with conventional sliding doors from the window manufacturer, we can save around 20,000 to 25,000 euros (EUR) at once.

Let’s see if the planned garden shed will still be feasible in the end… but we can decide on that when the time comes. Our home builder is known for very conservative estimates, so so far it has usually been cheaper rather than exceeding the budget. Hopefully, that means the garden shed is a go…

But no exterior landscaping for years? Nah, that wouldn’t be an option for me either.