Hello,
Since April, we have been looking for a construction company to build a single-family house. Our plan was to first gather some quotes or cost estimates. After all, this is a decision that should be well considered. However, many of the companies we contacted either do not provide an offer, stop responding, or do not reply at all. This is starting to make us suspicious. We are not planning anything unusual. A simple single-family house of about 130m² (1400 sq ft), with an air source heat pump, living room, kitchen, toilet, and utility room on the ground floor, as well as a bedroom, children’s room, bathroom, and office on the upper floor.
For example, we had a conversation with a local construction company that ended with the statement that we would receive an offer. We then heard nothing from them for weeks. When we called, we were only told the manager was out of the office, would call back later, or similar excuses. When we finally reached him, he just postponed again until we gave up asking.
Another company wanted to schedule a meeting with us. After I suggested a date by email, we received no further response.
Another said they would call the next day to arrange a meeting, but never called.
Yet another asked us to call at the beginning of the week to set up a meeting, which we did. Suddenly, they became dismissive and said they could not estimate costs without a completed design from an architect hired by us, and that was the end of it.
What are we doing wrong? Isn’t it normal to present your ideas and get a rough idea of the costs or whether it is achievable within the desired budget? We are becoming quite desperate.
Since April, we have been looking for a construction company to build a single-family house. Our plan was to first gather some quotes or cost estimates. After all, this is a decision that should be well considered. However, many of the companies we contacted either do not provide an offer, stop responding, or do not reply at all. This is starting to make us suspicious. We are not planning anything unusual. A simple single-family house of about 130m² (1400 sq ft), with an air source heat pump, living room, kitchen, toilet, and utility room on the ground floor, as well as a bedroom, children’s room, bathroom, and office on the upper floor.
For example, we had a conversation with a local construction company that ended with the statement that we would receive an offer. We then heard nothing from them for weeks. When we called, we were only told the manager was out of the office, would call back later, or similar excuses. When we finally reached him, he just postponed again until we gave up asking.
Another company wanted to schedule a meeting with us. After I suggested a date by email, we received no further response.
Another said they would call the next day to arrange a meeting, but never called.
Yet another asked us to call at the beginning of the week to set up a meeting, which we did. Suddenly, they became dismissive and said they could not estimate costs without a completed design from an architect hired by us, and that was the end of it.
What are we doing wrong? Isn’t it normal to present your ideas and get a rough idea of the costs or whether it is achievable within the desired budget? We are becoming quite desperate.
My first thought was: "There must be something personally wrong with them." I have no idea how you approach negotiations or information gathering, but companies currently have plenty of projects and often little interest in accommodating very special requests, especially when these are expected to involve significant work (and costs) during planning and execution. Sometimes it seems like the personal impression is that they don’t want to have any fun with "these" clients if "things start off like this."
I would critically reflect on whether it might also be related to your own attitude, possibly combined with your profession (prejudices?).
In any case, it is unusual when no concrete offers come in.
I would critically reflect on whether it might also be related to your own attitude, possibly combined with your profession (prejudices?).
In any case, it is unusual when no concrete offers come in.
kaho674 schrieb:
Or do you perhaps live out in the sticks? We also had a few companies that simply didn’t want to come out to our village.Somewhat. We are moving to a village with 800 inhabitants. However, there is a district town with 30,000 inhabitants just a few kilometers away. Especially the local construction companies come across very dismissive, as if they don’t need our project or don’t take our inquiry seriously.
I have now posted our floor plan design. The thread can be found here. Now make up your own mind whether it is too uninteresting for the builders.
Bauexperte schrieb:
Hello,
first of all, I was a bit surprised by merlin’s approach of consulting 25 building companies. It’s a miracle he managed to keep track
...I don’t remember exactly how many there were; maybe only 17 — not all of them even provided quotes --> Rather, they all showed similar interest. We rarely initiated the discussions ourselves; instead, we were actively approached at the prefab house exhibition and during our online research. Ultimately, the talks served more to help us get oriented, which finally led us to directly award the individual trades, rather than any of these salespeople really making it into our shortlist. One of the best-known companies in our area ignored our requirements and planned contrary to the zoning regulations (and was shocked that the municipality refused to grant a deviation for the roof ridge direction).
In the end, we needed time to approach the project with a clear conscience; in my opinion, that is the most important thing. Whether 5, 15, or 30 talks are necessary should not matter for that.
Back to the topic here: prices were on the table quite quickly. Construction costs based on the offers I received were between 350 and 400 euros per cubic meter of enclosed space for a reasonable solid construction company, and around 400 to 450 euros per cubic meter for a reputable prefab house provider.
NullVier schrieb:
We found the first builder through a model home visit (contact made in person on site). The second one came to our attention because this company had built a house in our area (contact by phone). The next one was recommended by a colleague of my husband’s (contact by phone). I found one provider online that we are in contact with (contact by phone or email, I don’t remember exactly). Then we also contacted a company recommended by a colleague of my sister’s (contact by email). And we contacted two more local companies whose vehicles we see driving around here quite often (contact by phone).
Among these are both local companies as well as those with nationwide partners, including companies that sell standard design homes as well as those that offer custom planning.
We had personal discussions and always presented sketches, emphasizing that these were just personal drafts that could be changed.
I will upload the floor plan we roughly like in a moment. As I said, we’re not fixed on it and are open to modification suggestions from the builders. But you have to start somewhere.NullVier schrieb:
I just still don’t feel really comfortable with the providers and offers so far.To me, it sounds (or rather reads) like you want a price offer during this initial exploration phase.
You haven’t yet selected whether the scope of work suits you, nor whether you agree with the builder’s philosophy. You’re moving randomly from builder to builder with fixed expectations, without having had a proper conversation. Why should a builder put effort into something when most details are already visible on their website and the client is likely to back out anyway?
Maybe I’m exaggerating, but I’ve searched for a builder myself before:
I requested catalogs with price lists or used the internet for research.
For 3 to 5 companies, I inquired by phone and email about the building shell and finally visited the one that remained for a personal meeting and presented the plan regarding extra features. Maybe another builder would have offered the same price but built 10 square meters (about 100 square feet) more? That doesn’t matter, because my gut feeling has to tell me that this particular builder is the right choice for me.
That’s why, for comparing a standard house, rough price estimates are enough to narrow down your options—which you have not done yet.
Just my opinion!
NullVier schrieb:
I completely relate to what merlin is saying here. I just haven’t felt confident about the previous providers and their offers so far.
merlin, how did you come to the decision to hire the trades separately, or how did you approach this?This happened because I found the offers from the turnkey providers to be too opaque, and I always felt like I was paying too much for what was being promised. Furthermore, the additional cost lists from turnkey builders were always problematic. My negotiation partner, who I would potentially have to trust, only secondarily represented my interests in the turnkey build, and after signing the contract, I would have been at their mercy. I didn’t like that.
That’s how we ended up with an architect who is paid directly by us on a flat-fee basis for the work he actually delivers. As a result, I will also clearly see what I’m paying for in every other part of our future house and decide whether I want it. Primarily, I wanted to avoid paying a lot of money for something that adds little value to me. Only the architect could give me that price-performance certainty.
Compared to the turnkey offers and the current progress of the construction project, it looks like tens of thousands of euros have been saved overall.
To be fair, I have to say that there are also big differences between architects. When choosing ours, we saw very wide price ranges. Our favorite was incidentally also one of the cheapest. Billing according to HOAI (scale of fees for architects and engineers) is legally stipulated, but is often undercut in the market. There is currently a pending case before the European Court of Justice concerning the permissibility of undercutting HOAI.
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