Good morning dear colleagues,
I am in the fortunate situation of having found our personal dream plot for our first own house. However, I only decided to start building four weeks ago and began searching two weeks ago – and now I need to act quickly, or the plot will be gone! I’m a bit overwhelmed because everything is moving so fast; I’ve already made one mistake and would therefore be extremely grateful for professional help and experience.
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1. Question about the builder:
We would like to build with TAFF-Haus, or rather have to, because the broker involved was until two weeks ago still part of the management team and since February has been an independent broker (during the viewing we were told he only works for the owner… which was true at that time but already feels a bit questionable). Now, there is no information or reviews about TAFF-Haus or the other companies in the parent group "Uwe Köhn Unternehmensgruppe," such as ALLEGRO-Haus (only two negative reports about ALLEGRO here in the forum). This is perhaps not surprising, considering the following from the commercial register regarding the entire company structure:
So, there is practically no experience in housebuilding! Or am I mistaken?
Fortunately (?), TAFF does not handle the construction itself but hires a large number of local subcontractors for the individual trades. You could almost say that they only organize. But I’m not certain about that; the walls are patented (prefabricated house/timber frame construction).
That doesn’t worry me too much yet, although I would prefer a company with many years of experience. But I probably just have to make sure that every tiny detail is documented in writing from the start – as it should be for contracts involving such sums.
-> What do you think? Can TAFF-Haus be trusted?
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2. About my mistake:
I, a naive fool, of course told the seller my budget. Quite surprisingly, our desired house now fits exactly into that budget – what a wonderful coincidence!
To partly fix this and to create a basis for negotiation, I’m considering, as mentioned above, asking for a detailed breakdown of every single item and comparing them online. It would be best to also get reference projects with addresses/contact details and compare prices with those. It can’t be too long since they built those...
-> What should I absolutely pay attention to now?
Is there a checklist or something similar in this forum? I will definitely read the section "Buyer assistance before signing the contract" here in the housebuilding guide, but maybe there is more or something that fits my situation.
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3. Alternative for the brave:
The plot is a dream, and we really want to have it. I have managed to find the owner and am seriously considering making him an offer. In the worst case, I’d pay the “hidden” broker’s commission but would then own the plot and no longer be tied to TAFF. We would also like to change some things about the house, which TAFF with their fixed floor plans cannot offer us.
-> Would you consider this option in my situation? Are there risks?
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Normally I’m someone who research many things extensively myself, but in this case I simply don’t have the time. I am grateful for any answer because the next meeting with TAFF is still this week, when the house is supposed to be planned. Feel free to bombard me with helpful links (as far as allowed) or similar topics, as I simply don’t have time to search and sort – mea culpa!
I am in the fortunate situation of having found our personal dream plot for our first own house. However, I only decided to start building four weeks ago and began searching two weeks ago – and now I need to act quickly, or the plot will be gone! I’m a bit overwhelmed because everything is moving so fast; I’ve already made one mistake and would therefore be extremely grateful for professional help and experience.
-----
1. Question about the builder:
We would like to build with TAFF-Haus, or rather have to, because the broker involved was until two weeks ago still part of the management team and since February has been an independent broker (during the viewing we were told he only works for the owner… which was true at that time but already feels a bit questionable). Now, there is no information or reviews about TAFF-Haus or the other companies in the parent group "Uwe Köhn Unternehmensgruppe," such as ALLEGRO-Haus (only two negative reports about ALLEGRO here in the forum). This is perhaps not surprising, considering the following from the commercial register regarding the entire company structure:
- VSC Vertriebs Service Consult GmbH has existed since January 2006.
- Meißner Bau Management GmbH, like Allegro-Haus GmbH, was founded in December 2012.
- TAFF-Haus GmbH has only existed for two years, since May 2015.
So, there is practically no experience in housebuilding! Or am I mistaken?
Fortunately (?), TAFF does not handle the construction itself but hires a large number of local subcontractors for the individual trades. You could almost say that they only organize. But I’m not certain about that; the walls are patented (prefabricated house/timber frame construction).
That doesn’t worry me too much yet, although I would prefer a company with many years of experience. But I probably just have to make sure that every tiny detail is documented in writing from the start – as it should be for contracts involving such sums.
-> What do you think? Can TAFF-Haus be trusted?
-----
2. About my mistake:
I, a naive fool, of course told the seller my budget. Quite surprisingly, our desired house now fits exactly into that budget – what a wonderful coincidence!
To partly fix this and to create a basis for negotiation, I’m considering, as mentioned above, asking for a detailed breakdown of every single item and comparing them online. It would be best to also get reference projects with addresses/contact details and compare prices with those. It can’t be too long since they built those...
-> What should I absolutely pay attention to now?
Is there a checklist or something similar in this forum? I will definitely read the section "Buyer assistance before signing the contract" here in the housebuilding guide, but maybe there is more or something that fits my situation.
-----
3. Alternative for the brave:
The plot is a dream, and we really want to have it. I have managed to find the owner and am seriously considering making him an offer. In the worst case, I’d pay the “hidden” broker’s commission but would then own the plot and no longer be tied to TAFF. We would also like to change some things about the house, which TAFF with their fixed floor plans cannot offer us.
-> Would you consider this option in my situation? Are there risks?
-----
Normally I’m someone who research many things extensively myself, but in this case I simply don’t have the time. I am grateful for any answer because the next meeting with TAFF is still this week, when the house is supposed to be planned. Feel free to bombard me with helpful links (as far as allowed) or similar topics, as I simply don’t have time to search and sort – mea culpa!
P
PowerBauer18 May 2017 14:46With this type of assignment (if that is really the case, as I have found different opinions online) and the "innovative" payment plan, I could live with it, even though it is far from customer-friendly. What really worries me, however, is the lack of information about the construction period, especially since, as mentioned, the fixed price is only valid for 12 months.
For now, I am waiting for the expert building surveyor’s opinion.
In the meantime, I might try to get in touch with people who have built with Allegro (the same corporate group but with solid construction), as they might have had similar terms and conditions in their contracts. I’m not done with TAFF yet.
For now, I am waiting for the expert building surveyor’s opinion.
In the meantime, I might try to get in touch with people who have built with Allegro (the same corporate group but with solid construction), as they might have had similar terms and conditions in their contracts. I’m not done with TAFF yet.
Bieber0815 schrieb:
Yes and no. With every payment schedule, you always have a right to withhold payment related to defects. Also, in connection with the assignment, the bank will only pay if you instruct the payment. If you don’t do that, the payment won’t be made. However, due to the assignment, the bank will not disburse the remaining loan amount to your account either. It only pays the builder or the construction supervisor.
(...)
In my opinion, nothing about this is correct.Because of the four-week exclusion period, legal action would be necessary to maintain the rights to claim defects or to withhold payment. This would strongly motivate the contractor to fix the defects....
Agreement, however, to the disagreement.
@TE: You should consider consulting the construction law advice service at a consumer protection agency....
The assignment declaration is an absolute no-go, even if a milder form of this is common.
A confident customer should immediately exclude any company that requires this. The customer is being unfairly disadvantaged here.
I wouldn’t hand over my debit card before going into the supermarket either....
A confident customer should immediately exclude any company that requires this. The customer is being unfairly disadvantaged here.
I wouldn’t hand over my debit card before going into the supermarket either....
Hello,
we read the post with great interest because we were considering either the same plot or the other half.
However, today we withdrew our application for various reasons.
The first reason is simply that the costs became too high after reviewing the building specifications. Furthermore, the overall process from property viewing to house planning seemed very odd and made us skeptical. The real estate agent acts as if he knows nothing about TAFF and declares the soil uncontaminated based on his own judgment. Everyone knows that during Erich’s time the land was "freilandverklappt" and regulations, if there were any at all, were ignored. Well, the fauna and flora are not dead there, but as others have already mentioned, heavy metals and other pollutants are also present in the soil. A soil report with a toxicological clearance certificate should already be available or at least offered. Maybe everything is actually fine, but you simply cannot rely on that. The plot is very attractive, so such things are often overlooked. Someone probably does not mind.
The TAFF house consultation itself was very pragmatic and brief. The motivation was quite limited. As mentioned above, it felt like an IKEA approach. You are supposed to buy the thing as it is, and only an alternative was offered for the heating system manufacturer. A consultation appointment with the subcontractor for the heating system was promised but never took place. This already shows how well the collaboration works. We felt like supplicants, even though we would be spending a small fortune there. Competent sales advice looks different, and this was the worst experience we have had so far. This is just an excerpt.
The initial cost estimate looked the same for us and was, according to the seller, generously calculated. However, there was no indication of additional costs arising from the building specifications. These are not always foreseeable for laypeople and belong in a transparent transaction. The terms and conditions have already been extensively discussed and are not acceptable to us. Especially for a prefabricated house, where everything is already planned and there is less potential for delays, such an assignment declaration to the bank combined with this payment schedule only aims at quick profiteering. The disadvantage for the customer is significant. Such concerns were also dismissed casually when asked. We were told payment happens according to construction progress. When we asked for clarification—whether payment after the slab is for the slab, and after the shell completion is for the shell, and then payments for the individual trades upon completion in sequence—this was brushed off. But that is not entirely correct.
In summary: The plot is nice, not a dream for me, but for us, everything gave the impression it would have turned into a nightmare, especially since we would have had to push our financial limits and there were too many uncertainties for that.
we read the post with great interest because we were considering either the same plot or the other half.
However, today we withdrew our application for various reasons.
The first reason is simply that the costs became too high after reviewing the building specifications. Furthermore, the overall process from property viewing to house planning seemed very odd and made us skeptical. The real estate agent acts as if he knows nothing about TAFF and declares the soil uncontaminated based on his own judgment. Everyone knows that during Erich’s time the land was "freilandverklappt" and regulations, if there were any at all, were ignored. Well, the fauna and flora are not dead there, but as others have already mentioned, heavy metals and other pollutants are also present in the soil. A soil report with a toxicological clearance certificate should already be available or at least offered. Maybe everything is actually fine, but you simply cannot rely on that. The plot is very attractive, so such things are often overlooked. Someone probably does not mind.
The TAFF house consultation itself was very pragmatic and brief. The motivation was quite limited. As mentioned above, it felt like an IKEA approach. You are supposed to buy the thing as it is, and only an alternative was offered for the heating system manufacturer. A consultation appointment with the subcontractor for the heating system was promised but never took place. This already shows how well the collaboration works. We felt like supplicants, even though we would be spending a small fortune there. Competent sales advice looks different, and this was the worst experience we have had so far. This is just an excerpt.
The initial cost estimate looked the same for us and was, according to the seller, generously calculated. However, there was no indication of additional costs arising from the building specifications. These are not always foreseeable for laypeople and belong in a transparent transaction. The terms and conditions have already been extensively discussed and are not acceptable to us. Especially for a prefabricated house, where everything is already planned and there is less potential for delays, such an assignment declaration to the bank combined with this payment schedule only aims at quick profiteering. The disadvantage for the customer is significant. Such concerns were also dismissed casually when asked. We were told payment happens according to construction progress. When we asked for clarification—whether payment after the slab is for the slab, and after the shell completion is for the shell, and then payments for the individual trades upon completion in sequence—this was brushed off. But that is not entirely correct.
In summary: The plot is nice, not a dream for me, but for us, everything gave the impression it would have turned into a nightmare, especially since we would have had to push our financial limits and there were too many uncertainties for that.
Caspar2020 schrieb:
Regarding the interior walls: they are only covered on one side with OSB boards. That’s not ideal; it would be better to have OSB plus drywall. However, OSB provides significantly more structural support than drywall alone. Soundproofing mainly depends on what’s installed within the stud cavity. Another question is how thick the OSB boards are. Is there any information about this in the building specifications?
Good idea There is a separate building specification document for the drywall installation, which covers the rest... That is acceptable ...
When I see the payment terms, I wouldn’t even hesitate. The matter would be settled. Not an option at all.
Has the landowner explained why they don’t want to sell directly to you? Convenience? Or is the plot too large and intended to be divided rather than sold in small parts?
Would another real estate agent be an option for them? Then maybe send a professional intermediary right away, or the buyer from the developer of your choice? These costs would certainly be manageable, and I would give it a try. I wouldn’t give up so quickly on buying without TAFF. From a technical standpoint, it would be much better anyway.
Has the landowner explained why they don’t want to sell directly to you? Convenience? Or is the plot too large and intended to be divided rather than sold in small parts?
Would another real estate agent be an option for them? Then maybe send a professional intermediary right away, or the buyer from the developer of your choice? These costs would certainly be manageable, and I would give it a try. I wouldn’t give up so quickly on buying without TAFF. From a technical standpoint, it would be much better anyway.
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