Dear forum users,
We have purchased a mid-terrace house from a developer and now need to finalize the floor plan for the room layout.
Right from the start: The layout of the house does not at all match our preferences, nor does the character of it being a mid-terrace house – but with current prices, this was the best we could afford... 😱 🙄 So please, no need to rub salt in the wound, we know there are houses with much better layouts.
Regarding the room planning, we believe there isn’t much that can be changed due to the elongated shape and the fixed window positions. Unfortunately, we don’t see many or any alternatives for the layout of the first floor, although the very narrow “corridor room” is a real problem for us. But maybe someone has an idea?
We have only considered partitioning part of the narrow room to create a storage closet, but that would be quite complex. Plus, vacuum cleaners and similar items could maybe just be stored in a closet inside one of the rooms?
As for the intended use of the rooms: initially, the rooms will be used as planned — two children’s bedrooms and the large room as the master bedroom. In a few years, we plan to move upstairs into the studio; the children will get the two bigger rooms, and the small room will become a study and guest room (where the vacuum cleaner, etc., could then be stored conveniently).
We appreciate any constructive suggestions and hope we haven’t forgotten anything (this is our first post in the forum).
Thank you very much!
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 162 sqm (1740 sq ft)
Slope: none
Number of parking spaces: 1
Number of floors: 3
Roof type: mono-pitched roof
Style: townhouse
Orientation: north-south (garden on the south side)
Homeowners’ Requirements
Style, roof type, building type: mid-terrace house
Basement: yes, 3 floors total
Number of occupants, ages: 4 people (parents + 2 years + 4 years)
Room needs on ground floor, upper floor: 2 children’s bedrooms, 1 master bedroom, 1 office/guest room
Office use: family use or home office? Home office
Number of overnight guests per year: 10
Open or closed architecture: open
Conservative or modern design: modern
Open kitchen
1 dining space in open living-dining area
Fireplace: no
Music/sound wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: roof terrace + terrace
Garage, carport: no
Utility garden, greenhouse: small garden
Additional wishes/features/routine, including reasons why certain things should or should not be included
House Design
Who designed the plan: developer
What do you dislike? Why? especially one children’s bedroom is very narrow and corridor-like
Price estimate from architect/planner: 580k
Personal budget limit for house, including fittings: 620k
Preferred heating method: district heating
Why is the design the way it is? For example:
Standard design from the planner? Yes
Which wishes from the architects were implemented?
A mix of many examples from various magazines...
What, in your opinion, makes it particularly good or bad?
We have purchased a mid-terrace house from a developer and now need to finalize the floor plan for the room layout.
Right from the start: The layout of the house does not at all match our preferences, nor does the character of it being a mid-terrace house – but with current prices, this was the best we could afford... 😱 🙄 So please, no need to rub salt in the wound, we know there are houses with much better layouts.
Regarding the room planning, we believe there isn’t much that can be changed due to the elongated shape and the fixed window positions. Unfortunately, we don’t see many or any alternatives for the layout of the first floor, although the very narrow “corridor room” is a real problem for us. But maybe someone has an idea?
We have only considered partitioning part of the narrow room to create a storage closet, but that would be quite complex. Plus, vacuum cleaners and similar items could maybe just be stored in a closet inside one of the rooms?
As for the intended use of the rooms: initially, the rooms will be used as planned — two children’s bedrooms and the large room as the master bedroom. In a few years, we plan to move upstairs into the studio; the children will get the two bigger rooms, and the small room will become a study and guest room (where the vacuum cleaner, etc., could then be stored conveniently).
We appreciate any constructive suggestions and hope we haven’t forgotten anything (this is our first post in the forum).
Thank you very much!
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 162 sqm (1740 sq ft)
Slope: none
Number of parking spaces: 1
Number of floors: 3
Roof type: mono-pitched roof
Style: townhouse
Orientation: north-south (garden on the south side)
Homeowners’ Requirements
Style, roof type, building type: mid-terrace house
Basement: yes, 3 floors total
Number of occupants, ages: 4 people (parents + 2 years + 4 years)
Room needs on ground floor, upper floor: 2 children’s bedrooms, 1 master bedroom, 1 office/guest room
Office use: family use or home office? Home office
Number of overnight guests per year: 10
Open or closed architecture: open
Conservative or modern design: modern
Open kitchen
1 dining space in open living-dining area
Fireplace: no
Music/sound wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: roof terrace + terrace
Garage, carport: no
Utility garden, greenhouse: small garden
Additional wishes/features/routine, including reasons why certain things should or should not be included
House Design
Who designed the plan: developer
What do you dislike? Why? especially one children’s bedroom is very narrow and corridor-like
Price estimate from architect/planner: 580k
Personal budget limit for house, including fittings: 620k
Preferred heating method: district heating
Why is the design the way it is? For example:
Standard design from the planner? Yes
Which wishes from the architects were implemented?
A mix of many examples from various magazines...
What, in your opinion, makes it particularly good or bad?
Scout schrieb:
Well, I’m actually writing from there :p
By the way, the Smile model you showed has a width of 6.20 meters (20.3 feet) or 5.82 meters (19.1 feet) on the inside...Adelsdorf? I think there is a similar housing development in Fürth or Feucht.Yep. Almost identical housing estates were built in chronological order in Zirndorf ("Pinderpark"), Heroldsberg ("Sunnyside"), Feucht ("Parkside"), and – nearing completion – Adelsdorf ("Seeside").
There should be around 1400 terraced houses in total across these four estates in the region.
There should be around 1400 terraced houses in total across these four estates in the region.
Scout schrieb:
Yep. Almost identical housing developments were built in chronological order in Zirndorf ("Pinderpark"), Heroldsberg ("Sunnyside"), Feucht ("Parkside"), and—now in the final stages—Adelsdorf ("Seeside").
Altogether, there are probably around 1,400 terraced houses in these four developments in the region. We also briefly considered just buying the cheapest unit in Seeside. I think it was about 205,000€ (roughly $225,000) without upgrades or a finished attic, etc. The idea was to pay it off after 10 years and then sell it for a higher price. But my wife wasn’t interested. Currently, there is a unit listed for 499,000€ (around $550,000) on real estate sites. That’s quite a jump.
Out of curiosity, are you satisfied? How is the build quality? For the price, including the basement, ground floor, upper floor, and attic, it was already impressive.
The prices were indeed so good that the contact person at the Commerzbank headquarters in Nuremberg furrowed his brow and said he couldn’t understand why it was so cheap – but based on his bank’s experience with the development in Feucht, he said it was "real." 🙂
For the 208, you still had to add the parking spaces, bringing the total to 220,000 EUR. They would have completely bricked up the attic and just painted over the windows for you. We took the attic for 19,000 EUR "ready to finish" – simply because back then we didn’t know what we actually wanted to do up there.
We kind of stumbled into our house like the virgin finding a child – after years of looking for land in the metropolitan area with no luck, prices kept running away from us. Then I found an ad, viewed it two days later, and after another six weeks, we were at the notary. The motivation: we had something first, and if we wanted, we could easily and quickly sell it again. Given the location (FO, Herzo, ER, BA), price/performance, age, and standardization, a house like this is like a liquid asset, meaning it can be sold transparently and very quickly at a good rate.
At that pace, we were overwhelmed by the attic back then, but saving 19,000 EUR by leaving out the expansion option? No way.
Including additional costs, upgrades, flooring, and two garages (plus one parking space), we ended up at 290,000 EUR for 137 m2 (1,474 sq ft).
For the 208, you still had to add the parking spaces, bringing the total to 220,000 EUR. They would have completely bricked up the attic and just painted over the windows for you. We took the attic for 19,000 EUR "ready to finish" – simply because back then we didn’t know what we actually wanted to do up there.
We kind of stumbled into our house like the virgin finding a child – after years of looking for land in the metropolitan area with no luck, prices kept running away from us. Then I found an ad, viewed it two days later, and after another six weeks, we were at the notary. The motivation: we had something first, and if we wanted, we could easily and quickly sell it again. Given the location (FO, Herzo, ER, BA), price/performance, age, and standardization, a house like this is like a liquid asset, meaning it can be sold transparently and very quickly at a good rate.
At that pace, we were overwhelmed by the attic back then, but saving 19,000 EUR by leaving out the expansion option? No way.
Including additional costs, upgrades, flooring, and two garages (plus one parking space), we ended up at 290,000 EUR for 137 m2 (1,474 sq ft).
I took a look at the residential developments in Adelsdorf. I thought such neighborhoods wouldn’t be built anymore in the 21st century. I was speechless. Then I found a 2016 article in the meier-magazin, Urban Planning Megalomania, which describes the problems of these developments and explains why the municipality, which used to have 8,000 residents, allowed this. Honestly, I’d rather live in my "cage" with a 1.8m (5 ft 11 in) high, opaque fence.
Zaba12 schrieb:
Out of curiosity, are you satisfied? How is the workmanship? For the price, the sewer system, ground floor, upper floor, and attic were already amazing.With the complete package, yes, absolutely. What is missing, however, are larger communal areas, and what bothers many is the almost inner-city parking pressure. There are about 30 public parking spaces for 12 hectares (30 acres) and more than 500 houses. We noticed this immediately, so we took 3 parking spaces/garages, and we rented out one of them right away: posted a note on the garage door and got 3 calls within 2 hours 😳The workmanship is basically quite acceptable – my sister-in-law also bought a house in Feucht in 2013 and has been very satisfied until now. Some details were occasionally a bit sloppy by the subcontractors, the most serious being the shed roofs, where nails were saved, and during a storm about a dozen roofs were damaged – especially on houses facing the weather side with open eaves. This was repaired afterward, and since then, much more careful work has been done. Otherwise, these were rather minor issues that should not be exaggerated considering more than 500 houses built. The surveyor was rather bored and only noted some minor negligence with the electrical installation as justification for his involvement. He said the risk is much higher with custom-built homes.