ᐅ Single-family house floor plan, 240 m², two full stories without basement, solid construction

In another thread, I described it as a possible (!) approach, which was immediately and thoroughly ridiculed, but I still consider it an option that is certainly not suitable for everyone yet nonetheless feasible: moving into the house while it is still a construction site (which exact building phase that is can be debated) and then completing it yourself, room by room, step by step. Some things cannot be divided up (for example, heating just one room is simply not possible), and for others, patience is required. My parents did this back then (of course without children yet), which naturally meant several years without other hobbies.

Here in the Munich district, houses of this type including the plot are priced at around 2 million (2M), and in areas with cheaper land prices, still around 1.5 million (1.5M). I find the mentioned 880,000 pretty ambitious for the house, including many things that people reluctantly include but have to because they are simply unavoidable.

HeimatBauer schrieb:

My parents did it that way back then (of course without children at the time), which naturally meant no other hobbies for several years.

You simply can't finance that nowadays. It's just tinkering. When we talk about DIY work, it's not only about the painting. You might save around 10,000–15,000 (ten to fifteen thousand), but not 100,000–150,000 (one hundred to one hundred fifty thousand).

ypg schrieb:

You won’t get that financed these days. It’s just tinkering. When we talk about personal labor, it’s not just about the painting. That might save around 10,000–15,000, but not 100,000–150,000.

Good point about financing. Back then (the house was built in 1953), it was still possible or even quite common to first build a house and, for example, only finish the ground floor initially.

And just off the top of my head, to actually save 150,000, you would have to carry out trades worth around 500,000 yourself. You wouldn’t be doing anything else for years.

HeimatBauer schrieb:

In another thread, I described it as a possible (!) approach, which was immediately and strongly ridiculed, but I still think it’s a method that certainly isn’t suitable for everyone, yet is still possible: moving into the house while it is still under construction (which construction phase that is can be debated) and then doing room by room, step by step, the work yourself.

Please link where this was "strongly ridiculed."

HeimatBauer schrieb:

Some things can’t be divided up (for example, heating just one room isn’t feasible), and other aspects require a lot of patience. My parents did it this way back then (of course, without children yet), which meant no other hobbies for several years.

ypg schrieb:

You simply can’t finance that nowadays. Just messing around.

HeimatBauer schrieb:

Good point about financing. Back then (the house was built in 1953), it was still possible or even quite normal to initially build a house and, for example, only finish the ground floor.

Back then we had an emperor; in 1953, they tiled 15cm x 15cm (5 inches x 5 inches) tiles behind the sink and up to waist height, and floor to ceiling only in the shower. A key point is that a semi-finished house like this is less attractive as collateral for a loan and will be financed less favorably.

ypg schrieb:

When we talk about owner-performed work, we’re not just referring to painting. That might save around 10,000-15,000, but not 100,000-150,000.

HeimatBauer schrieb:

And just off the top of my head, to actually save 150,000 you would have to do trades worth about 500,000 yourself. You wouldn’t do anything else for years.

Either way, you won’t recover a large amount from the labor portion on carpets and wallpaper. Even Tim Taylor couldn’t do that.

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

Hello everyone,

I’m sharing my finalized budget plan.

Yes, it includes a lot of personal work, and I have a construction supervisor (not professional) in the family who is supporting me greatly.

11ant schrieb:

Please provide a link to where this was "radically ridiculed."

At https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/baukosten-gehen-aktuell-durch-die-decke.38976/page-1931 it was labeled as a mud hut and in another thread (I can’t find it right now) it was dismissed as a fiction. Yes, sorry, my grandparents built like that back then because they could afford bricks but not concealed mixer taps. Eventually, the whole house was completed. You can do it that way, but you shouldn’t calculate the hourly wage.

11ant schrieb:

A crucial point is that this semi-finished house is also less attractive as collateral for a loan and will be financed under less favorable conditions.

Absolutely.

11ant schrieb:

Either way, you don’t recoup oversized square meters through the labor costs for carpets and wallpaper. Not even Tim Taylor could.

I did a lot of work myself in my house, but only where it made sense, and sometimes I just did what could be done quickly – for example, I simply ran an unconnected electrical cable to the toilet for a luxury toilet that might be installed later. The cost and effort for that was zero. Sure, if I want to use it, I still have to connect it in the distribution panel. But right now, it saved me the money for the electrical pre-installation.
On the other hand, when it came to drywall boxing for the wastewater pipes in the basement, I briefly considered what the material including waste and errors would cost me as a private person – and even without adding expected paving costs, I ended up with higher expenses than my drywall contractor’s all-in price. I watched them working a lot (not because I was supervising but because I was installing cable ducts in the basement at the same time), and the speed and precision they had – it would have taken me a year of life, and it would have been more expensive.

So nowadays, I am very, very cautious about “saving through self-work,” especially because I like to do a lot myself.