ᐅ Looking for guidance on the general process

Hello everyone,

Until a few weeks ago, building a house was something we thought about in the back of our minds but was never really a current topic. That changed when we recently came across "our" plot of land.

Now, as beginners, we are faced with a mountain of technical terms, processes, and uncertainties that we first need to clarify. Starting with questions like "What exactly is a hip roof?" or "What does knee wall mean?" and moving on to more complex issues such as how to calculate the possible building area.

As you can see, we are really just at the very beginning. Therefore, we are trying to read as much as possible on the subject, which is how I found this forum. Hopefully, some of the users here will be willing to help us with advice on our project.

The situation: My husband (36 years old) and I (31 years old), with one daughter, want to make our dream of building a house come true. The rough planning details are as follows:

• Land cost: approximately €50,000 (reservation request already submitted)
• House, solid construction, turnkey, budgeted at €250,000

Since neither of us, as IT professionals, is really skilled in handiwork, the house will be delivered turnkey. It will be built by a local construction company acting as the general contractor, who will manage and subcontract all trades in-house.

Where are we now? As you can see, not very far yet. We have viewed the plot several times and agreed that it will be the one. We have inquired with the local authority, confirmed it is still available, and have submitted a reservation request.

A first appointment with the bank has been arranged.

What will the next steps be? Regarding the plot, terms like soil survey and land surveying come to mind.

As for the house, should we just contact the construction company and ask if they have a planner on staff or if we should look for an architect ourselves?

As you can see, we still feel quite helpless and somewhat overwhelmed by the whole situation.

Looking forward to some helpful advice.

Thank you very much in advance!

Hello MissFilou,

first of all, welcome to the forum!

At your initial meeting with the bank, you should find out the maximum financing amount that would be feasible, depending on your preferred monthly payment. It is also helpful to know the maximum loan amount the bank would be willing to offer.

With this information, you should then approach the construction company and share your ideas about the house. It can be useful to visit a model home park beforehand to get some inspiration.

I would also recommend obtaining more than one quote. Not only for price comparison purposes but also to gather new ideas, having a few offers is definitely helpful.

Soil surveys and land surveying become relevant once you actually start building. However, it can be useful to ask your future neighbors about the results of their soil tests. While your results won’t necessarily be the same, it can give you a general idea…

Best regards,

Dirk

First, make an appointment with the bank to establish your financial framework. Then you can start thinking about how much house you can afford.
What seems to be completely overlooked here are the additional costs :-) These can easily amount to 30,000 to 50,000 euros. So take it step by step. And only sign contracts when you are really sure.

Thank you very much in advance for your guidance. It seems we are not completely off track after all.

We have already visited the model home park. Our conclusion was that we do not want to build with timber frame construction, and unfortunately, the floor plans from the many brochures we looked at do not meet our preferences. We would need something more customized.

We clearly have the additional costs in mind. The points I mentioned were only rough estimates and were not intended for detailed financial planning. We will leave that to the bank.

So, our next step is to go to the bank to find out if it is possible and, if so, within what limits. Then we will gather multiple offers from construction companies and, after careful consideration and deciding on a general contractor, approach several banks to finalize the actual financing. This seems to be the logical procedure for us, right?

Instead of contacting banks directly right away, it might be worth first consulting a loan broker such as Dr. Klein or Interhyp.

Hello,

I think that works well.

In addition to Koempy’s suggestions, I would also recommend checking with some major insurance companies about financing options—they currently offer quite attractive terms.

Best regards,

Dirk