Hello dear forum members,
A few weeks ago, you already helped me with some good advice. It became clear that building a house for 400,000€ without significant equity in rural Baden-Württemberg would be quite challenging. However, some of you encouraged me.
Now, surprisingly, I have acquired 100,000€ in equity through an early inheritance. I plan to build in 3 to 4 years and, based on my total income, I could afford a project between 500,000€ and 550,000€ (approximately 540,000 to 595,000 USD). I also intend to save a bit more during that time.
Since my family background makes me a real nerd... all of us in my family always have a strong desire to get the very best possible value for our hard-earned money. This is not always an advantage... And because we think we are good at something, we prefer to do it ourselves... .
So now I am specifically reaching out to the “nerds” among you. Who has built a house with an architect (possibly only phases 1-5) and with individual trade contracts while also contributing a significant amount of own labor? How long was the planning period? And what was the pure construction time?
In the next 12-24 months, I want to find a plot and, during and after that time, thoroughly consider what I want and need. For me, this includes intensive research in many areas (technology, architecture, building materials, etc.). Additionally, I have support from family members, as we are currently lifting and almost fully renovating a house ourselves.
Thanks to the long lead time, I am hoping to have plenty of time to make decisions, secure tradespeople, and so on.
Now, let’s be honest. Who has built like this? Were you able to save money by taking this approach? A general contractor or a prefab house is not really an option for me. I want the freedom to choose and make decisions myself, especially regarding materials and fittings.
Oh, and I understand everyone who doesn’t want or can’t build this way! I would personally feel very limited by a general contractor. The same goes for model home selections in prefab houses. Some people just want a house, and that’s perfectly fine! So I especially hope to get answers from homeowners who are as crazy about this as I am.
Thank you!
A few weeks ago, you already helped me with some good advice. It became clear that building a house for 400,000€ without significant equity in rural Baden-Württemberg would be quite challenging. However, some of you encouraged me.
Now, surprisingly, I have acquired 100,000€ in equity through an early inheritance. I plan to build in 3 to 4 years and, based on my total income, I could afford a project between 500,000€ and 550,000€ (approximately 540,000 to 595,000 USD). I also intend to save a bit more during that time.
Since my family background makes me a real nerd... all of us in my family always have a strong desire to get the very best possible value for our hard-earned money. This is not always an advantage... And because we think we are good at something, we prefer to do it ourselves... .
So now I am specifically reaching out to the “nerds” among you. Who has built a house with an architect (possibly only phases 1-5) and with individual trade contracts while also contributing a significant amount of own labor? How long was the planning period? And what was the pure construction time?
In the next 12-24 months, I want to find a plot and, during and after that time, thoroughly consider what I want and need. For me, this includes intensive research in many areas (technology, architecture, building materials, etc.). Additionally, I have support from family members, as we are currently lifting and almost fully renovating a house ourselves.
Thanks to the long lead time, I am hoping to have plenty of time to make decisions, secure tradespeople, and so on.
Now, let’s be honest. Who has built like this? Were you able to save money by taking this approach? A general contractor or a prefab house is not really an option for me. I want the freedom to choose and make decisions myself, especially regarding materials and fittings.
Oh, and I understand everyone who doesn’t want or can’t build this way! I would personally feel very limited by a general contractor. The same goes for model home selections in prefab houses. Some people just want a house, and that’s perfectly fine! So I especially hope to get answers from homeowners who are as crazy about this as I am.
Thank you!
We consciously decided against doing the electrical work ourselves because we are both very busy with our jobs, and we were fully aware (which is very important) that electrical tasks take far more time if you’re not an experienced professional.
Still, we sometimes feel pushed to the limit, as there are many decisions to make and discuss with the tradespeople (especially if you don’t want just a standard bathroom setup). We were happy to help where we could; for example, we painted the wood for the ceiling, helped lay insulation, and importantly, made sure there was always enough supply of drinks and snacks.
After the plan was finished, we actually thought we were done — but far from it! I shudder to think back to the sessions with our electrician, where we had to decide exactly where every switch should go for which lighting, which lamps would be grouped or controlled separately, and so on. You have no idea how much time just that alone takes. There are constantly countless small details to discuss and decide on. And we hired a general contractor (GC), not a traditional one who pushes you through a showroom selection process, but one who works with local or in-house tradespeople, and with them, we make the decisions according to our preferences. So we are off to the door showroom the GC works with to select doors, look at tiles and coordinate with the tiler, and so on. We have invested quite a bit in high-quality lighting, which alone requires planning effort we had not anticipated at all.
With this GC, we have maximum flexibility while still having someone who provides a warranty. But one thing we have learned is: maximum flexibility also means a maximum time commitment for decisions. That should not be underestimated!
For us, this is ideal — we are involved in every decision, our needs are always considered. But adding electrical work on top of that? We wouldn’t manage. I’m glad someone is overseeing that, taking responsibility if something goes wrong, and who I can hold accountable if necessary (hopefully that never happens). Just managing construction? I wouldn’t trust myself — these people have degrees or formal training for a reason. It’s arrogant to believe that just because you’re a skilled DIYer, you can handle it too.
Think carefully and realistically assess the time you can dedicate. If a skilled professional estimates a certain number of hours for a task, expect it to take you two or three times longer (and without any warranty).
I’m also a perfectionist (ask my husband — he’ll roll his eyes and confirm that). That’s exactly why I hired someone who knows what they’re doing. I would have botched it — even though I approach everything very diligently, I lack practice in most trades and no formal training (well, we have all painted before — but a professional painter is still faster than me). I want a perfect house, so I let experts handle the work. I just keep checking that they do it exactly how I want it (our plumber once said to me, “You’re different — usually we drive people crazy, but you’re driving us crazy!” — that was after a very long saga about bathroom fixtures *g*). I stay on top of things and am persistent so that our ideas are implemented as we want. But I’m very glad to leave the actual work to the professionals.
Still, we sometimes feel pushed to the limit, as there are many decisions to make and discuss with the tradespeople (especially if you don’t want just a standard bathroom setup). We were happy to help where we could; for example, we painted the wood for the ceiling, helped lay insulation, and importantly, made sure there was always enough supply of drinks and snacks.
After the plan was finished, we actually thought we were done — but far from it! I shudder to think back to the sessions with our electrician, where we had to decide exactly where every switch should go for which lighting, which lamps would be grouped or controlled separately, and so on. You have no idea how much time just that alone takes. There are constantly countless small details to discuss and decide on. And we hired a general contractor (GC), not a traditional one who pushes you through a showroom selection process, but one who works with local or in-house tradespeople, and with them, we make the decisions according to our preferences. So we are off to the door showroom the GC works with to select doors, look at tiles and coordinate with the tiler, and so on. We have invested quite a bit in high-quality lighting, which alone requires planning effort we had not anticipated at all.
With this GC, we have maximum flexibility while still having someone who provides a warranty. But one thing we have learned is: maximum flexibility also means a maximum time commitment for decisions. That should not be underestimated!
For us, this is ideal — we are involved in every decision, our needs are always considered. But adding electrical work on top of that? We wouldn’t manage. I’m glad someone is overseeing that, taking responsibility if something goes wrong, and who I can hold accountable if necessary (hopefully that never happens). Just managing construction? I wouldn’t trust myself — these people have degrees or formal training for a reason. It’s arrogant to believe that just because you’re a skilled DIYer, you can handle it too.
Think carefully and realistically assess the time you can dedicate. If a skilled professional estimates a certain number of hours for a task, expect it to take you two or three times longer (and without any warranty).
I’m also a perfectionist (ask my husband — he’ll roll his eyes and confirm that). That’s exactly why I hired someone who knows what they’re doing. I would have botched it — even though I approach everything very diligently, I lack practice in most trades and no formal training (well, we have all painted before — but a professional painter is still faster than me). I want a perfect house, so I let experts handle the work. I just keep checking that they do it exactly how I want it (our plumber once said to me, “You’re different — usually we drive people crazy, but you’re driving us crazy!” — that was after a very long saga about bathroom fixtures *g*). I stay on top of things and am persistent so that our ideas are implemented as we want. But I’m very glad to leave the actual work to the professionals.
@Climbee
It was similar for us. It’s not just a matter of spending two days at the show home and being done. Many decisions were made directly with the contractor. Small general contractors (GCs) can work so flexibly that they combine the advantages of a GC and individual contracting (I don’t want to choose from only five tiles).
Don’t underestimate the work you do yourself. The "mess" around the outside also takes time and has to be done alongside everything else.
In our town, there are two houses built with individual contracts plus self-work. They started building in spring 2017; one hopes to move in this year, the other thinks it will be next year. There was simply no progress for about five months because the window installer didn’t show up and so on. We’ve also been waiting for over a year now for the roof on the old basement. You really become a stalker just to get anything done.
It was similar for us. It’s not just a matter of spending two days at the show home and being done. Many decisions were made directly with the contractor. Small general contractors (GCs) can work so flexibly that they combine the advantages of a GC and individual contracting (I don’t want to choose from only five tiles).
Don’t underestimate the work you do yourself. The "mess" around the outside also takes time and has to be done alongside everything else.
In our town, there are two houses built with individual contracts plus self-work. They started building in spring 2017; one hopes to move in this year, the other thinks it will be next year. There was simply no progress for about five months because the window installer didn’t show up and so on. We’ve also been waiting for over a year now for the roof on the old basement. You really become a stalker just to get anything done.
Climbee schrieb:
One thing we’ve learned: maximum flexibility also means maximum time spent on decisions. That shouldn’t be underestimated! Climbee schrieb:
I’m a perfectionist too (just ask my husband, he’ll confirm with an eye roll). That’s exactly why I found someone who can handle that. Oh yes! Those are my words!!
For me, individuality means having the freedom to choose from a wide range. In that sense, we traveled all over northern Germany looking at tiles and kitchens, taking notes, comparing, and then revisited our shortlist to get the best options at the best price.
That feeling of eventually being worn out with the mindset “I can’t do this anymore, I don’t care now” shows how time-consuming and frustrating just the searching and selecting process became.
For example, we painted the drywall panels ourselves upstairs. Here and there, under certain lighting, you could still spot some filler marks, so it took three full days to smooth those out. Perfectionism isn’t satisfying when you have to handle it yourself — oops.
P
pffreestyler2 May 2019 16:52You are asking in the wrong place. Please direct this question to your friends and family.
Based on the statements here, I wouldn’t have been allowed to build at all or would have had to do it completely without any personal contribution. In the end, it involved more personal effort than originally planned.
Our reality: When work was needed, friends and family postponed their own commitments to help out.
The question of reliability is important, and we cannot answer that for you here.
Choosing the right professional companies is also extremely important. It helped us a great deal that we knew the companies or got to know them quickly. I have at least the mobile numbers of the supervisors for all trades, and in some cases also the numbers of the workers assigned to the construction. This helped us several times to find very short-term solutions when problems arose. We were even able to borrow the necessary machines for our personal work free of charge.
The time factor mentioned should not be underestimated. It takes longer than a professional and requires some flexibility in scheduling to meet deadlines so that other trades are not delayed. If I didn’t have such great colleagues who can cover for me on very short notice, things wouldn’t have gone as smoothly as they have so far.
Based on the statements here, I wouldn’t have been allowed to build at all or would have had to do it completely without any personal contribution. In the end, it involved more personal effort than originally planned.
Our reality: When work was needed, friends and family postponed their own commitments to help out.
The question of reliability is important, and we cannot answer that for you here.
Choosing the right professional companies is also extremely important. It helped us a great deal that we knew the companies or got to know them quickly. I have at least the mobile numbers of the supervisors for all trades, and in some cases also the numbers of the workers assigned to the construction. This helped us several times to find very short-term solutions when problems arose. We were even able to borrow the necessary machines for our personal work free of charge.
The time factor mentioned should not be underestimated. It takes longer than a professional and requires some flexibility in scheduling to meet deadlines so that other trades are not delayed. If I didn’t have such great colleagues who can cover for me on very short notice, things wouldn’t have gone as smoothly as they have so far.
For my project, the architect only provided the design plans. I personally selected and hired all the contractors. My father, a retired bricklayer, helped on-site every day or contributed unpaid labor, and occasionally my uncle, a retired painter, was also there. I exclusively hired tradespeople from the local area, and this approach really worked well for me. For some trades, I obtained multiple quotes myself, while for others I chose companies my father had good experiences with or craftsmen personally known in the rural community. Not a single one let me down. My main motivation was genuinely to save money and the hope that by contracting individual local tradespeople whom I knew personally, I would reduce the risk of poor workmanship. Both of these assumptions proved correct. I started with the foundation slab in March 2017 and moved in by January 2018.
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