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!
My father did the same thing about 40 years ago—partly with some help where needed, but basically he built the house himself, chiseled out the grooves, and so on.
And that was basically my idea of “building a house.”
But when I remember that back then only some grooves were chiseled, and nobody even thought about ventilation systems, water softening, heat storage, photovoltaics, or solar energy, there is obviously a huge difference.
We knew we wanted to be as self-sufficient as possible—and then a level of technology came at us that we just couldn't really handle.
Besides, as I have mentioned several times, we are both very busy with work. I had four weeks off in April—I did get some work done during that time, specifically painting the ceiling on the ground floor and the boards for the ceiling upstairs. Now I’m back to work and just happy if I manage to get everything else done on time.
Of course, you can build in a rudimentary way, meaning using the simplest options everywhere so that with some basic intelligence and effort, you can learn what to do and carry it out yourself. But I still believe that a very sophisticated energy concept, for example, or a well-designed BUS system is better done by a professional.
Our general contractor has a client who I think is an IT specialist—someone very tech- and electricity-savvy—who configured and installed a very advanced BUS system himself. Although: I don’t know if he’s finished by now. We visited him once because we were also considering a BUS system, and he was really stressed out. The whole family was helping, and he was behind schedule because they couldn’t continue until all the cables were pulled. Four weeks later, our contractor was still waiting for the “go” to proceed there. No idea when the BUS system was finished or when work resumed.
That was exactly what we didn’t want.
If time is no issue and delays don’t necessarily mean extra costs, of course you can do a lot more. But who really has that luxury? That’s probably not the norm.
And that was basically my idea of “building a house.”
But when I remember that back then only some grooves were chiseled, and nobody even thought about ventilation systems, water softening, heat storage, photovoltaics, or solar energy, there is obviously a huge difference.
We knew we wanted to be as self-sufficient as possible—and then a level of technology came at us that we just couldn't really handle.
Besides, as I have mentioned several times, we are both very busy with work. I had four weeks off in April—I did get some work done during that time, specifically painting the ceiling on the ground floor and the boards for the ceiling upstairs. Now I’m back to work and just happy if I manage to get everything else done on time.
Of course, you can build in a rudimentary way, meaning using the simplest options everywhere so that with some basic intelligence and effort, you can learn what to do and carry it out yourself. But I still believe that a very sophisticated energy concept, for example, or a well-designed BUS system is better done by a professional.
Our general contractor has a client who I think is an IT specialist—someone very tech- and electricity-savvy—who configured and installed a very advanced BUS system himself. Although: I don’t know if he’s finished by now. We visited him once because we were also considering a BUS system, and he was really stressed out. The whole family was helping, and he was behind schedule because they couldn’t continue until all the cables were pulled. Four weeks later, our contractor was still waiting for the “go” to proceed there. No idea when the BUS system was finished or when work resumed.
That was exactly what we didn’t want.
If time is no issue and delays don’t necessarily mean extra costs, of course you can do a lot more. But who really has that luxury? That’s probably not the norm.