ᐅ House Construction: Prefabricated House or Solid (Masonry) House? Experiences and Price Range
Created on: 10 Jun 2022 16:50
O
ollininjo
Hello everyone,
We have been looking into the topic of building a house for several months now. Unfortunately, we are quite new to this field and are not familiar with all the details. Of course, we have read a lot and searched online, but you often come across different information, especially older and not so up-to-date sources.
We have a plot of land in the city that we are considering. It is about 830 m2 (0.2 acres) including partial utility connections. The cost of the plot is 130,000 euros, and of course, you need to add property transfer tax, notary fees, and land registry costs (anything else we might be forgetting?). Since the plot only has partial utility connections, all the connections are apparently in front of the street because the land was subdivided. So, naturally, there will be additional development costs; we estimate around 10,000 euros. Overall, we would be looking at about 150,000 euros for the land, which is fine so far.
Now comes the house. We are leaning more towards a prefab house since a custom architect-designed home requires a lot of work, right? I have, of course, checked out several providers, and the prices are always quite attractive. We are assuming a 150 m2 (1,615 square feet) prefab house, which shows a price of 380,000 euros including all the services the provider offers. This is assuming a turnkey package. What other costs should we expect? I assume garage and landscaping are obvious extras, but are there other expenses we should factor in? Perhaps someone here has experience with this kind of build and could help us.
We would like to have a rough estimate to see if many additional costs might come up since, otherwise, the total would exceed 600,000 euros for a 150 m2 prefab house, which seems a bit unclear to me.
Thanks in advance to everyone!
We have been looking into the topic of building a house for several months now. Unfortunately, we are quite new to this field and are not familiar with all the details. Of course, we have read a lot and searched online, but you often come across different information, especially older and not so up-to-date sources.
We have a plot of land in the city that we are considering. It is about 830 m2 (0.2 acres) including partial utility connections. The cost of the plot is 130,000 euros, and of course, you need to add property transfer tax, notary fees, and land registry costs (anything else we might be forgetting?). Since the plot only has partial utility connections, all the connections are apparently in front of the street because the land was subdivided. So, naturally, there will be additional development costs; we estimate around 10,000 euros. Overall, we would be looking at about 150,000 euros for the land, which is fine so far.
Now comes the house. We are leaning more towards a prefab house since a custom architect-designed home requires a lot of work, right? I have, of course, checked out several providers, and the prices are always quite attractive. We are assuming a 150 m2 (1,615 square feet) prefab house, which shows a price of 380,000 euros including all the services the provider offers. This is assuming a turnkey package. What other costs should we expect? I assume garage and landscaping are obvious extras, but are there other expenses we should factor in? Perhaps someone here has experience with this kind of build and could help us.
We would like to have a rough estimate to see if many additional costs might come up since, otherwise, the total would exceed 600,000 euros for a 150 m2 prefab house, which seems a bit unclear to me.
Thanks in advance to everyone!
O
ollininjo11 Jun 2022 20:11Plot subdivision according to the owner, as he divided his property and now wants to sell these 830 sqm (8,930 sq ft). The utility connections are available up to the street.
I own a condominium that was built in 2016. I still have some mortgage left to pay off, but it’s less than 50,000 (approx.), so I would rent it out to help finance the house. I think that should be feasible. There are two people with a combined net income of 4,500 euros per month (not married). As I said, we mainly wanted a rough estimate of whether this is even possible within our budget or not. Then, theoretically, we could first buy the land and wait.
So the question is, can someone provide REAL TOTAL COSTS here, with all expenses listed, so we can have a guideline and understand the potential price range?
I own a condominium that was built in 2016. I still have some mortgage left to pay off, but it’s less than 50,000 (approx.), so I would rent it out to help finance the house. I think that should be feasible. There are two people with a combined net income of 4,500 euros per month (not married). As I said, we mainly wanted a rough estimate of whether this is even possible within our budget or not. Then, theoretically, we could first buy the land and wait.
So the question is, can someone provide REAL TOTAL COSTS here, with all expenses listed, so we can have a guideline and understand the potential price range?
N
Neubau202211 Jun 2022 20:20ollininjo schrieb:
Plot subdivision according to the owner, as he divided his land and now wants to sell this 830 sqm (8,930 sq ft). The utility connections end at the street.
I own a condominium, built in 2016.
I still have some mortgage to pay off, but it’s less than 50,000 € (about 50,000 USD) … I would rent it out then to finance the house. I think that should work. There are two people with a combined net income of 4,500 € (about 4,500 USD) per month (not married), but as I said, we just wanted a rough estimate if something like this would be possible within our budget or not. Then theoretically, we could first buy the land and wait. That’s why the question is whether someone can give us REAL TOTAL COSTS, with all expenses listed so we have a basis to understand the price range. If we assume 600,000 € (about 600,000 USD) and then 3% interest, a simple calculation shows you alone would have 1,500 € (about 1,500 USD) interest per month. That means you would need to accept at least a monthly payment of 2,500 € (about 2,500 USD) over a long period. 4,500 € (about 4,500 USD) is unfortunately not much nowadays, especially if children are planned.
ollininjo schrieb:
Now the house is coming; we tend to prefer a prefabricated house since a custom architect-designed house requires a lot of work, right? Again, or once more regarding the initial question:
Every building permit / planning permission application requires an architect.
The main distinction is between a catalog home, also called a production or standard house, and a fully custom-designed house.
The first is often offered by a general contractor (GC), but also by regional small companies as well as major prefab home manufacturers. Except for the regional ones, the big names come up when you google: Heinz von Heiden, Kampa, Viebrockhaus, Town & Country, Scanhaus Marlow, Danwood, Schwörer, Weberhaus, Okal Haus, etc. Most of these are prefab home manufacturers; Heinz von Heiden, Viebrockhaus, Town & Country, for example, are also solid construction (masonry/concrete) builders.
In terms of price, they don’t differ much in energy-efficiency classes 55 and 40. In the past, prefab manufacturers (timber frame) were somewhat more expensive than solid construction but offered better energy performance. This has now largely evened out.
However, prefab manufacturers (where the house is pre-assembled in the factory) typically have a long lead time of roughly 2 years. You usually have to decide quite early on, for example, where light switches will go.
Regionally, there are still niches where you can build a nice house with some extras and more individual design at reasonable cost.
By now, most solid construction builders also charge a distance fee if the building site is more than, say, 150km (93 miles) away. Prefab manufacturers always include a transportation fee. In addition to the catalog price, you also have to factor in the building platform (foundation slab), transportation, and architectural services.
And for all houses, top-up costs apply for everything not related to the house itself but to the plot of land and individual permits.
A custom architect-designed house is calculated very differently. I won’t go into that here to avoid confusion.
The scope of work has already been mentioned above: the scope of work that every GC and prefab manufacturer provides. It includes the included services.
If only 30 electrical outlets are included, you will need to order additional ones. The same usually applies for non-standard tile sizes, higher-grade bathroom fixtures, flooring, painting work, etc. The latter is often done as self-performed work to offset the additional costs at the end.
@ollininjo
Here’s a price from a different league: Town & Country’s "Lichthaus 152" for the postal code area 49074 is listed at just under 265,000€ (about 265,000 euros). It always depends on the details. Now there will probably be an outcry saying this and that aren’t included and are the builder’s responsibility. Information is everything. With other builders, you also don’t get anything for free just because it’s already included; then the price of the house itself is simply higher. I was surprised by the list from @Pinkiponk that structural engineer fees were charged separately. I don’t know who those were building with, but for me, that was included in the fixed price. With open contracts or architect-led projects, of course, those costs are added on.
I built with Heinz von Heiden mentioned here, and in 2018 they listed around 163,000€ (about 163,000 euros) for 100 square meters (approximately 1,076 square feet).
Here’s a price from a different league: Town & Country’s "Lichthaus 152" for the postal code area 49074 is listed at just under 265,000€ (about 265,000 euros). It always depends on the details. Now there will probably be an outcry saying this and that aren’t included and are the builder’s responsibility. Information is everything. With other builders, you also don’t get anything for free just because it’s already included; then the price of the house itself is simply higher. I was surprised by the list from @Pinkiponk that structural engineer fees were charged separately. I don’t know who those were building with, but for me, that was included in the fixed price. With open contracts or architect-led projects, of course, those costs are added on.
I built with Heinz von Heiden mentioned here, and in 2018 they listed around 163,000€ (about 163,000 euros) for 100 square meters (approximately 1,076 square feet).
ollininjo schrieb:
We just wanted a rough estimate to see if something like this is even possible within our budget. What budget?
I already mentioned:
driver55 schrieb:
You need to find a balance between both.
What am I willing to pay, what can/want I afford, and what does what I want cost? W
WilderSueden11 Jun 2022 22:10ollininjo schrieb:
Now the house is coming, we’re leaning more towards a prefab house since a custom architect-designed house requires a lot of work, right? You’re mixing a few things here. You can get architect-designed houses from prefab house providers as well as ready-designed standard houses built in solid construction. Whether you build solid or timber frame doesn’t have the decisive impact on the price. What really matters are the providers (what’s included, what costs extra?) and your personal preferences. It’s important in the planning phase to find a provider whose standard offering is relatively close to your desired standard. You can always upgrade the features, but that usually costs extra, which often makes it more expensive than choosing a higher-standard contractor from the beginning.
Also keep in mind that a complex sales process with model homes and sales representatives working on commission drives up costs that you end up paying. Here, a local builder from a small town who relies on word of mouth has a certain advantage. If you already live close to the building site, that’s something to consider.
The same goes for the work involved. You’ll have effort with all options, but naturally with an architect-designed house a bit more because you have to specify exactly what you want instead of simply accepting the contractor’s standard and then second-guessing if you wanted X or didn’t want Y. Generally, there are two reasons to opt for a custom architect-designed house:
1. You have specific requirements or wishes that don’t fit well into a standard package.
2. You want to avoid a conflict of interest in construction management. If your architect is in charge of the build, they represent only your interests. When the construction manager is an employee of the building company, they have to balance both your interests and those of their employer. This can be an issue, but it doesn’t have to be.
ollininjo schrieb:
Still have some debt to pay off, but it’s under 50k .. I’d just rent that out to finance the house.. I think that should work. There are two people with a combined net income of 4500 euros per month (not married) but as I said, we basically just wanted a rough estimate of whether something like this is even possible with our budget or not. Then theoretically, we could buy the land first and wait. That’s why the question is if anyone can give REAL TOTAL COSTS here, listing all expenses, so we have a guideline and an idea of what the price range would be. My projected total costs are about 475k without the land (70k plus some change for incidental purchase costs), including kitchen, landscaping, etc.
However, this information won’t really help you since neither of us is building the same house, not in the same area, and building costs have increased in the meantime. Also, we both have very different financing interest rates and maybe different lifestyles.
With 4500€ net income (how do you see that evolving in the future? Are children planned?), I wouldn’t exceed housing costs of about 2000€ significantly. From that, you have to subtract a few hundred euros for utilities and other running costs, so your mortgage payment might be around 1600–1700€. If you live frugally, maybe a bit more, otherwise less. Roughly estimated, you might afford a loan of 350–400k at 3% interest.
Do you actually have a building obligation on the plot? Many are sold with a clause like “shell built within 2 years.” In that case, waiting is rather difficult.
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