ᐅ Is the house price reasonable?

Hello everyone,

We are currently considering a prefabricated house from Bien-Zenker. It was built at the end of 2013, so it’s almost new. A family with five children lived in it for one year. The marriage broke up and the house is now being sold. Some interior work was done by the owners themselves, which is visible in places (bathroom grout is poorly done).

The details are as follows:

• Living area 180 m² (1,938 sq ft) over two floors
• Ground floor includes a utility room, open kitchen/living/dining area, bathroom, guest room
• Upstairs there are 4 bedrooms and a bathroom
• KfW 70 energy standard with district heating, controlled ventilation system Lunos with heat recovery
• Plot size 475 m² (5,110 sq ft), price was 250 € per m²
• No basement
• The house is very simple, gable roof, no balcony, knee wall 1.60 m (5.25 ft)
• Detached garage 7.50 m (24.6 ft) long
• Driveway and parking spaces paved
• Terrace slabs are laid
• The garden is undeveloped, no fence, lawn, plants, etc.
• 2 bathrooms: downstairs with shower, upstairs with shower and bathtub, standard quality
• Large kitchen with Bosch appliances
• Flooring is laminate
• 3 solar panels on the roof

The purchase price is €390,000 plus realtor fees. The walls all need repainting as they’re quite marked by the children. Some baseboards need repair. The garden still needs to be landscaped.

What do you think? Is the price reasonable?

Thank you very much.

Best regards,
Timo

What the plot of land cost back then is actually irrelevant. What matters is how much it would cost now.
Can you come to terms with the house? The price also has to feel right.

Painting a few walls really shouldn’t be a dealbreaker. That can be changed quickly.

Bien-Zenker is definitely one of the more expensive prefab home manufacturers.

A prefab home is not a bad thing per se. In fact, prefab homes are usually even more expensive than comparable solid (or masonry) houses.

So you shouldn’t have any disadvantages. A properly maintained controlled ventilation system should not cause problems but rather increase living comfort.

The plot would now probably cost around 280€ (about 310 USD). I don't think much has changed here. My gut feeling says yes for 370,000€ (about 410,000 USD).

You have a different heating system there compared to a typical Bien-Zenker customer who only has an air heating system. With district heating, you have a proper heating system plus an additional controlled ventilation system for living spaces. Have you looked over the district heating contract? Sometimes there can be costly pitfalls.

The contract looks good overall. I also know several other parties living there who are completely satisfied with the costs. The controlled ventilation system is decentralized and does not provide heating. Unfortunately, there is no underfloor heating.

I also bought an almost new house (2 years old). From my own experience, I know that such houses can be sold for a relatively high price.

However, this can be justified because everything is already completed, which is often underestimated in the prices of new houses ("I’ll do the garden myself...", "we just want to build..."), but in the end, these things are done differently or more expensively – at least that’s my opinion.

Besides, it was worth it to me to have something finished and not have to decide anything anymore... but I know that many people enjoy the building process.