ᐅ How are you dealing with the current construction situation?
Created on: 3 May 2022 16:44
K
Klinkerstyle
Hello everyone,
I’ve been quietly following along here for a while and wanted to check in with those who are about to start building or are still in the early stages of planning.
How do your friends and family react to your project? Do you get unsolicited “advice” to stop?
Do you find that your family talks about it all the time, or is it more a case of keeping calm and carrying on because there’s no turning back? Are you trying to calm yourselves with certain strategies, or are you already quite relaxed about it?
About us:
Our building project is nearing the end of the planning phase. The building permit / planning permission has been submitted, the loan is signed, and if everything goes according to plan, construction will start in late summer/autumn.
As a couple, we are actually pretty relaxed, but everyone around us is driving us crazy. We’re never quite sure how to react, which causes some frustration.
Tell us about your experiences.
I’ve been quietly following along here for a while and wanted to check in with those who are about to start building or are still in the early stages of planning.
How do your friends and family react to your project? Do you get unsolicited “advice” to stop?
Do you find that your family talks about it all the time, or is it more a case of keeping calm and carrying on because there’s no turning back? Are you trying to calm yourselves with certain strategies, or are you already quite relaxed about it?
About us:
Our building project is nearing the end of the planning phase. The building permit / planning permission has been submitted, the loan is signed, and if everything goes according to plan, construction will start in late summer/autumn.
As a couple, we are actually pretty relaxed, but everyone around us is driving us crazy. We’re never quite sure how to react, which causes some frustration.
Tell us about your experiences.
Really difficult situation... We want to keep going. It feels like we’ve planned everything, yet somehow we’re left with almost nothing.
Construction is expected to start in August. All trades will be contracted individually. I have found companies and received quotes for each trade. I also have a financing commitment from the bank at about 1.38% fixed for 10 years, which I need to sign soon and can’t delay any longer. The KfW55 energy efficiency standard must be completed by January 2024, or the subsidy will be lost. This means if I wait, the new loan and missing subsidy will likely add €35,000 to €40,000 (about $37,000 to $42,000) to the cost of the house.
About the construction itself:
Masons and carpenters are working on time and material basis (not personal acquaintances, but familiar). Building materials will be supplied through a building materials dealer.
Heating, building services, and electrical/photovoltaic work are also done on time and material basis by familiar craftsmen.
In the end, it always comes down to the real price at the time of ordering later, unless I order now and stock materials myself (which I can’t). For example, windows: should I order blindly now without exact measurements because I’m afraid they will be 10% more expensive if I wait? The same uncertainty applies to other interior work.
This lack of certainty and inability to plan is what’s wearing me down the most.
Construction is expected to start in August. All trades will be contracted individually. I have found companies and received quotes for each trade. I also have a financing commitment from the bank at about 1.38% fixed for 10 years, which I need to sign soon and can’t delay any longer. The KfW55 energy efficiency standard must be completed by January 2024, or the subsidy will be lost. This means if I wait, the new loan and missing subsidy will likely add €35,000 to €40,000 (about $37,000 to $42,000) to the cost of the house.
About the construction itself:
Masons and carpenters are working on time and material basis (not personal acquaintances, but familiar). Building materials will be supplied through a building materials dealer.
Heating, building services, and electrical/photovoltaic work are also done on time and material basis by familiar craftsmen.
In the end, it always comes down to the real price at the time of ordering later, unless I order now and stock materials myself (which I can’t). For example, windows: should I order blindly now without exact measurements because I’m afraid they will be 10% more expensive if I wait? The same uncertainty applies to other interior work.
This lack of certainty and inability to plan is what’s wearing me down the most.
Neubau2022 schrieb:
Did you get a fixed price, and until when is it valid? And I’ll say it again: hire an external construction supervisor.
The largest construction company is often not the best choice. You’re just a small part of their overall projects.
I’m keeping my fingers crossed for you. Our house handover is scheduled for July 😎 Thanks, and I wish you a smooth completion as well. In my contract, the price is fixed for 12 months, and once the construction preparations are complete (building permit / planning permission granted, insurance arranged, financing secured, etc.), the price is valid until completion. However, these days you have to be willing to compromise — I certainly won’t accept price increases lightly, but I’ll decide if it ever comes to that. Regarding the garages, I haven’t placed an order yet due to the lack of a price guarantee and a fixed agreed price increase after 6 months — so I can order them up to 5 months before installation. If they turn out to be unavailable, it won’t be a disaster.
I have the advantage that my father is retiring soon and, as a keen engineer, will be watching the construction site like a hawk. Of course, that’s not ideal if an independent expert report were needed for legal enforcement, but you can’t protect against everything.
Overall, it’s the same for many people here: I managed to get the KfW subsidy by just one day, the interest rate at the bank is fixed (1.79% for 10 years, despite a large amount of equity, but the timing just wasn’t right — in January it was still 0.85%), and looking ahead, these two issues already absorb some potential price increases. I have two (fully separate) residential units, which means a €67,500 KfW 40 EE grant. I can tolerate some increase for that subsidy — grudgingly.
At least you can consider yourselves lucky to have found a building partner. We haven’t received any price quotes for months; information takes months to arrive and only comes after repeated requests. Each construction company has its own local connections and therefore prefers to work with a specific architect. What else can you do...
Neubau2022 schrieb:
And very important: external construction supervisors. Does construction supervision by an energy expert who is also a building surveyor count as external supervision, or is an external construction supervisor considered something different?
We are in the reassuring position of having a signed financing agreement and the contractual framework for the construction also in the mail, ready to be signed soon. Therefore, the sleepless nights have been more manageable for a few days now. Of course, there is still a bit of lingering fear.
Within the family, there have been one or two comments stemming from concern. However, all of them now have a lot of trust in our judgment because we completed a similar project with House 1 before. Back then, those were also figures that my family found outrageous, simply because building practices in the ’70s were very different. Different interest rates, different amounts, different levels of personal contribution. But we calculated everything at the time and were successful. That’s why the comments about House 2 have been limited. Otherwise, I have two siblings: one built a new house herself a few years ago and values the advantages of new houses—she is very supportive. The other sibling took over the family home and is more part of the “I’ll keep the old house and the lifelong right to live there, but I’ll be debt-free quickly” camp—they are generally more skeptical about a “high mortgage payment until retirement” type of loan. They do not directly question our decision and support us, which I greatly appreciate.
Other than that, we are moving ahead at full speed. There is nothing good except to do it.
Within the family, there have been one or two comments stemming from concern. However, all of them now have a lot of trust in our judgment because we completed a similar project with House 1 before. Back then, those were also figures that my family found outrageous, simply because building practices in the ’70s were very different. Different interest rates, different amounts, different levels of personal contribution. But we calculated everything at the time and were successful. That’s why the comments about House 2 have been limited. Otherwise, I have two siblings: one built a new house herself a few years ago and values the advantages of new houses—she is very supportive. The other sibling took over the family home and is more part of the “I’ll keep the old house and the lifelong right to live there, but I’ll be debt-free quickly” camp—they are generally more skeptical about a “high mortgage payment until retirement” type of loan. They do not directly question our decision and support us, which I greatly appreciate.
Other than that, we are moving ahead at full speed. There is nothing good except to do it.