ᐅ What is the process? Hire an architect first? Then approach the bank / government loan programs / home financing schemes?

Hello everyone!
A few weeks ago, we purchased a plot of land, which was paid for just a few days ago.
We have already met with an architect, and now we want to move forward quickly so we can start building next spring.
The question is: what is the exact process? We have already requested financing offers from banks but haven’t signed anything yet.
Of course, I want to sign as late as possible since the loan commitment is usually free of charge for up to 12 months.
Therefore, we thought about hiring the architect right away to at least make some progress; otherwise, we would have to wait again. If the architect sends an invoice soon, we could potentially cover it with our own funds...
The loan shouldn’t be a problem because our income is high enough, and we plan to choose a relatively small monthly payment based on our income.
What do you think? We have little experience and are not sure how the process should go exactly.
So far, we have only had a brief, general meeting with the architect.
Regarding KfW applications, we also don’t know yet which energy efficiency standard we will aim for, since that depends on the costs...

Thanks in advance for your support.

I wouldn’t rush. Equity should be prioritized anyway. It would be used eventually in any case.

Well, if anyone is rushing, it’s me myself :-) We just don’t want to waste any more time since we have already been waiting for the plot for over 2 years.
For me, it’s a general question regarding the process – basically, is it common to start like this, or is it better not to begin at all before the loan is signed?

You yourself say that income conditions for the loan are excellent.

If you like, post your framework conditions, and then you will get an assessment.

As usual with building a house, there are many ways to reach the goal.

Personally, I believe that planning should be well advanced first, because otherwise you don’t really know how much the house will cost and how much loan you will need. Also, many banks require a detailed cost breakdown. I would recommend signing the final financing agreement only shortly before construction starts. Everything that comes up before that should be comfortably covered by personal savings.

We did it exactly the same way. First, we bought the plot of land and paid for it from our own funds. We then had a brief discussion with our bank to estimate the approximate maximum loan amount. After that, we hired an architect to plan the house (we are managing the construction ourselves). We also paid for the planning costs from our own capital. Now that the planning is mostly complete, we are taking care of the loan. We also plan to start building next spring.