ᐅ How long does the initial planning phase take? Expectations when working with construction companies
Created on: 14 Dec 2015 14:24
H
herann
Hello everyone,
We have been planning to build for about a year now. In May/June, we started researching prefabricated house companies and visited several model home exhibitions. We also had initial discussions with some companies.
Due to an unfortunate event in the family, we paused the process for a while and resumed at the end of September. Since then, we have been trying to find someone willing to build with us or whom we want to build with.
And that’s the tricky part. I’m slowly starting to think that no one wants to build with us. We don’t have extreme demands (single-family home, 150m² (1,615 sq ft)), the plot of land is ready, and the budget of 400,000 (including additional building costs and other expenses) in my opinion isn’t too small. We have a clear idea of what we want, only small details remain undecided, and as soon as we feel confident with a company, we would like to start building immediately.
However, sometimes we have to chase the consultants just to finally get an offer. When asking about a preliminary selection of materials, the common answer is that there won’t be any opportunity for the next 2–3 months. And these are all reputable companies we would actually like to build with. Aside from those ignoring our wishes completely or those we just don’t get along with. So basically only 2.5 companies (the half only with a lot of goodwill) are still in the running, and we are still waiting for more detailed numbers from some of them.
Are our expectations for consultation quality too high? I’m simply not willing to sign a contract after the second meeting without, for example, a preliminary material selection. Or to sign anything before most of the plan and representation matches what we envision. How many meetings did you have with your builder before committing?
I’m even at the point where I think, “It doesn’t matter if I don’t like them personally, as long as the house fits,” although that really goes against my gut feeling. How important is the personal rapport with the salesperson?
How long did your decision-making phase take? I am already a bit frustrated at times and sometimes wonder if we will ever find someone to build with or who wants to build with us.
Looking forward to hearing about your experiences.
We have been planning to build for about a year now. In May/June, we started researching prefabricated house companies and visited several model home exhibitions. We also had initial discussions with some companies.
Due to an unfortunate event in the family, we paused the process for a while and resumed at the end of September. Since then, we have been trying to find someone willing to build with us or whom we want to build with.
And that’s the tricky part. I’m slowly starting to think that no one wants to build with us. We don’t have extreme demands (single-family home, 150m² (1,615 sq ft)), the plot of land is ready, and the budget of 400,000 (including additional building costs and other expenses) in my opinion isn’t too small. We have a clear idea of what we want, only small details remain undecided, and as soon as we feel confident with a company, we would like to start building immediately.
However, sometimes we have to chase the consultants just to finally get an offer. When asking about a preliminary selection of materials, the common answer is that there won’t be any opportunity for the next 2–3 months. And these are all reputable companies we would actually like to build with. Aside from those ignoring our wishes completely or those we just don’t get along with. So basically only 2.5 companies (the half only with a lot of goodwill) are still in the running, and we are still waiting for more detailed numbers from some of them.
Are our expectations for consultation quality too high? I’m simply not willing to sign a contract after the second meeting without, for example, a preliminary material selection. Or to sign anything before most of the plan and representation matches what we envision. How many meetings did you have with your builder before committing?
I’m even at the point where I think, “It doesn’t matter if I don’t like them personally, as long as the house fits,” although that really goes against my gut feeling. How important is the personal rapport with the salesperson?
How long did your decision-making phase take? I am already a bit frustrated at times and sometimes wonder if we will ever find someone to build with or who wants to build with us.
Looking forward to hearing about your experiences.
herann schrieb:
Hello everyone,
We have been planning to build for about a year now.
In May/June we started researching prefab house companies and visited several model home exhibitions. We had initial discussions with some companies.
Due to an unfortunate family incident, we put the topic on hold for a while and resumed at the end of September. Since then, we have been trying to find someone to build with us or someone we want to build with.
And that is currently the sticking point. Slowly, I’m starting to feel like no one wants to build with us. We don’t have any wild ideas (single-family home, 150 sqm (1,615 sq ft)), the plot is available, and the budget of 400,000 (including additional construction costs and other expenses) seems reasonable in my opinion. We now have a pretty clear idea of what we want and are only unsure about minor details. As soon as we feel confident with a company, we would like to start building right away.
But often, we have to chase the consultants just to get an offer. When we ask about a preliminary selection of materials, we are casually told that there won’t be any possibilities in the next 2-3 months. And these are all good companies that I would actually like to build with.
Apart from those who completely ignore our wishes or those who we find immediately untrustworthy. Now, basically only two and a half (half with a lot of goodwill) are still in the running, and even there, we are still waiting for more precise figures.
Are our expectations for consulting quality too high? I am simply not willing to sign a construction contract after only two meetings without, for example, a preliminary materials review. Or to sign anything until most of the planning and presentation matches what we have in mind.
How many meetings did you have with your builder before you agreed?
By now, I am even starting to think, “It doesn’t matter if I don’t like the person, as long as the house fits”—although that really goes against my instincts. How important is the personal relationship with the sales representative?
How long did your decision-making phase last?
I am honestly a little frustrated at times and sometimes feel we will never find someone to build with or want to build with.
Looking forward to hearing your experiences. In my opinion, you might be a candidate for directly contracting trades. Then you have the land, control the process, and are not subject to any arbitrariness.
Hi Herann,
Unfortunately, what you’re experiencing is probably not unusual. The companies are swamped with orders, so they don’t chase after individual customers. You also reached out to quite a few companies at once. It’s quite possible that your initial approach in conversations was rather casual and non-committal (even unconsciously). A good salesperson notices that and immediately categorizes you as a B-level customer.
That’s unfortunate for you, but understandable from the company’s perspective. The (always limited) resources are then focused on customers who are already visibly ready to spend money.
When we made our selection (which started in July and now the building permit/planning permission documents are being prepared), we limited ourselves to companies that were local to our area and had successfully built houses in our immediate neighborhood. That left us with 7 companies, two of which openly declined right away: “Sorry, no time.” One more was eliminated because he wanted €3500 (about $3500) for an offer. So, four remained with whom we really had intensive discussions. We had to nudge them a bit sometimes, but at least there was some feedback. Nevertheless, it was quite difficult and draining.
Ultimately, the winner was the one who put together the best overall package, combining consultation, openness, transparency in pricing, and fairness in calculating additional or reduced costs compared to the initial offer.
They also offer a large selection center about 50 km (30 miles) away, where you can take your time to look around — even before any contracts are signed. However, you do have to go through the process on your own; having someone constantly running a calculator all day alongside you would be too much to expect before the contract.
By the way, the other companies will still receive a truly polite and friendly cancellation from me, along with sincere thanks for their efforts. There are people working there too...
If a company refuses a preliminary selection process (which you do on your own), you can safely take that provider off your list.
It goes without saying that the design and the offer should fully reflect your wishes.
However, this will never be possible down to the last detail. I made an effort to clarify a lot to secure the major cost items. But for every detail, a project like this is simply too complex to settle everything before signing the contract.
How much I have forgotten, I’ll be able to tell you in a year, assuming we’re living in the new house by then.
With the company we eventually chose, there were a total of 4 in-person meetings, plus 2 from two years ago (when we had already made inquiries but ultimately didn’t buy the plot). In addition, there were probably 5 to 10 hours of phone calls with the salesperson and planner. The version of the offer we are now implementing is house design version number 7. However, some versions only included minor adjustments.
Best regards,
Andreas
Unfortunately, what you’re experiencing is probably not unusual. The companies are swamped with orders, so they don’t chase after individual customers. You also reached out to quite a few companies at once. It’s quite possible that your initial approach in conversations was rather casual and non-committal (even unconsciously). A good salesperson notices that and immediately categorizes you as a B-level customer.
That’s unfortunate for you, but understandable from the company’s perspective. The (always limited) resources are then focused on customers who are already visibly ready to spend money.
When we made our selection (which started in July and now the building permit/planning permission documents are being prepared), we limited ourselves to companies that were local to our area and had successfully built houses in our immediate neighborhood. That left us with 7 companies, two of which openly declined right away: “Sorry, no time.” One more was eliminated because he wanted €3500 (about $3500) for an offer. So, four remained with whom we really had intensive discussions. We had to nudge them a bit sometimes, but at least there was some feedback. Nevertheless, it was quite difficult and draining.
Ultimately, the winner was the one who put together the best overall package, combining consultation, openness, transparency in pricing, and fairness in calculating additional or reduced costs compared to the initial offer.
They also offer a large selection center about 50 km (30 miles) away, where you can take your time to look around — even before any contracts are signed. However, you do have to go through the process on your own; having someone constantly running a calculator all day alongside you would be too much to expect before the contract.
By the way, the other companies will still receive a truly polite and friendly cancellation from me, along with sincere thanks for their efforts. There are people working there too...
If a company refuses a preliminary selection process (which you do on your own), you can safely take that provider off your list.
It goes without saying that the design and the offer should fully reflect your wishes.
However, this will never be possible down to the last detail. I made an effort to clarify a lot to secure the major cost items. But for every detail, a project like this is simply too complex to settle everything before signing the contract.
How much I have forgotten, I’ll be able to tell you in a year, assuming we’re living in the new house by then.
With the company we eventually chose, there were a total of 4 in-person meetings, plus 2 from two years ago (when we had already made inquiries but ultimately didn’t buy the plot). In addition, there were probably 5 to 10 hours of phone calls with the salesperson and planner. The version of the offer we are now implementing is house design version number 7. However, some versions only included minor adjustments.
Best regards,
Andreas
We have also looked into several prefabricated house suppliers, but preliminary selections were never really an issue. We visited the selection centers of Fingerhut, Fingerhaus, Hanse, Schwörerhaus, Massivhaus Mittelrhein, and Heinz-von Heiden. I would suggest getting a quote from Fingerhaus as well; their prices are somewhat lower than Hanse. If it fits the region, also consider Massivhaus Mittelrhein from Mendig, as I had a very good impression there.
For us, the process actually went relatively quickly. In February-March 2015, the idea of building a house came up. We looked around, visited several companies, and toured model home parks. We always felt that no one was trying to pressure us into anything. At two companies, we were able to check out the selections unannounced and without a sales consultant. The prices for extras were clearly listed at both, so you could roughly calculate what additional costs might be. By mid-April, we had already signed the contract. I’m writing this now from the finished house.
We chose a large regional provider known for good quality across all trades, who basically builds the shell (structural frame) almost entirely themselves. The managing director gave us an offer, laid out all the contract documents on the table, and let us take them home to read. He said there were no major changes in the contract. From our current neighbors, who have also built with this company, we learned there were no issues. We received the construction schedule guarantee without any hesitation, clarified 2 or 3 minor points, and then signed. The building contract was very thorough and didn’t leave any real room for disputes. During the entire construction period, there were basically only two minor “disputes.” First, we had to pay locally for a structural calculation required by Schleswig-Holstein (450€). Second, the tile arrangement in the bathroom was included only in the simplest form, not in the pattern of our choice. Since we had quite a few extras in the tiles, we made a separate agreement with the tiler. This was not mentioned in the construction description. Other than that, everything went as planned. We can only give the company a solid top rating.
You spend a lot of money, and there are plenty of construction companies out there. Every sales consultant is actually interested in not losing you as a customer, unless they suspect they’re wasting their time with you. But that is already quite presumptuous. Companies currently have a lot on their plates, but because the value of contracts is always very high, a reputable company will never just let a potential order slip away. So if people behave unprofessionally or refuse to send you an offer – next!
We chose a large regional provider known for good quality across all trades, who basically builds the shell (structural frame) almost entirely themselves. The managing director gave us an offer, laid out all the contract documents on the table, and let us take them home to read. He said there were no major changes in the contract. From our current neighbors, who have also built with this company, we learned there were no issues. We received the construction schedule guarantee without any hesitation, clarified 2 or 3 minor points, and then signed. The building contract was very thorough and didn’t leave any real room for disputes. During the entire construction period, there were basically only two minor “disputes.” First, we had to pay locally for a structural calculation required by Schleswig-Holstein (450€). Second, the tile arrangement in the bathroom was included only in the simplest form, not in the pattern of our choice. Since we had quite a few extras in the tiles, we made a separate agreement with the tiler. This was not mentioned in the construction description. Other than that, everything went as planned. We can only give the company a solid top rating.
You spend a lot of money, and there are plenty of construction companies out there. Every sales consultant is actually interested in not losing you as a customer, unless they suspect they’re wasting their time with you. But that is already quite presumptuous. Companies currently have a lot on their plates, but because the value of contracts is always very high, a reputable company will never just let a potential order slip away. So if people behave unprofessionally or refuse to send you an offer – next!
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