I am looking for advice from experienced people on whether the schedule we have planned is somewhat realistic...
This schedule assumes we are building a prefabricated house with a basement.
This schedule assumes we are building a prefabricated house with a basement.
- September to December 2012: Planning the house, floor plan, etc., searching for the plot of land
- January/February 2013: Submitting the building plans to the local authority (usually there is already a rough idea beforehand about what can be built, for example how many floors, what kind of roofs, etc. – I assume there are generally no major surprises?) (12 weeks processing) >>>> results in
- Purchase of the land April/May 2013
- Construction start by May 2013 latest
- Move-in by September 2013 latest. Is this realistic? Have we forgotten anything? Many thanks!
M
Micha&Dany15 Aug 2012 06:02nk2101 schrieb:
This schedule assumes that we are building a prefab house with a basement.
- September-December 2012: House planning, floor plan design, etc., searching for the plot of land
Hello Nebenkosten,
You want to have found a plot of land and completed the planning within 4 months??
Are there really that many new development areas where you are?
Do you already know the zoning plans?
We searched for a suitable plot for about 1.5 years ourselves.
After all, we want to live there for the rest of our lives (or at least most of it). Therefore, the location of the plot is the most important factor by far.
Many plots we looked at we rejected (poor traffic connections, too close to the highway (noise), too expensive, and so on).
During that time, we already obtained offers based on our ideas for the house.
Then we found our plot – and were not allowed to build what we wanted there.
So all planning was wasted!
And I assume no reputable provider invests deeply in planning before a plot is secured...
Planning time for us, after acquiring the plot: about half a year (including external review of the building specifications and subsequent incorporation of our requested changes).
A realistic timeline would be about 1 year from binding reservation of a plot, plus waiting time with the builder...
Regards,
Micha
Thank you for your answers. I’ve already tried several times to reply, but for some reason, the forum won’t let me submit my response... so here goes again.
We are already looking for plots of land, but we are very particular about the location since we can only afford to be up to 10 minutes away from my husband’s workplace. At first, we thought this would be a problem, but now I actually find it quite convenient not to have too many options. Specifically, there are currently two areas where up to 10 building plots are for sale, and we consider these relatively straightforward in terms of construction (no sloping terrain, fully serviced, etc.).
I had no idea that building companies have waiting times. Is that because many people are currently building due to low interest rates? It’s very disappointing that it would take so long until we can actually move into our own house, as this probably means we’ll have to rent somewhere in between—for about a year—which is a huge hassle with almost three young children. I had hoped we could be settled by the start of the 2013 school year, sigh...
I also have another question: Does anyone have a book recommendation on building a house, or even more specifically on purchasing land? I want to educate myself about what exactly needs to be considered, especially regarding land servicing... as I understand, up to around 50,000 euros can be added in extra costs if you’re not careful—despite full servicing?
We are already looking for plots of land, but we are very particular about the location since we can only afford to be up to 10 minutes away from my husband’s workplace. At first, we thought this would be a problem, but now I actually find it quite convenient not to have too many options. Specifically, there are currently two areas where up to 10 building plots are for sale, and we consider these relatively straightforward in terms of construction (no sloping terrain, fully serviced, etc.).
I had no idea that building companies have waiting times. Is that because many people are currently building due to low interest rates? It’s very disappointing that it would take so long until we can actually move into our own house, as this probably means we’ll have to rent somewhere in between—for about a year—which is a huge hassle with almost three young children. I had hoped we could be settled by the start of the 2013 school year, sigh...
I also have another question: Does anyone have a book recommendation on building a house, or even more specifically on purchasing land? I want to educate myself about what exactly needs to be considered, especially regarding land servicing... as I understand, up to around 50,000 euros can be added in extra costs if you’re not careful—despite full servicing?
I still get a bit upset thinking about our land purchase.
Our plot is a building gap in an area developed between 1960 and 1970. You would expect it to be fully connected to utilities. That’s how it was presented to us by the notary and the real estate agent. Just to be sure, I also contacted the local authority to check if there were any outstanding invoices for road and sewer connections. Their clear answer by email was "No."
At the notary appointment, we asked the sellers again if any bills were still unpaid. They said yes, a water pipe had been installed back then but not paid for. They offered to reduce the purchase price by 1,000€ since the pipe cost 1,000 Deutsche Marks at the time. They claimed to have informed the agent and even the notary about this. Unfortunately, neither of those two overpriced “service providers” told us a word.
Well, we didn’t think twice and bought the land anyway, as good building plots are rare in our area.
Then, four weeks ago, the invoice arrived — calculated at current rates: 12,000€.
None of them could tell us this in advance — not the agent, not the notary, nor the local authority — because the water utility is not part of the municipality.
It’s still a reasonably priced plot, but situations like this are frustrating. So before buying, ask about these things:
Is the street connection paid for?
Is the sewer connection paid for?
Any outstanding invoices with the water supplier?
The same applies for electricity, gas, etc.
Also, speak directly to the sellers in advance if it’s not the responsibility of the municipality.
Finally, check with the local authority whether any major projects are planned in the coming years, like sewer renovations or similar.
Our plot is a building gap in an area developed between 1960 and 1970. You would expect it to be fully connected to utilities. That’s how it was presented to us by the notary and the real estate agent. Just to be sure, I also contacted the local authority to check if there were any outstanding invoices for road and sewer connections. Their clear answer by email was "No."
At the notary appointment, we asked the sellers again if any bills were still unpaid. They said yes, a water pipe had been installed back then but not paid for. They offered to reduce the purchase price by 1,000€ since the pipe cost 1,000 Deutsche Marks at the time. They claimed to have informed the agent and even the notary about this. Unfortunately, neither of those two overpriced “service providers” told us a word.
Well, we didn’t think twice and bought the land anyway, as good building plots are rare in our area.
Then, four weeks ago, the invoice arrived — calculated at current rates: 12,000€.
None of them could tell us this in advance — not the agent, not the notary, nor the local authority — because the water utility is not part of the municipality.
It’s still a reasonably priced plot, but situations like this are frustrating. So before buying, ask about these things:
Is the street connection paid for?
Is the sewer connection paid for?
Any outstanding invoices with the water supplier?
The same applies for electricity, gas, etc.
Also, speak directly to the sellers in advance if it’s not the responsibility of the municipality.
Finally, check with the local authority whether any major projects are planned in the coming years, like sewer renovations or similar.
Thank you for your replies! It’s a bit discouraging at times—I sometimes think we should just give up and keep renting, ha ha...
We understand the extra costs, and we don’t expect to have a perfect outdoor area in the first year anyway. I would actually enjoy being actively involved in designing that.
Do you know if companies like Helma have such long waiting times as well? Is it specifically due to the current high demand for prefabricated houses, or do providers of solid construction houses of this type (with nationwide presence, etc.) experience similar delays? Could local providers of solid houses possibly be the faster option? The reason we are in such a hurry is that, with three small children, I am currently about 1.5 hours’ drive away from my husband’s new workplace (which is also our home and where we want to live long-term), and we need to decide whether we actually have to move one more time and rent again in the meantime (besides the fact that the rental market in the area is terrible—very expensive or run-down accommodations—and we are currently renting a very nice house here…). My dream was to move into our new house with just one move before the next kindergarten year.
We have now learned that the area of our preferred plot is rather unsuitable for building a basement, so since yesterday we are also planning without a basement, and I like that idea more and more... I’m imagining having a small laundry room upstairs so I wouldn’t always have to carry laundry up and down... and maybe a small pantry and storage room off the kitchen... but that is another topic.
We understand the extra costs, and we don’t expect to have a perfect outdoor area in the first year anyway. I would actually enjoy being actively involved in designing that.
Do you know if companies like Helma have such long waiting times as well? Is it specifically due to the current high demand for prefabricated houses, or do providers of solid construction houses of this type (with nationwide presence, etc.) experience similar delays? Could local providers of solid houses possibly be the faster option? The reason we are in such a hurry is that, with three small children, I am currently about 1.5 hours’ drive away from my husband’s new workplace (which is also our home and where we want to live long-term), and we need to decide whether we actually have to move one more time and rent again in the meantime (besides the fact that the rental market in the area is terrible—very expensive or run-down accommodations—and we are currently renting a very nice house here…). My dream was to move into our new house with just one move before the next kindergarten year.
We have now learned that the area of our preferred plot is rather unsuitable for building a basement, so since yesterday we are also planning without a basement, and I like that idea more and more... I’m imagining having a small laundry room upstairs so I wouldn’t always have to carry laundry up and down... and maybe a small pantry and storage room off the kitchen... but that is another topic.