Hello,
My wife and I no longer want to stay in our parents’ house, and paying rent is not an option since we currently don’t have any rental costs. If anything, we want to invest our money into something of our own – we want to build a house.
Since neither of us are skilled tradespeople and we prefer to spend our time on work we know, we will leave most of the work to the professionals. We plan to lay laminate flooring and do wallpapering ourselves.
At the moment, we have little equity, but our (independent) financial advisor believes we can still build without much equity since interest rates are very low – saving for another seven years to start with 33% equity wouldn’t make much difference, except that we’d have to stay in the parents’ house that much longer. We are also advised to build with solid construction, as this reduces overall costs. Since we are not in a hurry, we don’t need a prefabricated house.
So we have decided to take action while interest rates are low, even though our equity will only cover new electrical appliances, the kitchen, moving costs, and reserves for car repairs, etc. We will finance the land and house.
What kind of work can we realistically do ourselves? Is it feasible to take some time off work during construction and help out, or would we just be in the way and better off going to work?
Enough about finances, now to the house itself. Single-family house, 114 m² (1,227 sq ft). Requirements: minimal unnecessary extras, durable and low-maintenance technology, and low heating costs – affordable maintenance.
The carport is on the north side, and the terrace with large windows faces south to capture as much passive heat as possible.
As a KfW70 standard:
Air-to-water heat pump from Fujitsu Waterstage
Approximate U-values:
Ground slab U-value: 0.20
-> 12 cm (5 inches) loose foam lava fill, covered, <1200 kg/m³ (75 lb/ft³)
--> 25 cm (10 inches) reinforced concrete with 1% steel (DIN 12524)
---> 10 cm (4 inches) Misapor insulation
----> 6 cm (2.5 inches) cement screed
Exterior wall: 0.18
-> 0.5 cm (0.2 inches) synthetic resin plaster
--> 14 cm (5.5 inches) insulation
---> 24 cm (9.5 inches) Poroton T 14 bricks
----> 1 cm (0.4 inches) plaster mortar made of lime-gypsum, gypsum, anhydrite, and lime anhydrite
Roof: 0.19
Rafter area 12.5%
-> 2 cm (0.8 inches) clay roof tiles according to DIN 12524
--> 2 cm (0.8 inches) construction timber according to EN 12524
---> 0.02 cm (0.008 inches) vapor-permeable underlay membrane
----> 22 cm (8.7 inches) construction timber according to EN 12524
-----> 0.05 cm (0.02 inches) polyethylene foil according to DIN 12524
------> 2.5 cm (1 inch) gypsum plasterboards according to DIN 12524
Between rafters (87.5%)
-> 2 cm (0.8 inches) clay roof tiles according to DIN 12524
--> 2 cm (0.8 inches) construction timber according to EN 12524
---> 0.02 cm (0.008 inches) vapor-permeable underlay membrane
----> 22 cm (8.7 inches) insulation
-----> 0.05 cm (0.02 inches) polyethylene foil according to DIN 12524
------> 2.5 cm (1 inch) gypsum plasterboards according to DIN 12524
The glazing has an approximate U-value of 0.6, with the combined glass and frame U-value around 0.9 to 1.1. The front door has a U-value of about 1.4.
Increasing the insulation thickness from 14 to 16 cm (5.5 to 6.3 inches) is expected to reduce the U-value from 0.18 to 0.16.
House dimensions: approx. 9.08 x 8.14 m (30 x 27 feet)
Knee wall with masonry infill: approx. 1.2 m (4 feet)
Knee wall without masonry infill: approx. 1.0 m (3.3 feet)
Roof pitch: 45°
Total living area: approx. 114 m² (1,227 sq ft)
Attic space: approx. 37 m² (398 sq ft)
/optional for approx. 17,500 Euros
Additional for KfW55:
- Improved exterior wall insulation to 0.16 U-value
- Instead of Fujitsu Waterstage, a Stiebel Eltron LWZ 304 SOL with controlled ventilation, heat recovery, and cooling function
- For controlled ventilation, a filigree ceiling with 22 cm (8.7 inches) thickness instead of a 20 cm (7.9 inches) prefabricated ceiling
/Desirable options?
To eliminate further weak spots:
- Additional insulation under rafters
- Improved front door
- Preparation for photovoltaics, for easy retrofitting in the coming decades
....??
Included in the fixed-price house cost are:
- Provision of construction electricity and water
- Painting of roof overhangs
- Insulated slab with Misapor
- Soil analysis report
- Boarding of attic, including pull-down stairs
Excluded costs:
- Land purchase
- Property transfer tax
- Notary fees
- House connections for electricity, water, telephone
- Sewer connections
- Double carport
- Remaining flooring, wallpaper, paint
- Exterior landscaping
- Upgrade to KfW55 standard through better wall insulation and use of LWZ 304
Phew... that’s it for now.
I hope to receive plenty of feedback and that a discussion about my plans will develop.
Thank you very much.
My wife and I no longer want to stay in our parents’ house, and paying rent is not an option since we currently don’t have any rental costs. If anything, we want to invest our money into something of our own – we want to build a house.
Since neither of us are skilled tradespeople and we prefer to spend our time on work we know, we will leave most of the work to the professionals. We plan to lay laminate flooring and do wallpapering ourselves.
At the moment, we have little equity, but our (independent) financial advisor believes we can still build without much equity since interest rates are very low – saving for another seven years to start with 33% equity wouldn’t make much difference, except that we’d have to stay in the parents’ house that much longer. We are also advised to build with solid construction, as this reduces overall costs. Since we are not in a hurry, we don’t need a prefabricated house.
So we have decided to take action while interest rates are low, even though our equity will only cover new electrical appliances, the kitchen, moving costs, and reserves for car repairs, etc. We will finance the land and house.
What kind of work can we realistically do ourselves? Is it feasible to take some time off work during construction and help out, or would we just be in the way and better off going to work?
Enough about finances, now to the house itself. Single-family house, 114 m² (1,227 sq ft). Requirements: minimal unnecessary extras, durable and low-maintenance technology, and low heating costs – affordable maintenance.
The carport is on the north side, and the terrace with large windows faces south to capture as much passive heat as possible.
As a KfW70 standard:
Air-to-water heat pump from Fujitsu Waterstage
Approximate U-values:
Ground slab U-value: 0.20
-> 12 cm (5 inches) loose foam lava fill, covered, <1200 kg/m³ (75 lb/ft³)
--> 25 cm (10 inches) reinforced concrete with 1% steel (DIN 12524)
---> 10 cm (4 inches) Misapor insulation
----> 6 cm (2.5 inches) cement screed
Exterior wall: 0.18
-> 0.5 cm (0.2 inches) synthetic resin plaster
--> 14 cm (5.5 inches) insulation
---> 24 cm (9.5 inches) Poroton T 14 bricks
----> 1 cm (0.4 inches) plaster mortar made of lime-gypsum, gypsum, anhydrite, and lime anhydrite
Roof: 0.19
Rafter area 12.5%
-> 2 cm (0.8 inches) clay roof tiles according to DIN 12524
--> 2 cm (0.8 inches) construction timber according to EN 12524
---> 0.02 cm (0.008 inches) vapor-permeable underlay membrane
----> 22 cm (8.7 inches) construction timber according to EN 12524
-----> 0.05 cm (0.02 inches) polyethylene foil according to DIN 12524
------> 2.5 cm (1 inch) gypsum plasterboards according to DIN 12524
Between rafters (87.5%)
-> 2 cm (0.8 inches) clay roof tiles according to DIN 12524
--> 2 cm (0.8 inches) construction timber according to EN 12524
---> 0.02 cm (0.008 inches) vapor-permeable underlay membrane
----> 22 cm (8.7 inches) insulation
-----> 0.05 cm (0.02 inches) polyethylene foil according to DIN 12524
------> 2.5 cm (1 inch) gypsum plasterboards according to DIN 12524
The glazing has an approximate U-value of 0.6, with the combined glass and frame U-value around 0.9 to 1.1. The front door has a U-value of about 1.4.
Increasing the insulation thickness from 14 to 16 cm (5.5 to 6.3 inches) is expected to reduce the U-value from 0.18 to 0.16.
House dimensions: approx. 9.08 x 8.14 m (30 x 27 feet)
Knee wall with masonry infill: approx. 1.2 m (4 feet)
Knee wall without masonry infill: approx. 1.0 m (3.3 feet)
Roof pitch: 45°
Total living area: approx. 114 m² (1,227 sq ft)
Attic space: approx. 37 m² (398 sq ft)
/optional for approx. 17,500 Euros
Additional for KfW55:
- Improved exterior wall insulation to 0.16 U-value
- Instead of Fujitsu Waterstage, a Stiebel Eltron LWZ 304 SOL with controlled ventilation, heat recovery, and cooling function
- For controlled ventilation, a filigree ceiling with 22 cm (8.7 inches) thickness instead of a 20 cm (7.9 inches) prefabricated ceiling
/Desirable options?
To eliminate further weak spots:
- Additional insulation under rafters
- Improved front door
- Preparation for photovoltaics, for easy retrofitting in the coming decades
....??
Included in the fixed-price house cost are:
- Provision of construction electricity and water
- Painting of roof overhangs
- Insulated slab with Misapor
- Soil analysis report
- Boarding of attic, including pull-down stairs
Excluded costs:
- Land purchase
- Property transfer tax
- Notary fees
- House connections for electricity, water, telephone
- Sewer connections
- Double carport
- Remaining flooring, wallpaper, paint
- Exterior landscaping
- Upgrade to KfW55 standard through better wall insulation and use of LWZ 304
Phew... that’s it for now.
I hope to receive plenty of feedback and that a discussion about my plans will develop.
Thank you very much.
Hello Nutshell,
what exactly is the topic for discussion?
Is it about your financing, which we don’t know, or the idea of building without equity and, I suppose, based on your net income?
Or about the standards, rafter spacing, whether the house fits on the plot (how expensive was that again? And where is it located?) and if the floor area ratio is correct?
You already know exactly who you are building with—you even listed half of the building specifications for us.
Do you understand what all of this means? Considering you want to avoid unnecessary extras, your thread is surprisingly full of them.
Good luck
what exactly is the topic for discussion?
Is it about your financing, which we don’t know, or the idea of building without equity and, I suppose, based on your net income?
Or about the standards, rafter spacing, whether the house fits on the plot (how expensive was that again? And where is it located?) and if the floor area ratio is correct?
You already know exactly who you are building with—you even listed half of the building specifications for us.
Do you understand what all of this means? Considering you want to avoid unnecessary extras, your thread is surprisingly full of them.
Good luck
Not paying rent but still having no equity? That has never been a good sign. The savings you have built up should be something any sensible person has alongside their rent payments or loan repayments.
And low interest rates alone are simply not enough—I still wonder who convinced people otherwise. Unless you plan to repay a loan for the rest of your life, the repayment schedule should also be appropriate. I always say that anyone looking to finance responsibly should plan for a monthly repayment (interest plus principal) of €500 (about $540) per 100,000€ (about $108,000) loan amount. (For example, a €250,000 (about $270,000) loan means a monthly repayment of around €1,250 (about $1,350).) Sure, it’s possible with €700 (about $755) per month, but then the likelihood of passing on the loan debt to your heirs is high.
In my opinion, banks calculate far too low, following the motto: living hand to mouth. No savings required. If they calculated realistically, they would offer smaller loan amounts and, consequently, earn less commission. Once the borrower has signed the contract, no advisor—whether bank-employed or independent—really cares what happens to the person or their family. If necessary, they’ll just take the house, and they don’t care.
Such considerations should always be viewed realistically for oneself. Not at all costs.
Of course, everyone is free to do as they wish. That’s just my opinion.
And low interest rates alone are simply not enough—I still wonder who convinced people otherwise. Unless you plan to repay a loan for the rest of your life, the repayment schedule should also be appropriate. I always say that anyone looking to finance responsibly should plan for a monthly repayment (interest plus principal) of €500 (about $540) per 100,000€ (about $108,000) loan amount. (For example, a €250,000 (about $270,000) loan means a monthly repayment of around €1,250 (about $1,350).) Sure, it’s possible with €700 (about $755) per month, but then the likelihood of passing on the loan debt to your heirs is high.
In my opinion, banks calculate far too low, following the motto: living hand to mouth. No savings required. If they calculated realistically, they would offer smaller loan amounts and, consequently, earn less commission. Once the borrower has signed the contract, no advisor—whether bank-employed or independent—really cares what happens to the person or their family. If necessary, they’ll just take the house, and they don’t care.
Such considerations should always be viewed realistically for oneself. Not at all costs.
Of course, everyone is free to do as they wish. That’s just my opinion.
K
karliseppel18 May 2013 23:28I can only agree with the previous commenters... if you have lived with your parents for the past few years and haven’t managed to save any usable equity for the construction project, it will probably be difficult to set aside any significant amounts monthly now.
How exactly have you planned for the next 10 to 25 years? Including a new car, children, one less income, and all the surprises and normal challenges life brings? Not to mention that a house also involves substantial ongoing costs and constant savings to avoid facing the next backlog of necessary investments (I am thinking of cost-intensive expenses in 10 to 20 years, such as a new coat of paint, heating system replacement, etc.).
How exactly have you planned for the next 10 to 25 years? Including a new car, children, one less income, and all the surprises and normal challenges life brings? Not to mention that a house also involves substantial ongoing costs and constant savings to avoid facing the next backlog of necessary investments (I am thinking of cost-intensive expenses in 10 to 20 years, such as a new coat of paint, heating system replacement, etc.).
For example, we took care of all the renovation work ourselves, including laying carpet and parquet flooring. We did not attempt the tiling because the area was very large. We only tiled our utility room ourselves. In addition, our garage was built as a self-build project after one year.