Hello everyone,
My wife, my daughter, and I are looking to build our own home (single-family house). We might have a second child in the future. The house will be built in the postal code area 77XXX. Since I have a very time-consuming job and I’m not very skilled with DIY work, I want to have the whole project delivered as move-in ready as possible, without too much coordination effort. What is the best way to achieve this?
Our requirements:
- 5 rooms with two bathrooms that have showers (children’s bathroom)
- This summer showed me that I don’t want to build a house without cooling. I’m open regarding the cooling concept, but I have heard good things about heat pumps including a cooling function plus a photovoltaic system. What are sensible options? Underfloor heating / wall heating / ceiling cooling?
- A complicated/individual ground floor layout because I want to integrate a home cinema (my hobby) into the living room. Cooperation with the home cinema installer will also be necessary. If anyone has experience with how to manage this, I would appreciate any advice.
- Lighting and roller shutters should be smart. Here the question arises whether to go for retrofit solutions (Philips Hue) or a bus system like KNX combined with home automation such as RTI or Control4?
- No specific requirements regarding the exterior design. I would also consider a mono-pitched roof to install a full photovoltaic system facing south and keep the rest of the building simple, square, and practical.
- Avoid sloped ceilings upstairs, which also speaks in favor of a mono-pitched or hipped roof (urban villa style).
How should all this be financed?
He: net income 5,500 € (tendency rising)
She: net income 800 € (we don’t count on this, since a second child might be coming)
Equity: 30,000 € saved within one year. Within the next few years, there might also be an inheritance of 250,000 €. I would consider buying a suitable plot now even without much equity and use the remaining money/inheritance for additional loan repayments. What do you think about that?
Best regards!
My wife, my daughter, and I are looking to build our own home (single-family house). We might have a second child in the future. The house will be built in the postal code area 77XXX. Since I have a very time-consuming job and I’m not very skilled with DIY work, I want to have the whole project delivered as move-in ready as possible, without too much coordination effort. What is the best way to achieve this?
Our requirements:
- 5 rooms with two bathrooms that have showers (children’s bathroom)
- This summer showed me that I don’t want to build a house without cooling. I’m open regarding the cooling concept, but I have heard good things about heat pumps including a cooling function plus a photovoltaic system. What are sensible options? Underfloor heating / wall heating / ceiling cooling?
- A complicated/individual ground floor layout because I want to integrate a home cinema (my hobby) into the living room. Cooperation with the home cinema installer will also be necessary. If anyone has experience with how to manage this, I would appreciate any advice.
- Lighting and roller shutters should be smart. Here the question arises whether to go for retrofit solutions (Philips Hue) or a bus system like KNX combined with home automation such as RTI or Control4?
- No specific requirements regarding the exterior design. I would also consider a mono-pitched roof to install a full photovoltaic system facing south and keep the rest of the building simple, square, and practical.
- Avoid sloped ceilings upstairs, which also speaks in favor of a mono-pitched or hipped roof (urban villa style).
How should all this be financed?
He: net income 5,500 € (tendency rising)
She: net income 800 € (we don’t count on this, since a second child might be coming)
Equity: 30,000 € saved within one year. Within the next few years, there might also be an inheritance of 250,000 €. I would consider buying a suitable plot now even without much equity and use the remaining money/inheritance for additional loan repayments. What do you think about that?
Best regards!
Including the other 300 annoying people in the room and the scheduled program. No, thanks.
I also expect the preparation by the general contractor / developer to be quite basic (a few chases, conduit in the concrete ceiling or suspended ceiling). You either handle this yourself or hire a specialist company to carry out the work.
If you want the house to suit your needs, you will have to invest time.
Otherwise, time is saved by reducing complexity. You pick a house from the catalog, spend two days at the sample center. But the house won’t look like it cost 750,000 euros, that’s for sure.
I also expect the preparation by the general contractor / developer to be quite basic (a few chases, conduit in the concrete ceiling or suspended ceiling). You either handle this yourself or hire a specialist company to carry out the work.
If you want the house to suit your needs, you will have to invest time.
Otherwise, time is saved by reducing complexity. You pick a house from the catalog, spend two days at the sample center. But the house won’t look like it cost 750,000 euros, that’s for sure.
I also don’t believe that you can manage your house requirements plus the land and additional construction costs with €750 per square meter. Baden-Württemberg is likely to be similar in price range to Bavaria.
We are building too – smaller, with fewer extras but good quality features – and even then it’s not enough (and for now, we will only install KNX as an option, maybe one or two smaller modules, postponing further installation for cost reasons).
€250 per square meter will generally apply only to more remote areas in Baden-Württemberg; are you aware of that? Even a small plot of just 500 sqm (5,380 sq ft) would already cost €125,000 plus acquisition-related additional costs.
That would leave you with just over €600,000 for the house itself, and all other additional costs need to be covered within that.
If you want to live closer to the city center, the land price will be significantly higher.
You have a good income, but currently little equity. Unfortunately, you also haven’t been employed long enough for the bank; meaning your loan conditions probably won’t be very favorable.
You will need to either drastically reduce your expectations or save diligently for a few more years, take your time to find a nice plot, and then start with more equity, a longer employment period, and thus better standing with the bank.
We are building too – smaller, with fewer extras but good quality features – and even then it’s not enough (and for now, we will only install KNX as an option, maybe one or two smaller modules, postponing further installation for cost reasons).
€250 per square meter will generally apply only to more remote areas in Baden-Württemberg; are you aware of that? Even a small plot of just 500 sqm (5,380 sq ft) would already cost €125,000 plus acquisition-related additional costs.
That would leave you with just over €600,000 for the house itself, and all other additional costs need to be covered within that.
If you want to live closer to the city center, the land price will be significantly higher.
You have a good income, but currently little equity. Unfortunately, you also haven’t been employed long enough for the bank; meaning your loan conditions probably won’t be very favorable.
You will need to either drastically reduce your expectations or save diligently for a few more years, take your time to find a nice plot, and then start with more equity, a longer employment period, and thus better standing with the bank.
S
Steffen8010 Sep 2018 09:38Your expectations are somewhat aligned with mine.
I have installed air conditioning (everything else is just extras!), a home theater (4K projector in the ceiling, 7.4.2 Atmos sound system, multi-format motorized screen), and a complex smart home system. Land price: approximately 330,000 for over 1,000 sqm (10,764 sqft). On top of that, a house with appropriate features and size. Including kitchen and outdoor facilities, the all-in cost was 1.2 million, but with some compromises—for example, plastic windows instead of aluminum or wood, roller shutters instead of Venetian blinds, and “simple” architecture.
This should give you a rough idea of the numbers. My conclusion for you: keep saving... you should aim for 400,000 to 500,000 in equity.
Regards, Steffen
I have installed air conditioning (everything else is just extras!), a home theater (4K projector in the ceiling, 7.4.2 Atmos sound system, multi-format motorized screen), and a complex smart home system. Land price: approximately 330,000 for over 1,000 sqm (10,764 sqft). On top of that, a house with appropriate features and size. Including kitchen and outdoor facilities, the all-in cost was 1.2 million, but with some compromises—for example, plastic windows instead of aluminum or wood, roller shutters instead of Venetian blinds, and “simple” architecture.
This should give you a rough idea of the numbers. My conclusion for you: keep saving... you should aim for 400,000 to 500,000 in equity.
Regards, Steffen
My advice: Save for another 2–3 years and wait until the inheritance is settled.
Just from my own experience, big leaps aren’t really possible for us right now:
Construction started September 2016, 3 children, 2 net incomes about 2700 + 3800 including child benefits. Parental leave during the construction phase.
70,000 equity
Total investment currently about 450,000
Monthly mortgage payment 1,270
Plot price 53€/m² (5 USD/ft²), 700 m² (7,535 ft²)
Move-in mid-2017, 2 rooms still not finished, exterior landscaping not completed, garage still needs cleaning
- Prefabricated timber-frame house from a premium provider, but without expensive cost drivers in the fittings, with 165 m² (1,776 ft²) living space, 185 m² (1,991 ft²) total, no basement
- Custom garage/carport combination built by a carpenter next door
- Interior work partly self-managed, partly subcontracted to companies/freelancers, partly done by ourselves. Especially the expensive and unpopular detailed work, corrections, etc. Flooring and wallpaper fully done by us.
- Construction management of painter/plumber/heating installer/stove fitter, carpenter for garage, landscaping by me.
I have to admit, this just about worked (financially as well as in terms of time and capacity). It was the opposite of “little time investment.” But we had very clear ideas about the house and were able to realize them despite a general contractor. It does require work. Financially, more would have been possible, but at the moment the higher earner is working part-time and will be for some time. So this was our personal limit. If I had outsourced everything and had it all done (with the same quality), then:
- We wouldn’t have moved in yet: even here in a rural area, it’s hard to find skilled workers for certain trades. Just choosing among them as a non-expert is difficult, and they also have to have availability.
- Even a “turnkey project with a general contractor” means genuine engagement when you have individual requests, keeping everyone motivated.
- Coordination with tradespeople takes a lot of time when you have specific ideas. Schedule changes due to rework are common.
A small example: acrylic sealant joints on the ceiling: The day before the ceiling plaster was applied, the sealant joints were finished. In the evening I came to the site, and naturally the worker was gone and had missed several corners. Two options: demand rework (would not have been done by the next morning) or do it myself. Otherwise, the ceiling plaster would have been delayed by at least 4 weeks...
This kind of thing happens all the time, even with general contractors. Often, sloppy work is done rather than risk missing a deadline.
Just from my own experience, big leaps aren’t really possible for us right now:
Construction started September 2016, 3 children, 2 net incomes about 2700 + 3800 including child benefits. Parental leave during the construction phase.
70,000 equity
Total investment currently about 450,000
Monthly mortgage payment 1,270
Plot price 53€/m² (5 USD/ft²), 700 m² (7,535 ft²)
Move-in mid-2017, 2 rooms still not finished, exterior landscaping not completed, garage still needs cleaning
- Prefabricated timber-frame house from a premium provider, but without expensive cost drivers in the fittings, with 165 m² (1,776 ft²) living space, 185 m² (1,991 ft²) total, no basement
- Custom garage/carport combination built by a carpenter next door
- Interior work partly self-managed, partly subcontracted to companies/freelancers, partly done by ourselves. Especially the expensive and unpopular detailed work, corrections, etc. Flooring and wallpaper fully done by us.
- Construction management of painter/plumber/heating installer/stove fitter, carpenter for garage, landscaping by me.
I have to admit, this just about worked (financially as well as in terms of time and capacity). It was the opposite of “little time investment.” But we had very clear ideas about the house and were able to realize them despite a general contractor. It does require work. Financially, more would have been possible, but at the moment the higher earner is working part-time and will be for some time. So this was our personal limit. If I had outsourced everything and had it all done (with the same quality), then:
- We wouldn’t have moved in yet: even here in a rural area, it’s hard to find skilled workers for certain trades. Just choosing among them as a non-expert is difficult, and they also have to have availability.
- Even a “turnkey project with a general contractor” means genuine engagement when you have individual requests, keeping everyone motivated.
- Coordination with tradespeople takes a lot of time when you have specific ideas. Schedule changes due to rework are common.
A small example: acrylic sealant joints on the ceiling: The day before the ceiling plaster was applied, the sealant joints were finished. In the evening I came to the site, and naturally the worker was gone and had missed several corners. Two options: demand rework (would not have been done by the next morning) or do it myself. Otherwise, the ceiling plaster would have been delayed by at least 4 weeks...
This kind of thing happens all the time, even with general contractors. Often, sloppy work is done rather than risk missing a deadline.
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