ᐅ New Single-Family Home Construction in Southern Germany
Created on: 18 Nov 2020 00:43
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WilderSueden
Hello everyone,
after jumping straight into the basement discussion thread, I want to use this one as an introduction and idea-sharing thread. Some things might seem a bit chaotic at first, but that will surely clear up.
We are expecting our first child in February. Since two rooms are obviously too few for the long term, we need something larger. The housing market here in Konstanz is notoriously difficult, so we didn’t spend much time searching here. Thanks to Corona home office, we focused on areas a bit further away right from the start. Initially, we looked mostly at existing properties, but due to the poor condition of what’s on offer, we unexpectedly ended up deciding to build. We were actually lucky to get a plot in a new development area around Stockach-Pfullendorf. The site started being developed this week and will probably be buildable from summer onward.
Here are some key details:
- He/I am 33, work in the software industry, based in Konstanz, from a rural area
- She is 41, a teacher in the Hegau region, from a city that basically doesn’t exist
- One child on the way, no further children planned and unlikely due to her age
- Currently living in about 65sqm (700 sq ft) with 2.5 rooms in a lovely apartment building…
- Basically, we don’t want anything too fancy—no extensive smart home automation, no luxury mansion with marble and so on. Just something solid and nice. We are not building to fulfill a lifelong dream but to avoid renovating an old house worth half a million euros. Plain wallpaper texture and laminate flooring would be fine for us if the quality is good.
- Accordingly, we don’t mind using a “standard” floor plan from a prefabricated house builder or a typical model home.
- That said, since we are building, it should be energy efficient and we don’t want to use concepts that might soon be politically outdated or unsupported.
- Do-it-yourself work only to a limited extent, as we are neither professionals nor do we have relevant contacts. Also, the new house is a bit further away, so working on it in the evening is unlikely. A weekend of painting before moving in is no problem, and after moving in, doing the carport, terrace, and garden ourselves is also fine.
- The construction partner must be reliable.
Plot and financials:
- Plot roughly 700sqm (7,535 sq ft) at 98€ per sqm → 70,000€, fairly rectangular
- 120,000€ equity (with some reserve left)
- Financing and ownership entirely in my name (unmarried and no joint assets intended)
- Planned overall budget about 500,000€
- Target monthly payment 1,500€
- Accordingly, loan to be repaid in 25 years with that rate, with some extra repayments planned mid-term aiming for about 20 years total
Budget breakdown:
- Plot 70,000€
- Ancillary plot costs 5,000€
- Other construction-related fees 60,000€
- Basement 50,000€
- Kitchen 10,000€
- Driveway, carport, terrace as DIY 15,000€
-----
210,000€
Leaves about 290,000€ in the budget for the house itself, which is probably quite tight for what we have planned. The budget still needs to be adjusted with a buffer.
So far, our wishlist looks roughly like this:
- Not excessively large, more like 120–130sqm (1,290–1,400 sq ft)
- Efficient, modern house
- Photovoltaic system (possibly with battery storage)
- Underfloor heating with heat pump
- Home office for me on the ground floor (makes sense since I mostly work from home)
- Bedroom upstairs, one office for her that also serves as a guest room and reserve nursery
- Large open-plan kitchen/living area
- Basement
- Cistern
- Carport for two cars and one trailer
Our first contact about building was through an ad from the local Town & Country partner. The consultant was friendly, and the show house in Geisingen looked quite nice, but somehow it all felt a bit too conservative. Built according to the Energy Saving Ordinance 2016, standard gas heating. Sure, upgrades are possible, but I’m not sure if a heat pump makes sense under that regulation anymore. The fact that the show house had cracks in the plaster here and there isn’t exactly reassuring either. But the base price is lower. Current status: two meetings, visited the show house, haven’t requested the scope of services yet.
Then we looked a bit into prefab houses. Most offer KfW55 standard, which is closer to what we want and would be a good base for going to KfW40+ since a photovoltaic system is already planned (probably just with battery preparation though). Visited the park in Villingen-Schwenningen. Had a long chat with Schwabenhaus; the consultant seemed to want to downplay costs and was very keen to sell a ground-source heat pump with boreholes. The upgrade options for the promotional houses looked likely to increase costs significantly. Visited Heldhaus, liked it quite a lot but their cost outline overshoots the budget by roughly 100,000€.
Today we had an appointment with Schwörerhaus. The floor plan of one of their promotional houses fits pretty well. Basement plus KfW40+ seems somewhat challenging in combination. Otherwise, a generally good impression; the briefly reviewed scope of services doesn’t give the impression the house would be unpleasant to live in. Let’s see what the first offer will look like. I don’t get the feeling there’s much that could go wrong there.
Next week we have an appointment with Weberhaus. We found a floor plan we really like. The price is initially the highest, but their examples include KfW40+ standard and smart home automation upfront.
Our goal is to narrow down the number of companies we continue with to a maximum of two by Christmas and then decide on a construction partner early next year. In spring, the baby will take priority, not just house planning.
I’ve already posted some thoughts about the basement and possible basement substitutes. The insulation costs for the basement seem to fully consume the additional subsidies, so the photovoltaic battery would have to be paid out of pocket again. One idea on the drive back from the appointment was whether it makes sense to build the house initially to KfW55 standard without extra insulation. The difference in heating costs is relatively small. Then install just the conduit pipes for photovoltaics with battery preparation. A few years later, add a battery once prices drop. That would also likely bring the house closer to the planned budget than going for KfW40+.
These are my thoughts so far. Have I missed anything important?
after jumping straight into the basement discussion thread, I want to use this one as an introduction and idea-sharing thread. Some things might seem a bit chaotic at first, but that will surely clear up.
We are expecting our first child in February. Since two rooms are obviously too few for the long term, we need something larger. The housing market here in Konstanz is notoriously difficult, so we didn’t spend much time searching here. Thanks to Corona home office, we focused on areas a bit further away right from the start. Initially, we looked mostly at existing properties, but due to the poor condition of what’s on offer, we unexpectedly ended up deciding to build. We were actually lucky to get a plot in a new development area around Stockach-Pfullendorf. The site started being developed this week and will probably be buildable from summer onward.
Here are some key details:
- He/I am 33, work in the software industry, based in Konstanz, from a rural area
- She is 41, a teacher in the Hegau region, from a city that basically doesn’t exist
- One child on the way, no further children planned and unlikely due to her age
- Currently living in about 65sqm (700 sq ft) with 2.5 rooms in a lovely apartment building…
- Basically, we don’t want anything too fancy—no extensive smart home automation, no luxury mansion with marble and so on. Just something solid and nice. We are not building to fulfill a lifelong dream but to avoid renovating an old house worth half a million euros. Plain wallpaper texture and laminate flooring would be fine for us if the quality is good.
- Accordingly, we don’t mind using a “standard” floor plan from a prefabricated house builder or a typical model home.
- That said, since we are building, it should be energy efficient and we don’t want to use concepts that might soon be politically outdated or unsupported.
- Do-it-yourself work only to a limited extent, as we are neither professionals nor do we have relevant contacts. Also, the new house is a bit further away, so working on it in the evening is unlikely. A weekend of painting before moving in is no problem, and after moving in, doing the carport, terrace, and garden ourselves is also fine.
- The construction partner must be reliable.
Plot and financials:
- Plot roughly 700sqm (7,535 sq ft) at 98€ per sqm → 70,000€, fairly rectangular
- 120,000€ equity (with some reserve left)
- Financing and ownership entirely in my name (unmarried and no joint assets intended)
- Planned overall budget about 500,000€
- Target monthly payment 1,500€
- Accordingly, loan to be repaid in 25 years with that rate, with some extra repayments planned mid-term aiming for about 20 years total
Budget breakdown:
- Plot 70,000€
- Ancillary plot costs 5,000€
- Other construction-related fees 60,000€
- Basement 50,000€
- Kitchen 10,000€
- Driveway, carport, terrace as DIY 15,000€
-----
210,000€
Leaves about 290,000€ in the budget for the house itself, which is probably quite tight for what we have planned. The budget still needs to be adjusted with a buffer.
So far, our wishlist looks roughly like this:
- Not excessively large, more like 120–130sqm (1,290–1,400 sq ft)
- Efficient, modern house
- Photovoltaic system (possibly with battery storage)
- Underfloor heating with heat pump
- Home office for me on the ground floor (makes sense since I mostly work from home)
- Bedroom upstairs, one office for her that also serves as a guest room and reserve nursery
- Large open-plan kitchen/living area
- Basement
- Cistern
- Carport for two cars and one trailer
Our first contact about building was through an ad from the local Town & Country partner. The consultant was friendly, and the show house in Geisingen looked quite nice, but somehow it all felt a bit too conservative. Built according to the Energy Saving Ordinance 2016, standard gas heating. Sure, upgrades are possible, but I’m not sure if a heat pump makes sense under that regulation anymore. The fact that the show house had cracks in the plaster here and there isn’t exactly reassuring either. But the base price is lower. Current status: two meetings, visited the show house, haven’t requested the scope of services yet.
Then we looked a bit into prefab houses. Most offer KfW55 standard, which is closer to what we want and would be a good base for going to KfW40+ since a photovoltaic system is already planned (probably just with battery preparation though). Visited the park in Villingen-Schwenningen. Had a long chat with Schwabenhaus; the consultant seemed to want to downplay costs and was very keen to sell a ground-source heat pump with boreholes. The upgrade options for the promotional houses looked likely to increase costs significantly. Visited Heldhaus, liked it quite a lot but their cost outline overshoots the budget by roughly 100,000€.
Today we had an appointment with Schwörerhaus. The floor plan of one of their promotional houses fits pretty well. Basement plus KfW40+ seems somewhat challenging in combination. Otherwise, a generally good impression; the briefly reviewed scope of services doesn’t give the impression the house would be unpleasant to live in. Let’s see what the first offer will look like. I don’t get the feeling there’s much that could go wrong there.
Next week we have an appointment with Weberhaus. We found a floor plan we really like. The price is initially the highest, but their examples include KfW40+ standard and smart home automation upfront.
Our goal is to narrow down the number of companies we continue with to a maximum of two by Christmas and then decide on a construction partner early next year. In spring, the baby will take priority, not just house planning.
I’ve already posted some thoughts about the basement and possible basement substitutes. The insulation costs for the basement seem to fully consume the additional subsidies, so the photovoltaic battery would have to be paid out of pocket again. One idea on the drive back from the appointment was whether it makes sense to build the house initially to KfW55 standard without extra insulation. The difference in heating costs is relatively small. Then install just the conduit pipes for photovoltaics with battery preparation. A few years later, add a battery once prices drop. That would also likely bring the house closer to the planned budget than going for KfW40+.
These are my thoughts so far. Have I missed anything important?
WilderSueden schrieb:
Since a custom-designed house probably isn’t worthwhile for us, the walls and stairs are basically fixed and can only be changed by creating a completely different floor plan. May your plot share your hope that a custom design isn’t required either. In a "modular system," linear extensions along the ridge direction are unproblematic (for "solid" houses usually multiples of 50 cm (20 inches), for "prefabricated" houses usually multiples of 62.5 cm (25 inches)) and non-load-bearing interior walls can be shifted. It is also easy to rotate stairs along their run direction if the rest of the structure remains unchanged, as well as to close off open spaces (voids). Knee wall height increases are simpler than changing the roof pitch (but be careful: above an "ideal height" of clear space of about 1.0 to 1.25 m (39 to 49 inches), this has implications for the windows!). haydee schrieb:
For every floor plan you like, simply mark your furniture on it. A commonly used trick in sample floor plans is to disguise tight areas by reducing the size of furniture symbols :-)https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
11ant schrieb:
May the plot share your hope to avoid requiring a fully custom design. In a "modular system," extensions are straightforward when made linearly along the ridge (for "solid" houses typically in multiples of 50cm (20 inches), for "prefabricated" houses usually multiples of 62.5cm (25 inches)) and when relocating non-load-bearing interior walls. Rotating staircases along the direction of travel is also easily done without changing the overall structure, as is closing off air spaces. Knee wall height increases are simpler than changing the roof pitch (but be careful: above an "ideal height" of about 1.0 to 1.25m (3.3 to 4.1 ft) clear height, this has implications for the windows!).
A popular trick in standard floor plans is disguising tight areas by using smaller furniture icons 🙂
The scale of the toy furniture conveys a sense of spaciousness.
11ant schrieb:
I’m not worried about your financing, but rather your mental and emotional well-being if you get both topics mixed together in the same thread and hear conflicting opinions about your plans — simply because the makeup of the community discussing foundation layouts is completely different from the one discussing financing. In one area, your reputation needs to be bulletproof, and in the other, watertight.
So you basically have to keep one ear closed at a time, otherwise you’ll go crazy if on one side you’re told, “rotate your staircase out of the dirt area,” and on the other, “my gross-to-net calculator says your numbers don’t add up.” I just had a really good laugh, thanks for that! 😀
W
WilderSueden18 Nov 2020 18:53Is it possible that posts cannot be edited afterwards here? If it is, please let me know how to do it, and then I will edit the first post.
Regarding the development plan, so far we only have the graphical part; I still need to obtain the full text in the next few days. Our plot is number 17, and no major restrictions are noted here. Since the graphic is hard to read due to its size:
Floor area ratio 0.4
Open development, single-family houses and semi-detached houses allowed
Maximum 2 full stories
Maximum 6m (20 feet) for single-family houses
Gable, hip, and half-hip roofs probably pitched between 20 and 45 degrees
Building orientation does not seem to be regulated in at least the first part of the area (built 6 years ago), as the houses are rotated in all directions
The two undeveloped plots to the west (368, 369) belong to the garden of plot 367, so we have an unobstructed view in that direction. The location is at the edge of town on a hill.
From the plot, this results as a rough layout for us:
- Carport in the southeast corner with a rather small driveway (about one car length)
- House in the northeast corner, probably next to the carport
- Ridge likely oriented east-west, deviating only about 20 degrees from this axis
- Terrace facing southwest in front of the house to enjoy the free sun in the evening
Regarding the development plan, so far we only have the graphical part; I still need to obtain the full text in the next few days. Our plot is number 17, and no major restrictions are noted here. Since the graphic is hard to read due to its size:
Floor area ratio 0.4
Open development, single-family houses and semi-detached houses allowed
Maximum 2 full stories
Maximum 6m (20 feet) for single-family houses
Gable, hip, and half-hip roofs probably pitched between 20 and 45 degrees
Building orientation does not seem to be regulated in at least the first part of the area (built 6 years ago), as the houses are rotated in all directions
The two undeveloped plots to the west (368, 369) belong to the garden of plot 367, so we have an unobstructed view in that direction. The location is at the edge of town on a hill.
From the plot, this results as a rough layout for us:
- Carport in the southeast corner with a rather small driveway (about one car length)
- House in the northeast corner, probably next to the carport
- Ridge likely oriented east-west, deviating only about 20 degrees from this axis
- Terrace facing southwest in front of the house to enjoy the free sun in the evening
P
pagoni202018 Nov 2020 18:57WilderSueden schrieb:
Since a custom-designed house probably isn’t worthwhile for us, the walls and stairs are fixed and can only be changed with a completely different floor plan. Accordingly, I hope such discussions will be unnecessary here. But I think I will change this again tonight. This line of thought doesn’t make sense to me. No one is deciding YOUR stairs or floor plan for you. It makes more sense if you first put together what will strongly influence your daily life, namely your floor plan, while always considering the applicable building regulations.
My feeling is that keywords like KFW, smart home, battery storage, etc., are coming up too early in your mind and might lead you astray.
Start with the floor plan, and from there the appropriate type or orientation of the stairs and other details will become clear.
If you hope to keep it smaller and simpler than others because it “isn’t worthwhile,” you’re mistaken; we would all like that, but in the end it costs everyone a lot of money. Everyone, hopefully including you, wants to build a house they really like.
“Extras” like smart home systems, garages, KFW standards, battery storage come later; they are not essential for living. For that reason, I would actually assign a high priority to your budget; you should clarify this in detail.
If you read more here, which I would recommend, your opinion will definitely change… for the better!
I always recommend pencil and graph paper for planning; we have hundreds of corrections and sheets here. You can find countless suggestions online; it helps to pre-select ideas.
You can only edit for 20 minutes (at the bottom edge), then it’s finished.
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WilderSueden18 Nov 2020 20:46As I mentioned, for us building is more of an alternative to buying rather than a long-held dream of self-fulfillment. Of course, it would be nice to include a few wishes, like a practical home office. But other than that, we don’t have any specific requirements for the floor plan. At this point, I see little reason to deviate from a standard layout with the living/dining room facing south and the kitchen in the corner, and to build something that isn’t already offered as a standard floor plan by a manufacturer. That’s what I mean by "custom planning isn’t worth it." Even with a completely free design, we would probably end up with something quite similar.
PS:
I’ve been reading here the past few evenings. There’s quite a lot of information in this forum 😉
PS:
I’ve been reading here the past few evenings. There’s quite a lot of information in this forum 😉
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