Hello everyone. I recently came across this forum and hope to gather some more information here. I have already read quite a bit but still have a few basic questions.
My wife and I dream of owning our own home. I could imagine that we might be able to build in about 2 years. However, I am not yet sure what the right approach to such a project is. What is the best way to go about it?
1. Check financial resources (what percentage of total net income should be planned for loan repayment?)
2. Find a building plot / land
3. Design the house
4. Look for a builder / developer
Or do you first design a house and then look for a suitable plot?
How do you estimate the approximate costs for a house? I assume no architect or anyone else provides free plans or cost estimates.
My wife and I dream of owning our own home. I could imagine that we might be able to build in about 2 years. However, I am not yet sure what the right approach to such a project is. What is the best way to go about it?
1. Check financial resources (what percentage of total net income should be planned for loan repayment?)
2. Find a building plot / land
3. Design the house
4. Look for a builder / developer
Or do you first design a house and then look for a suitable plot?
How do you estimate the approximate costs for a house? I assume no architect or anyone else provides free plans or cost estimates.
200 sqm (2,150 sq ft) of standard quality (nothing fancy) roughly costs around 300,000 (see above)
+ 20,000–25,000 for a double garage + additional construction-related costs/outdoor landscaping 40,000–60,000
Rounded up with a buffer -> 400,000.
+ Land, with a floor area ratio of 0.2 and 100% additional “ancillary buildings” (i.e. for outbuildings, paved areas) at least 600 sqm (6,460 sq ft)/650 sqm (7,000 sq ft). Notary and acquisition costs approx. 10%.
1. See building expert, clarify financing options.
Personally, I think it’s a good idea to get informed beforehand (before step 1) about what kind of homes you like on the housing market. This way you aim high and might get quickly brought back down to earth before falling in love with the idea of building your dream home.
But that’s not necessary: If the budget works for you, just start searching for plots and get familiar with the market. You should know the land value guidelines for your area anyway 🙂
Looking back, I can say that a longer lead time would have been beneficial for us. We had to quickly read up on new (heating) technology, energy saving regulations, etc., to figure out what’s individually suitable for us.
But from reading forums, I also realize: sometimes overthinking things isn’t helpful either 😉
+ 20,000–25,000 for a double garage + additional construction-related costs/outdoor landscaping 40,000–60,000
Rounded up with a buffer -> 400,000.
+ Land, with a floor area ratio of 0.2 and 100% additional “ancillary buildings” (i.e. for outbuildings, paved areas) at least 600 sqm (6,460 sq ft)/650 sqm (7,000 sq ft). Notary and acquisition costs approx. 10%.
1. See building expert, clarify financing options.
Personally, I think it’s a good idea to get informed beforehand (before step 1) about what kind of homes you like on the housing market. This way you aim high and might get quickly brought back down to earth before falling in love with the idea of building your dream home.
But that’s not necessary: If the budget works for you, just start searching for plots and get familiar with the market. You should know the land value guidelines for your area anyway 🙂
Looking back, I can say that a longer lead time would have been beneficial for us. We had to quickly read up on new (heating) technology, energy saving regulations, etc., to figure out what’s individually suitable for us.
But from reading forums, I also realize: sometimes overthinking things isn’t helpful either 😉
Where did the nice user’s post between post 3 and 4 go?
Thank you for your responses. This is all already very interesting. With the numbers, I now have a rough reference point. If we build, we want to do it only once and do it properly (including everything). Still, of course, we don’t want to overextend ourselves...
With the 180-200 m² (1937-2153 sq ft), I somehow didn’t consider at all that these houses didn’t include a basement, but I do want one. So the actual ground floor area could be smaller if part of the basement is used as living space. I understand that it won’t end up cheaper. A basement also costs money.
So, I need to calculate:
- House: €300,000 (including basement?)
- Double garage: €25,000
- Additional construction costs/outdoor facilities: €50,000
- Plot of land: €150,000 (depending on location and size, of course)
That adds up to €525,000. After deducting the equity, the amount to be financed remains, which should of course be paid off by retirement, and we also don’t want to give up on vacations.
Well, that’s a number I just need to keep in mind. It’s simple: you have to see whether it’s feasible or not.
I’m certainly not a risk-taker and definitely won’t sugarcoat it. Either it works or compromises have to be made...
The internet and various forums are, of course, excellent for getting information about everything. How did people manage without them before???
Still, it’s true that too much reading can also be not so good. 😉
Thank you for your responses. This is all already very interesting. With the numbers, I now have a rough reference point. If we build, we want to do it only once and do it properly (including everything). Still, of course, we don’t want to overextend ourselves...
With the 180-200 m² (1937-2153 sq ft), I somehow didn’t consider at all that these houses didn’t include a basement, but I do want one. So the actual ground floor area could be smaller if part of the basement is used as living space. I understand that it won’t end up cheaper. A basement also costs money.
So, I need to calculate:
- House: €300,000 (including basement?)
- Double garage: €25,000
- Additional construction costs/outdoor facilities: €50,000
- Plot of land: €150,000 (depending on location and size, of course)
That adds up to €525,000. After deducting the equity, the amount to be financed remains, which should of course be paid off by retirement, and we also don’t want to give up on vacations.
Well, that’s a number I just need to keep in mind. It’s simple: you have to see whether it’s feasible or not.
I’m certainly not a risk-taker and definitely won’t sugarcoat it. Either it works or compromises have to be made...
The internet and various forums are, of course, excellent for getting information about everything. How did people manage without them before???
Still, it’s true that too much reading can also be not so good. 😉
The 300,000 EUR was just a rough estimate. Building costs are often underestimated at the start (we experienced the same).
Generally, you see figures ranging from 1500 to 1900 EUR per square meter, depending on the level of finishing. I simply took an average of 1700 EUR multiplied by 180 sqm (1937 sq ft).
This is without a basement. The cost of a basement heavily depends on the plot and soil conditions. For us, a basement would have added around 40,000 to 50,000 EUR, so we decided against it. Instead, we slightly enlarged the utility room and added a storage room next to the double garage.
Generally, you see figures ranging from 1500 to 1900 EUR per square meter, depending on the level of finishing. I simply took an average of 1700 EUR multiplied by 180 sqm (1937 sq ft).
This is without a basement. The cost of a basement heavily depends on the plot and soil conditions. For us, a basement would have added around 40,000 to 50,000 EUR, so we decided against it. Instead, we slightly enlarged the utility room and added a storage room next to the double garage.
Just sharing our experiences, maybe they’ll be helpful.
At first, we also spent quite some time visiting model home parks. Then, just like you, we picked something nice in terms of size. Based on that, we talked to several companies and got cost estimates for our plans.
We ended up with about 184 square meters (1,981 square feet) of living space, costing around €315,000. This included an air-source heat pump and controlled ventilation. No basement, no garage, no outdoor landscaping, and no floor, wall, or ceiling finishes. No land cost included. The design was relatively simple, nothing complicated or awkwardly shaped.
Of course, most people only build a house once in their life (if at all), but for my part, I want to keep the place for a long time.
With that offer, we would have almost spent our entire budget. So we went back to the model home park. This time we didn’t look at complete homes, but just rooms sized like the ones in our plan. We were surprised — everything was much too big for us. Two 24 square meter (258 square feet) kids’ rooms… wow. We could have easily fit a sauna in the bathroom. We got lost in the kitchen.
As lovely as everything seemed at first glance, on closer inspection it was way too large for our needs. Of course, that’s a matter of taste — even if we had increased our budget, we wouldn’t want to go overboard.
We already have a plot of land, 600 square meters (6,458 square feet). It shouldn’t be any smaller for us, unless you don’t mind your neighbor being able to spit on your dining table from their bathroom window.
At first, we also spent quite some time visiting model home parks. Then, just like you, we picked something nice in terms of size. Based on that, we talked to several companies and got cost estimates for our plans.
We ended up with about 184 square meters (1,981 square feet) of living space, costing around €315,000. This included an air-source heat pump and controlled ventilation. No basement, no garage, no outdoor landscaping, and no floor, wall, or ceiling finishes. No land cost included. The design was relatively simple, nothing complicated or awkwardly shaped.
Of course, most people only build a house once in their life (if at all), but for my part, I want to keep the place for a long time.
With that offer, we would have almost spent our entire budget. So we went back to the model home park. This time we didn’t look at complete homes, but just rooms sized like the ones in our plan. We were surprised — everything was much too big for us. Two 24 square meter (258 square feet) kids’ rooms… wow. We could have easily fit a sauna in the bathroom. We got lost in the kitchen.
As lovely as everything seemed at first glance, on closer inspection it was way too large for our needs. Of course, that’s a matter of taste — even if we had increased our budget, we wouldn’t want to go overboard.
We already have a plot of land, 600 square meters (6,458 square feet). It shouldn’t be any smaller for us, unless you don’t mind your neighbor being able to spit on your dining table from their bathroom window.
So, we have just under 150 square meters (1,615 square feet), which is more than enough for a household of four people. Even if we had wanted to afford a larger house, we wouldn’t have built one bigger than this.
And we can see the consequences of building large in our village. There are many empty houses here because no one wants to buy 400 square meters (4,305 square feet) of living space from the 1950s. Nowadays, nobody can afford to heat such a large home, regardless of the technology used. The maintenance costs are simply too high. That’s something to consider as well.
And all that space needs to be cleaned... honestly, 150 square meters (1,615 square feet) to vacuum is plenty for me 🙂
And we can see the consequences of building large in our village. There are many empty houses here because no one wants to buy 400 square meters (4,305 square feet) of living space from the 1950s. Nowadays, nobody can afford to heat such a large home, regardless of the technology used. The maintenance costs are simply too high. That’s something to consider as well.
And all that space needs to be cleaned... honestly, 150 square meters (1,615 square feet) to vacuum is plenty for me 🙂
B
Bauexperte26 Mar 2013 10:43Hello,
For the house, simple architecture and as KfW 70, around €290,000; for the basement, a good €50,000 extra as a utility basement. If you want to finish part of it as living space, add another approximately €25,000. Rhineland-Palatinate is more expensive than the northern part of the country above it :-)
Ancillary building costs about €35,000-40,000, painting and flooring finishes in the house around €10,000, exterior work around €10,000.
That brings the total so far to €575,000.
Regards, Bauexperte
McEgg schrieb:
Still, of course we don’t want to overextend ourselves...
When thinking about the 180-200 m² (1,940-2,150 sq ft), I completely overlooked that those houses didn’t include a basement, but I definitely want one. So the actual footprint might be smaller if there is a (partly livable) basement. I understand it won’t be cheaper in the end. The basement costs money too.
So I have to calculate:
- House: €300,000 (including basement?)
For the house, simple architecture and as KfW 70, around €290,000; for the basement, a good €50,000 extra as a utility basement. If you want to finish part of it as living space, add another approximately €25,000. Rhineland-Palatinate is more expensive than the northern part of the country above it :-)
McEgg schrieb:
- Double garage: €25,000
- Ancillary building costs / exterior work: €50,000
- Land: €150,000 (depending on location and size, of course)
Ancillary building costs about €35,000-40,000, painting and flooring finishes in the house around €10,000, exterior work around €10,000.
McEgg schrieb:
That adds up to €525,000.
That brings the total so far to €575,000.
Regards, Bauexperte
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