Good evening!
I come from the Tübingen district and I am 27 years old. My wife and I have now received confirmation for our desired plot, which we will buy in the next few days. Now the planning for the actual house begins.
I am a complete beginner and have browsed this forum a bit, but it’s overwhelming. All the information drives me crazy and discourages me; I don’t even know where to start!
We don’t have a huge budget and want to build with a construction company such as Heinz von Heiden, Town & Country, or Scanhaus Marlow. Some kind of builder that is not the most expensive but still delivers good quality work, preferably solid construction. There are good and bad reviews about every builder online, so I won’t even ask here for recommendations, right?
What I have found out so far are the following hidden costs: (House only, no landscaping)
On top of the “turnkey price,” I have to calculate:
1. About 25,000€ (27,500 USD) additional construction costs
2. Kitchen
3. Lighting fixtures
4. Own work, usually: flooring/wall work + materials
5. Basically add about 20,000€ (22,000 USD) for selections to the stated “turnkey price” because the standard is often too basic
I need to pay attention to the construction description included with “turnkey”:
1. Is triple glazing included?
2. What standard is installed?
3. Heat pump, etc.?
4. What extras do I want + what does all that cost?
I would like to know now:
1. What is the best way to proceed? I want to schedule appointments with the companies mentioned above. How do I best prepare for meetings with these somewhat opaque builders?
2. What other hidden costs should I watch out for that I haven’t mentioned or don’t know yet?
3. What must the house absolutely have in terms of “equipment”/standard?
An example of how I calculate:
House standard turnkey: about 170,000€ (187,000 USD)
Selections: about 20,000€ (22,000 USD)
Additional construction costs: about 25,000€ (27,500 USD)
Flooring + wall materials: about 6,000€ (6,600 USD)
Kitchen: about 15,000€ (16,500 USD)
Lighting: about 3,000€ (3,300 USD)
Financial buffer: about 5,000€ (5,500 USD)
= 244,000€ (269,000 USD)
Is this correct? Am I missing anything? Do I need to add anything else, if yes, what?
I would really appreciate your help!
Best regards
I come from the Tübingen district and I am 27 years old. My wife and I have now received confirmation for our desired plot, which we will buy in the next few days. Now the planning for the actual house begins.
I am a complete beginner and have browsed this forum a bit, but it’s overwhelming. All the information drives me crazy and discourages me; I don’t even know where to start!
We don’t have a huge budget and want to build with a construction company such as Heinz von Heiden, Town & Country, or Scanhaus Marlow. Some kind of builder that is not the most expensive but still delivers good quality work, preferably solid construction. There are good and bad reviews about every builder online, so I won’t even ask here for recommendations, right?
What I have found out so far are the following hidden costs: (House only, no landscaping)
On top of the “turnkey price,” I have to calculate:
1. About 25,000€ (27,500 USD) additional construction costs
2. Kitchen
3. Lighting fixtures
4. Own work, usually: flooring/wall work + materials
5. Basically add about 20,000€ (22,000 USD) for selections to the stated “turnkey price” because the standard is often too basic
I need to pay attention to the construction description included with “turnkey”:
1. Is triple glazing included?
2. What standard is installed?
3. Heat pump, etc.?
4. What extras do I want + what does all that cost?
I would like to know now:
1. What is the best way to proceed? I want to schedule appointments with the companies mentioned above. How do I best prepare for meetings with these somewhat opaque builders?
2. What other hidden costs should I watch out for that I haven’t mentioned or don’t know yet?
3. What must the house absolutely have in terms of “equipment”/standard?
An example of how I calculate:
House standard turnkey: about 170,000€ (187,000 USD)
Selections: about 20,000€ (22,000 USD)
Additional construction costs: about 25,000€ (27,500 USD)
Flooring + wall materials: about 6,000€ (6,600 USD)
Kitchen: about 15,000€ (16,500 USD)
Lighting: about 3,000€ (3,300 USD)
Financial buffer: about 5,000€ (5,500 USD)
= 244,000€ (269,000 USD)
Is this correct? Am I missing anything? Do I need to add anything else, if yes, what?
I would really appreciate your help!
Best regards
Hello @Schwabenland,
I would also recommend visiting 1-2 model home parks. Whether prefabricated or solid construction, just look at several houses to get an idea of which style and size might suit you.
After that, as a previous poster mentioned, narrow down your list of potential builders. We limited ourselves to five, and after the first consultation, just based on gut feeling, you can usually eliminate at least two.
In the end, we had two very comparable offers (including costs for additional requests, etc.) with quite similar floor plans. This made it easy to compare them (scope of work description!!!). Both companies would probably have been good choices, and finally it was a gut feeling that decided.
Just get some advice and think roughly in advance about how much you want/can spend. The price can easily be adjusted upwards, and going down is possible too by making a few compromises to stay within your maximum budget.
Good luck scheduling all the appointments for the discussions!
I would also recommend visiting 1-2 model home parks. Whether prefabricated or solid construction, just look at several houses to get an idea of which style and size might suit you.
After that, as a previous poster mentioned, narrow down your list of potential builders. We limited ourselves to five, and after the first consultation, just based on gut feeling, you can usually eliminate at least two.
In the end, we had two very comparable offers (including costs for additional requests, etc.) with quite similar floor plans. This made it easy to compare them (scope of work description!!!). Both companies would probably have been good choices, and finally it was a gut feeling that decided.
Just get some advice and think roughly in advance about how much you want/can spend. The price can easily be adjusted upwards, and going down is possible too by making a few compromises to stay within your maximum budget.
Good luck scheduling all the appointments for the discussions!
I would always be cautious with the term "cheap provider." These companies build your house to the technical minimum standard. Whether that is enough for you, you have to decide.
Whether your construction proceeds or not depends entirely on your preparation and the competence of the site manager. If that is poor, you have hardly any chance—regardless of the provider.
I can only speak from our experience. We are building our bungalow (also without a basement) with Heinz von Heiden. We hope to start in a few weeks. In our area, it feels like every fourth house is built by this company.
If you want our cost calculation, feel free to send a private message. We are quite detailed there.
But what I can already tell you: you will never manage with €170,000 for the house. For that money, you get the standard bathroom (there are definitely nicer ones), the cheapest roof shingles, a cheap staircase, and so on. You will have to upgrade most things, and that adds up. We paid an extra €3,000 for the bathroom and only made minor upgrades.
Additional costs for tiling (you only have €25 per square meter [€25/sqm]) and the electrical package, where generally too few sockets are included, should not be underestimated either.
Regarding the soil survey: Most companies require a survey. If you have one done beforehand, you can have it credited.
So definitely arrange one before purchasing the land. We did as well, and it turned out that we need to go about 1 meter (3 feet) down so the foundation slab sits properly. There are also requirements for fill layers. Altogether, we have to raise the ground level again by 2 meters (6.5 feet), and we cannot yet say how much soil we can reuse. The cost will be up to €34,000.
Plan a buffer of at least €20,000. Probably more. That money disappears very quickly.
We expect to pay around €420,000 for our construction project. Our monthly payment is €1,420, and we will be finished in 26 years.
Whether your construction proceeds or not depends entirely on your preparation and the competence of the site manager. If that is poor, you have hardly any chance—regardless of the provider.
I can only speak from our experience. We are building our bungalow (also without a basement) with Heinz von Heiden. We hope to start in a few weeks. In our area, it feels like every fourth house is built by this company.
If you want our cost calculation, feel free to send a private message. We are quite detailed there.
But what I can already tell you: you will never manage with €170,000 for the house. For that money, you get the standard bathroom (there are definitely nicer ones), the cheapest roof shingles, a cheap staircase, and so on. You will have to upgrade most things, and that adds up. We paid an extra €3,000 for the bathroom and only made minor upgrades.
Additional costs for tiling (you only have €25 per square meter [€25/sqm]) and the electrical package, where generally too few sockets are included, should not be underestimated either.
Regarding the soil survey: Most companies require a survey. If you have one done beforehand, you can have it credited.
So definitely arrange one before purchasing the land. We did as well, and it turned out that we need to go about 1 meter (3 feet) down so the foundation slab sits properly. There are also requirements for fill layers. Altogether, we have to raise the ground level again by 2 meters (6.5 feet), and we cannot yet say how much soil we can reuse. The cost will be up to €34,000.
Plan a buffer of at least €20,000. Probably more. That money disappears very quickly.
We expect to pay around €420,000 for our construction project. Our monthly payment is €1,420, and we will be finished in 26 years.
P
Peanuts7411 Aug 2016 14:27Evolith schrieb:
I would always be cautious about the term "budget providers." These companies build houses to the minimum technical standard. Whether that's enough for you is something you have to decide.
Whether your construction goes smoothly or not depends largely on your preparation and the competence of the site manager. If that's poor, you hardly have a chance—regardless of the provider.
I can only speak from our experience. We are building our bungalow (also without a basement) with Heinz von Heiden. We hope to start in a few weeks. In our region, it feels like every fourth person builds with this company.
If you want our cost breakdown, feel free to send me a private message. We are quite detailed.
But what I can tell you already: with €170,000 (about $185,000) you will never get the house. For that amount, you get a standard bathroom (there are definitely nicer options), the cheapest roof shingles, a budget staircase, and so on.
You will upgrade most things, and that adds up. We paid an extra €3,000 (about $3,300) for our bathroom and only chose minor upgrades.
Also, don’t underestimate the additional costs for tiles (you only have €25 per m² (about $2.30 per ft²)) and the electrical package, where generally too few sockets are included.
Regarding the soil survey: most companies require one. If you have already done one beforehand, you can deduct it.
So definitely have one conducted before buying the plot. We did as well, and it turned out that we need to dig down about 1 meter (3 feet) so that the foundation slab sits properly. Plus, we have fill requirements. In total, we need to raise the ground level by about 2 meters (6.5 feet), and we still don’t know how much soil we can reuse. The cost is up to €34,000 (about $37,000).
Plan a buffer of at least €20,000 (about $22,000). More is better. That money disappears very quickly.
We expect to pay a total of €420,000 (about $460,000) for our construction project. Monthly payments are €1,420 (about $1,560), and we’ll be done in 26 years.How much of the €420,000 (about $460,000) is the land, and how large is the house?
Peanuts74 schrieb:
How much of the 420,000.- is the land, and how large is the house? The plot of land, measuring 964 sqm (10,377 sq ft), cost us €122,000.
The bungalow will be a 14 x 14.5 m (46 x 48 ft) bungalow.
Unexpectedly high costs:
We had to modify the roof due to building regulations + €7,000
Additional costs for earthworks (we had planned €20,000) + €14,000 → worst case
Lifting system for wastewater + €4,000
P
Peanuts7411 Aug 2016 14:36What does that translate to in living space? I assume between 150 and 160 square meters (1,615 and 1,722 square feet)?
That’s not exactly small, and the plot of land also makes a significant difference, along with additional costs of about 25,000 euros.
Depending on where you build, you can save well over 100,000 euros.
That’s not exactly small, and the plot of land also makes a significant difference, along with additional costs of about 25,000 euros.
Depending on where you build, you can save well over 100,000 euros.
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