ᐅ Prefabricated house – yes or no?

hi.@curly
ok, I didn’t know that.
then this criterion obviously no longer applies.
thanks for the information.

@Bastian b
the situation with the sample centers is now clarified.

how long did your house construction take?
in this area, some people build with solid construction and others use prefabricated houses.
the initial phase was roughly the same.
why are some prefabricated houses ready while the solid-built ones are not?
please be kind and explain this to me.

then I have one point that might still count.
since signing the contract with the company elk, we have known exactly what we have to pay.
we obtained countless quotes, including from solid construction companies; it was the only company that could tell us the exact final cost down to the cent.
in my experience, this is quite rare.
so the point that it is cheaper is correct for me, since with others I would have only known the final cost at the end.

keough schrieb:
Why do prefabricated house providers offer turnkey construction for 250,000?

Why not? It’s the same with solid builders. That’s called advertising... bait... nobody wants to drive a Golf without air conditioning either, but it’s offered.

keough schrieb:
So things like painting walls, wallpapering, and laying flooring I could do myself.

As if materials and time don’t cost anything... before you know it, you’re into your second month working on it, paying double: both old rent and new mortgage.

keough schrieb:
Basement -> Mainly to store things like winter tires, etc... not for living

Anyone who can do the math and weigh costs clearly has an advantage.

keough schrieb:
I just don’t understand why so many complain that in the end they pay almost twice as much as planned. I know that house building doesn’t always go smoothly and you have to calculate a capital buffer or additional costs. But can’t much be fixed and agreed on before construction starts, so that extra costs are minimal afterwards?

You’re actually not doing that now, either. Where else would a buffer fit into a max budget of 300,000?
Many things at the start, like earthworks, are not calculable—whether with solid or prefabricated house providers. Also, from the contractor’s point of view, selling the product economically still counts. I’ve never seen a new car cost or consume only what the dealer told me.
And naively overlooking the term “to be provided by the client” or simply believing, "I’ll just do the painting and flooring myself... that won’t cost anything"—that’s already in your question. So you can answer it yourself.

Meister keks schrieb:
If we had built solid, we would have had to choose every tile, every door, the floor coverings ourselves. Crawling through many home improvement stores, etc.
We just went once to the manufacturer’s central showroom, picked bricks, gutters, windows, floor, bathroom, kitchen—everything—and were done in three hours. Regards

Whether solid or prefabricated: every company has its own strategy and business philosophy. Some offer their clients a centre where you need to choose samples within a few hours... or rather, you’re allowed to. Others offer greater variety for their customers, but with a longer time commitment and effort.
Our builder built solid for us, and most of the selections were made at the sales desk within two hours.
For tiles, I was glad not to have to follow mainstream tastes and choose from only 10 or 20 tiles, but to have the broad range available in northern Germany...

Meister keks schrieb:
How long did your house build take?
Around here, some build solid and others use prefabricated houses.
The initial phase was roughly the same.
Why are the prefabricated houses and the solid ones not standing yet?

How do you know that? Planning and manufacturing times for prefabricated houses are longer; solid houses have often already started. But the shell construction takes longer in solid building.
One prefabricated house manufacturer installs outlets in the factory, another does it onsite. One builder insists on a geotechnical survey, which takes time; another company does not.
Permitting takes longer for some, less for others.
But none of this is related to manufacturing.
The house assembled in two days has already spent a year on paper.

Meister keks schrieb:
We gathered countless quotes, also from solid builders. It was the only company that could tell us exactly to the cent what the final cost would be.

Even with a turnkey offer, a bottom-line sum appears in the bottom right that the contractor receives.
What one spends during a three-hour sample selection can be spread over a longer period with a solid build.
It doesn’t matter if in the second hour of choosing you spend $5,000 on electrical fittings or agree with the electrician onsite in the fourth month.
The difference: with short sample selection and factory completion of all finishing components, you’re tied to the generally marked-up prices of the company.
When deciding onsite, bargaining directly with the tradespeople can lead to better prices, but there’s a risk that saved money will be spent elsewhere.

Meister keks schrieb:
So the point that it’s cheaper for me is correct, because with others I would only have seen it in the end.

Just because you don’t have any further expenses to calculate doesn’t mean it will cost less.
Every provider can take any service for a fee—whether you want to be charged for every little detail or not is up to you.
If you can’t calculate and break out in a cold sweat over additional sums or further items, you should have everything done by one provider. But that doesn’t automatically make it cheaper.

Correct. Our concrete slab was more expensive than other offers, but it was all from one source, and if something should go wrong, I have a single contact person.

I am also in contact with my neighbors, so I know we started around the same time.

Furthermore, I’ll leave out the planning phase since it is influenced by many factors and cannot be controlled (by the way, about 7 months passed from the idea of building a house to moving in). The focus here is on the actual construction time.

While my neighbor still has to winterize his house and therefore already faces double financial burdens, I am already living in mine and only have one financial burden left, which I would have twice with a traditional masonry house anyway: the loan plus rent.

Regarding the mainstream topic... well, honestly, I don’t care how many people installed the same tiles in their houses, because I like them, and that’s enough for me.

Some estimates from the traditional masonry house companies were considerably higher than the 200,000 Euro (approximately) I spent on the house alone. Those prices didn’t even include heating or a kitchen, whereas all of that was included in my case.

I agree with you that better prices can be negotiated with local craftsmen, but that brings us back to the point that everything takes longer and thus results in two financial burdens at the same time.

Not everyone can or is willing to afford a rent of 700 Euro (approximately $750) plus a loan repayment of 1,000 Euro (approximately $1,075).

Hello

I am currently researching prefabricated house manufacturers, as there are quite a few subsidies available. You can get a turnkey house from some providers for less than 250,000, but that is without a basement.

I simply configured my house and was able to see the price and everything involved.

However, land is of course an additional cost, depending on where you want to build, and prices vary a lot.

Best regards

A friend of ours signed a contract for a prefabricated house in spring 2016 and is having the topping-out ceremony this week. So it is quite possible that you have to wait a long time before the house is erected. A well-known prefabricated house manufacturer told us upon request that it currently takes 13 months from signing the contract to the house being put in place. It apparently also depends on how busy the builders are.

Best regards,
Sabine

Meister keks schrieb:
That's right. Our foundation slab was more expensive than other offers, but it's all from one source, and if anything comes up, I have a single point of contact.
I’m also in contact with my neighbors, so I know that we all started around the same time.
Furthermore, I’ll leave the planning phase aside for now, as it can’t really be influenced due to many factors (by the way, about 7 months passed from the idea of building a house to moving in). This is about the actual construction time.
While my neighbor still has to winterize his house and therefore has double financial burdens, I’m already living in mine and only have one ongoing expense—which I would also have with a solidly built house—loan payments plus rent.
Regarding the mainstream topic… honestly, I don’t care how many people, for example, have laid the same tiles in their house, because I like it, and that’s enough for me.
Some “estimates” from the solid house companies were significantly higher than the 200,000 Euro I spent solely on the house.
That didn’t even include heating or a kitchen, etc.
All of that was included in my costs this time.
I agree with you that you can negotiate better prices with local tradespeople, but again, that means everything takes longer, resulting in two financial burdens on the account.
Not everyone can or wants to afford 700 Euro rent plus 1000 Euro loan repayments.

I actually don’t know what you are trying to say.

Everyone has different expectations. This isn’t about one type of house construction being better or worse.
It’s simply an individual decision that each homeowner has to make for themselves.

You are looking at your personal situation but don’t see that others may have different priorities.
Also, it’s important not to compare apples to oranges.

Building a house doesn’t just start with construction itself; it begins months earlier.