ᐅ Prefabricated House or Traditional Solid Construction Companies – Budget

Hello everyone. As you can see, I am new here and looking for advice. We are 25 and 27 years old, both employed, and our monthly net income is 3100 € (approximately $3,400). We have no equity saved up (we are already aware of the risks). Now, by coincidence, we have found a plot of land. It’s the only one in the area that meets our expectations (small, no more than 500 m² (6000 sq ft)). It was more or less a “random find.” Although we had agreed that we wanted to build a house someday, we hadn’t expected it to happen so soon. We want to build at the edge of the Harz mountains, in Lower Saxony. That’s the basic info.

Over the past few days, we have spent a lot of time researching the topic but have not reached any concrete conclusions yet. We have had initial phone appointments with banks; even without equity, it’s not impossible, and some very reputable, well-known banks were involved. We have further appointments with first companies and additional banks planned for next week. However, I would also like to connect with “regular” homeowners to get realistic assessments because we probably belong to this group ourselves.

Does anyone have experience with building a house at our income level? Is it feasible not only on paper but also in reality?

Then the big question arises: do we want a traditional solid house (brick and mortar) or a prefab house? Twenty years ago, when my parents built their home, prefab houses had a bad reputation. Nowadays, that seems to have improved significantly. Basically, we are still undecided. We see major advantages with prefab houses in the absence of moisture problems, clearly the price (is that really the case?), and according to experience reports, there is less shoddy workmanship. I’m hoping to learn from your experiences here.

The last point, of course, will be contacting companies. I am a bit hesitant about regional developers and would prefer to get in touch with larger firms like Viebrockhaus (probably quite expensive), Massa Haus, Arge, etc. Here too, I hope to have an initial exchange with you.

As you can see, we are just starting out and would like to bring some orientation to our confusion of thoughts. Thanks in advance for your help.

Additionally, I should mention that our expectations are quite modest. A maximum of 120 m² (1,292 sq ft), no basement, no fancy extras, and all exterior work done by ourselves. We only want the house, including finished bathrooms, to be built by a contractor. Painting and flooring installation will also be done by us.

How much is the land supposed to cost?
That doesn’t sound like a solid foundation so far.
Buy the land, pay it off over 5-10 years, and then use it as equity for building the house – save and increase your income in the meantime. That would be my first thought.

The developed plot costs 16,000 €. That was actually our plan as well, but the city requires that construction must start within one year after purchase.

And how much loan would the bank approve for you?

Based on very preliminary findings (but as mentioned, we are still at a very early stage), between 250,000 and even up to 300,000 €. Ideally, we do not want to use the full amount, but also do not want to cut costs in the wrong places.