ᐅ Prefab house or traditional brick-and-mortar house: which construction company to choose?
Created on: 20 Dec 2012 19:33
B
Bari
Good evening everyone,
My girlfriend and I are expecting our first child in May and need—or rather want—to move out of our rental apartment quickly, as it unfortunately lacks a room for a child. So we have been considering building a house, but we still have some questions.
Let me start with what we have in mind:
- The house should be around 120 to 180 sq meters (1300 to 1900 sq ft), more or less.
- A basement is a must.
- Double garage or garage plus possibly a carport.
- We are still undecided between 1½ or 2 stories.
- Plot size at least 500 sq meters (5400 sq ft).
- ...
- ... (Surely there’s something important we forgot)
Prefab house or masonry/concrete house—what are the exact pros and cons?
Price should not exceed 350,000 euros including the land (own capital is available).
I would be happy to receive plenty of answers!
Best regards
Bari
My girlfriend and I are expecting our first child in May and need—or rather want—to move out of our rental apartment quickly, as it unfortunately lacks a room for a child. So we have been considering building a house, but we still have some questions.
Let me start with what we have in mind:
- The house should be around 120 to 180 sq meters (1300 to 1900 sq ft), more or less.
- A basement is a must.
- Double garage or garage plus possibly a carport.
- We are still undecided between 1½ or 2 stories.
- Plot size at least 500 sq meters (5400 sq ft).
- ...
- ... (Surely there’s something important we forgot)
Prefab house or masonry/concrete house—what are the exact pros and cons?
Price should not exceed 350,000 euros including the land (own capital is available).
I would be happy to receive plenty of answers!
Best regards
Bari
M
Micha&Dany21 Dec 2012 07:15Hello Bari
I can pretty much confirm the numbers from DerDa. We are currently building about 150m² (1600 sq ft) as well, but using solid construction. KfW70 standard without a basement. Our house is also 2.5 stories (required by the development plan) as a semi-detached house—I think a 1.5-story detached house would probably be a bit cheaper.
But I also believe you have to forget about “getting out of the apartment quickly” if you want to build yourself. We have taken about 3 years so far. First, it took a long time just to find a plot of land, then the planning and financing phase, and now the construction phase…
If you buy a finished house (new or used), of course it goes faster—but then you have to accept what’s available and you have no influence on the room layout or features. Also, the tax authorities charge 5% on the total price—not just on the land…
Regards
Micha
I can pretty much confirm the numbers from DerDa. We are currently building about 150m² (1600 sq ft) as well, but using solid construction. KfW70 standard without a basement. Our house is also 2.5 stories (required by the development plan) as a semi-detached house—I think a 1.5-story detached house would probably be a bit cheaper.
But I also believe you have to forget about “getting out of the apartment quickly” if you want to build yourself. We have taken about 3 years so far. First, it took a long time just to find a plot of land, then the planning and financing phase, and now the construction phase…
If you buy a finished house (new or used), of course it goes faster—but then you have to accept what’s available and you have no influence on the room layout or features. Also, the tax authorities charge 5% on the total price—not just on the land…
Regards
Micha
Hello Bari,
we are building in Rhineland-Palatinate. Solid construction, 150 sqm (1,615 sq ft), two full floors, no basement, double garage. In the end, we will end up around your estimated 350,000 EUR. However, this is WITHOUT the land and WITHOUT the basement. Our price per square meter is about 75 EUR (8 USD). I don’t think that would get you very far in Baden-Württemberg.
We have a cost plan from our architect as well as two offers from solid house builders. All three are within plus or minus 10,000 EUR at the end of the day.
At the beginning, of course, we thought we would get significantly more for that money. But the ads in the newspapers are really just teaser offers. Additional construction-related costs, extra expenses for customization, and so on come on top.
It’s no different with Town & Country. You can’t make general statements about the company itself because they operate through regional franchisees.
A basement was also our initial wish (like for almost everyone). But it would have cost us about 40,000 to 50,000 EUR. So we quickly dropped the idea. It’s simply not worth it to us; we don’t want to pay for the house our whole life. Instead, we are building a larger double garage (6.5 m x 9 m) (21 ft x 30 ft) and will have about 20 sqm (215 sq ft) of storage space behind the cars.
If you buy the land and house from one provider, you pay 5% real estate transfer tax on the total price. That makes quite a difference as well.
we are building in Rhineland-Palatinate. Solid construction, 150 sqm (1,615 sq ft), two full floors, no basement, double garage. In the end, we will end up around your estimated 350,000 EUR. However, this is WITHOUT the land and WITHOUT the basement. Our price per square meter is about 75 EUR (8 USD). I don’t think that would get you very far in Baden-Württemberg.
We have a cost plan from our architect as well as two offers from solid house builders. All three are within plus or minus 10,000 EUR at the end of the day.
At the beginning, of course, we thought we would get significantly more for that money. But the ads in the newspapers are really just teaser offers. Additional construction-related costs, extra expenses for customization, and so on come on top.
It’s no different with Town & Country. You can’t make general statements about the company itself because they operate through regional franchisees.
A basement was also our initial wish (like for almost everyone). But it would have cost us about 40,000 to 50,000 EUR. So we quickly dropped the idea. It’s simply not worth it to us; we don’t want to pay for the house our whole life. Instead, we are building a larger double garage (6.5 m x 9 m) (21 ft x 30 ft) and will have about 20 sqm (215 sq ft) of storage space behind the cars.
If you buy the land and house from one provider, you pay 5% real estate transfer tax on the total price. That makes quite a difference as well.
Nilo schrieb:
At first, we also wanted a basement (like almost everyone). But it would have cost us around 40,000 to 50,000 EUR. So we quickly decided against it. It’s just not worth it to us; we don’t want to be paying for the house our entire life. Instead, we’re simply building a larger double garage (6.5m x 9m (21ft x 30ft)) and still have about 20sqm (215 sq ft) of storage space behind the cars. I always find it interesting when people say: just build a bigger garage. In our development plan / zoning regulations, the size of the ONE garage I’m allowed to build is strictly fixed. Our car fits in there, along with the winter tires, and then it gets really tight. Sometimes you just have to build the basement after all.
That’s why, for me, the plot of land always comes first, and then the house search follows — the house has to fit on the land and be allowed there. Our land costs a modest 650 EUR per square meter. You can’t just build a double garage there — that would almost cost more than a basement…
Hello Wastl,
I completely agree with you. It shouldn’t come across like that, I just wanted to show the original poster an alternative. This is the best solution for US. The development plan is suitable, and the land prices are reasonable.
Of course, individual circumstances always need to be taken into account.
I completely agree with you. It shouldn’t come across like that, I just wanted to show the original poster an alternative. This is the best solution for US. The development plan is suitable, and the land prices are reasonable.
Of course, individual circumstances always need to be taken into account.
schubert7924 Dec 2012 13:27In Regensburg, prices of 850 EUR per square meter have already been paid for land... As a result, prices in the surrounding small villages have risen to 180-200 EUR per square meter. About 5-6 years ago, prices there were still just under 100 EUR per square meter.