ᐅ Introduction to Our Building Project – Feedback on Construction Costs?

Good morning dear forum,

I would like to introduce myself and have a few questions.

We (I am 31 and my wife is 31) plan to build next year in the Münsterland region. It will be an urban villa of about 135 sqm (1450 sq ft) on a 507 sqm (5458 sq ft) plot. We have a notary appointment for the plot in two weeks.

I received several offers for an urban villa; our favorite includes:

Urban villa (solid construction / KFW 55 / geothermal heating) with 135 sqm (1450 sq ft) base price: €274,890.00
Additional costs:
Facing bricks = €7,390.00
Ventilation system with heat recovery = €11,480.00 (The base price includes window frame vents)
Exterior landscaping, about 100 sqm (1076 sq ft) of paving = €7,678.00
Carport with storage room = €13,850.00
Painting work = €6,820.00
Floor coverings on ground and upper floors = €6,650.00
Electric roller shutters = €300 each (We would only install them on the ground floor)
Utility connections = €6,925.00

In rough terms, the house price comes to about €340,000.00

The plot is priced at €170 per sqm, so €86,160.00 excluding notary and other fees.

This brings the total to around €440,000.00
We have about €120,000.00 in equity, plan to include about €90,000.00 in financing, and keep the remaining €30,000.00 as a buffer for the kitchen and upgrades.
Our net income is €5,200 per month, although my wife will receive parental leave benefits for about one more year; after that, our net income should rise to about €5,700.00.

Can anyone tell me if these window frame vents are sufficient? Or should a ventilation system definitely be included?

What do you think about the house costs?

Oh, and the inspection shafts are included with the city 🙂

Forgotten additional construction costs?

Window rebate ventilators are sufficient. A ventilation system would be oversized for the overall project.

Wishing you success!

Hello,

I have to disagree with the previous comment: window rebate ventilation and an energy-efficient house standard 55 (Effizienzhaus 55) do not really go together. You have a very well-insulated house, but then you let in cold outside air through the forced ventilation integrated into the windows. A central ventilation system with heat recovery is the preferred solution here.

If you want to save money, I would possibly skip the geothermal heat pump considering the house size (and the expected low heating costs) and instead use an air-source heat pump, investing the savings into the ventilation system. However, if the ground-source heat pump is already planned, it might be worth checking whether a trench collector is an option to avoid the expensive drilling. You can find help on this topic in the "pink" forum.

I would also recommend electric roller shutters on the upper floor; the additional cost is manageable, and this is something that is very difficult to retrofit later.

We are also currently building in the Münsterland region. May I ask which construction company you prefer? Feel free to message me privately.

I'm also not very sure about the trickle ventilators in the window rebates. Our builder is enthusiastic about them and says they are sufficient, but I'm still uncertain.

Our builder doesn’t think highly of the air-source heat pump and I believe he doesn’t even offer it. To be honest, I don’t find it particularly convincing either. The other quotes were mostly at a similar or even higher price level and all included the air-source heat pump, so why not go directly for geothermal energy 🙂

I would never accept window rebate ventilation and would opt for controlled mechanical ventilation.

The prices sound realistic, and both income and equity are excellent!

However, I am missing some costs: property transfer tax (only on the land or also on the house?), potentially excavation? Additional exterior work (terraces, privacy screens, entrance platform, rainwater drainage, splash protection strips...)?

What about the electrical installation? How many outlets? LAN connections?

The property transfer tax would apply only to the land. That’s why I calculated the land at €100,000.00. The electrical setup seems quite reasonable to me. In every room on the upper floor there are empty conduits for TV and also enough power outlets, but there is no mention of LAN connections, only a TAE socket?!

Excavation and disposal are included, but it’s not specified how much. I will discuss this with him again.