ᐅ Questions from beginners about how to find the right home construction company and more?
Created on: 22 Jun 2016 21:44
K
KatdreasHello dear forum,
First of all, I hope I placed this post in the right section!
A bit about us: we (37 and 32 years old) without children have been thinking about our dream of owning a house for several months now.
Unfortunately, we don’t really have a clear plan on how exactly to proceed or where to start.
The main points are:
- Finances
- Land
- House
My problem is that one depends on the other, and I don’t know exactly how to begin.
We started by getting an overview of our personal finances:
- Income
- Expenses
- Savings
- Available equity
So we know roughly how much monthly repayment we could/want to afford and how much equity we have. We talked to someone from a building savings institution, but they mostly tried to sell us something like a government home savings plan. We haven’t had proper bank meetings yet, but still, we believe we can roughly estimate our maximum budget for the entire project. HOWEVER, whether that will be enough to fulfill our dream house or “how much house” we can get for it still needs to be clarified. But how???
Regarding the land, we had to accept that we will have to move quite far out into the countryside (Nuremberg region) to afford the prices. But even here, we have hopefully a realistic idea of what costs to expect.
Additional construction costs—well, I have no idea. People talk about anything from 10,000 to 50,000 (euros) as extra costs.
The same goes for the garden and a carport/garage.
The biggest unknown is the house itself. It’s obvious you can build anything from “cheap” to “luxury,” depending on what you want, but how do I get REAL prices and not just the advertised starting prices from house providers?
We have already visited a prefabricated house exhibition and talked to various providers. They gave us prices, and now they want to calculate something based on our wishes, but how do you really plan without having the land?
And what also unsettles me: why does everyone say the house always ends up costing more in the end? Where do these additional costs come from? The house is planned beforehand, right? It can’t just be that many more costs only because you want something better than the standard during the final selection process?
And how am I supposed to choose a provider? There are so many just in prefabricated house construction. We already spent almost three hours each with Allkauf Haus and Danhaus, only roughly planning so far, and need to have further appointments once they have turned our ideas/wishes into plans and can give us approximate prices.
You really can only plan properly once you have land.
Some people only plan once they have the land, but I don’t want to buy land before I know I also have the money to build on it.
I don’t even know how to choose which providers to talk to. Evaluating who is reliable is obviously the most important. We won’t sign anything without having it reviewed independently, but I can’t have ten offers reviewed.
Banks can only properly calculate everything once you have the house and the land...
We are really going in circles here and are grateful for any helpful answers!
And if anyone has information about Danhaus, I would also appreciate it. So far, I find this provider likeable. We like the slightly Scandinavian style and the idea of ecological building and energy saving. The 114 sqm (1,225 sq ft) Malmö house is an option for us.
Thank you very much in advance, and sorry for the long post, but all this is still driving me to despair.
Best regards,
Katdreas
First of all, I hope I placed this post in the right section!
A bit about us: we (37 and 32 years old) without children have been thinking about our dream of owning a house for several months now.
Unfortunately, we don’t really have a clear plan on how exactly to proceed or where to start.
The main points are:
- Finances
- Land
- House
My problem is that one depends on the other, and I don’t know exactly how to begin.
We started by getting an overview of our personal finances:
- Income
- Expenses
- Savings
- Available equity
So we know roughly how much monthly repayment we could/want to afford and how much equity we have. We talked to someone from a building savings institution, but they mostly tried to sell us something like a government home savings plan. We haven’t had proper bank meetings yet, but still, we believe we can roughly estimate our maximum budget for the entire project. HOWEVER, whether that will be enough to fulfill our dream house or “how much house” we can get for it still needs to be clarified. But how???
Regarding the land, we had to accept that we will have to move quite far out into the countryside (Nuremberg region) to afford the prices. But even here, we have hopefully a realistic idea of what costs to expect.
Additional construction costs—well, I have no idea. People talk about anything from 10,000 to 50,000 (euros) as extra costs.
The same goes for the garden and a carport/garage.
The biggest unknown is the house itself. It’s obvious you can build anything from “cheap” to “luxury,” depending on what you want, but how do I get REAL prices and not just the advertised starting prices from house providers?
We have already visited a prefabricated house exhibition and talked to various providers. They gave us prices, and now they want to calculate something based on our wishes, but how do you really plan without having the land?
And what also unsettles me: why does everyone say the house always ends up costing more in the end? Where do these additional costs come from? The house is planned beforehand, right? It can’t just be that many more costs only because you want something better than the standard during the final selection process?
And how am I supposed to choose a provider? There are so many just in prefabricated house construction. We already spent almost three hours each with Allkauf Haus and Danhaus, only roughly planning so far, and need to have further appointments once they have turned our ideas/wishes into plans and can give us approximate prices.
You really can only plan properly once you have land.
Some people only plan once they have the land, but I don’t want to buy land before I know I also have the money to build on it.
I don’t even know how to choose which providers to talk to. Evaluating who is reliable is obviously the most important. We won’t sign anything without having it reviewed independently, but I can’t have ten offers reviewed.
Banks can only properly calculate everything once you have the house and the land...
We are really going in circles here and are grateful for any helpful answers!
And if anyone has information about Danhaus, I would also appreciate it. So far, I find this provider likeable. We like the slightly Scandinavian style and the idea of ecological building and energy saving. The 114 sqm (1,225 sq ft) Malmö house is an option for us.
Thank you very much in advance, and sorry for the long post, but all this is still driving me to despair.
Best regards,
Katdreas
Hello,
first of all, welcome to the forum and “keep calm.” In the beginning, it all feels overwhelming and confusing...
You should first clarify what you actually want and, above all, where you want or can build.
So, prefab or solid construction? With a basement or without? Should you plan for a children’s room or not? Is 114 m² (1,225 sq ft) really enough? If you want a Scandinavian-style house, you are more likely to find it with a prefab manufacturer. Whether you need a basement is also a matter of opinion – it depends a lot on personal taste and lifestyle.
Just don’t believe that a prefab home is cheaper; with the same living quality, they tend to be slightly more expensive than solid houses, and they’re not necessarily finished much faster either. You save about 6 weeks of shell construction time, which for a prefab house is just a few days (if you build without a basement). The interior work still takes time.
All newly built houses are energy-efficient these days. You could almost get by with a few tealights...
Whether a prefab house with lots of treated wood and plastic sheets as vapor barriers is really more ecological than a house made of clay bricks is something I can’t judge.
Building a house is not ecological anyway; if you want to do something good for the environment, stay in an apartment in a multi-story building in the city. In our house, roughly 350 tons of concrete were used, which already means about 35 tons of CO2 emissions. That roughly corresponds to the CO2 emissions from our gas boiler over the next 15 years! With walls, screed, insulation, and plaster, you’re probably looking at double that amount!
So, don’t let anyone tell you that one type of house is more ecological than another. They’re not!
You should expect additional construction costs (planning fees, permits, utility connections, etc.) to be around €30,000–40,000. You won’t get much lower than that. Just for utility connections you will likely pay €10,000–14,000! And for a basement, excavation alone can quickly add another €6,000–12,000.
Best regards,
Andreas
first of all, welcome to the forum and “keep calm.” In the beginning, it all feels overwhelming and confusing...
You should first clarify what you actually want and, above all, where you want or can build.
So, prefab or solid construction? With a basement or without? Should you plan for a children’s room or not? Is 114 m² (1,225 sq ft) really enough? If you want a Scandinavian-style house, you are more likely to find it with a prefab manufacturer. Whether you need a basement is also a matter of opinion – it depends a lot on personal taste and lifestyle.
Just don’t believe that a prefab home is cheaper; with the same living quality, they tend to be slightly more expensive than solid houses, and they’re not necessarily finished much faster either. You save about 6 weeks of shell construction time, which for a prefab house is just a few days (if you build without a basement). The interior work still takes time.
All newly built houses are energy-efficient these days. You could almost get by with a few tealights...
Whether a prefab house with lots of treated wood and plastic sheets as vapor barriers is really more ecological than a house made of clay bricks is something I can’t judge.
Building a house is not ecological anyway; if you want to do something good for the environment, stay in an apartment in a multi-story building in the city. In our house, roughly 350 tons of concrete were used, which already means about 35 tons of CO2 emissions. That roughly corresponds to the CO2 emissions from our gas boiler over the next 15 years! With walls, screed, insulation, and plaster, you’re probably looking at double that amount!
So, don’t let anyone tell you that one type of house is more ecological than another. They’re not!
You should expect additional construction costs (planning fees, permits, utility connections, etc.) to be around €30,000–40,000. You won’t get much lower than that. Just for utility connections you will likely pay €10,000–14,000! And for a basement, excavation alone can quickly add another €6,000–12,000.
Best regards,
Andreas
I
Irgendwoabaier23 Jun 2016 12:36andimann schrieb:
I can’t really judge whether a prefabricated house with lots of treated wood and plastic sheets used as a vapor barrier is actually more ecological than a house made of clay bricks.Since the 1970s, prefabricated houses have evolved quite a bit. The treatment of the wood has also changed significantly. Plastic sheets are used more or less extensively depending on the building concept. Clay bricks—in our region, most construction is done with aerated concrete blocks rather than bricks. Roofs are usually covered with concrete roof tiles.
Ecological building methods—if any—are most likely realized in timber frame construction. But just because it’s a prefabricated house doesn’t automatically mean it’s timber construction or ecological.
Costs… First, we looked at what equity, income, and savings we could use. Then we went to the bank and discussed what loan amount would be feasible and reasonable. At the same time, we spoke with several suppliers about the approximate costs of our desired house. Of course, we included a buffer for additional costs, fittings, and so on. The land search ran in parallel and dragged on… and dragged on… In the end, a plot appeared where the zoning plan allowed for an overall concept that was financially feasible.
Regards
I.
Why prejudices?
Just read carefully:
No idea which is more ecological. Actually, neither is eco-friendly—if that’s what you want, better find yourself a cozy cave!
The prefabricated houses in our neighborhood all took at least 3-4 months from the first ground-breaking (foundation slab!) to moving in. Of course, there are manufacturers who deliver with walls already wallpapered, but isn’t that a different price category?
To the original poster:
Since you live in Nuremberg, have you been to the prefab house exhibition park by the A3 in Heßdorf? It offered a lot of inspiration for many of us!
Best regards,
Andreas
Just read carefully:
andimann schrieb:
I’m not able to judge that.
No idea which is more ecological. Actually, neither is eco-friendly—if that’s what you want, better find yourself a cozy cave!
The prefabricated houses in our neighborhood all took at least 3-4 months from the first ground-breaking (foundation slab!) to moving in. Of course, there are manufacturers who deliver with walls already wallpapered, but isn’t that a different price category?
To the original poster:
Since you live in Nuremberg, have you been to the prefab house exhibition park by the A3 in Heßdorf? It offered a lot of inspiration for many of us!
Best regards,
Andreas
Hello dear forum,
First of all, thank you for your replies.
We have already visited Heßdorf several times and plan to go to other model home centers as well. We have made a sort of collection of things we like. But we are quite open to many options. In the end, it has to appeal to us but, above all, fit within our budget. Although we would probably be able to get a bit more financing from the banks than the limit we set for ourselves. I am just trying to find out if we can actually get something for the amount we plan to spend. It’s clear that there won’t be enough for a lot of extras.
Could you please tell me a bit about how the quotation process for prefab houses worked for you? We are currently waiting for the first two offers. I find it very difficult to compare. One says the price includes materials for flooring/laminate and walls/wallpaper and even outdoor landscaping, and another doesn’t even include tiles or roller shutters. I have also heard that a carport is included in the incidental building costs and yet those are still under 30,000 euros (about 33,000 US dollars)? What exactly can I reasonably expect from a trustworthy provider in terms of planning and cost calculation before I sign a contract? And I still haven’t been able to figure out why I often read online that the construction ended up much more expensive than initially calculated and that people had to significantly increase their financing.
How do you choose the providers to start talks with? For many, I can’t even tell what price range they belong to. And what benefit do the seller and I have in investing several hours if they don’t build in our price segment? Is there anywhere that provides information about housebuilding companies? Or some kind of rating system? On the internet I find practically nothing for some providers, and for many you can find both “good” and “bad” reviews. That hasn’t really helped me so far.
Which providers in the mid-price segment are generally recommended, or who belongs to that middle range anyway? At the moment, I think, for example, I will avoid Danwood and Massa Haus, and Allkauf Haus (if we receive an offer) doesn’t seem trustworthy to me with all their supposedly impressive sample calculations. Davinchi Haus, Kampa, Luxhaus, and Baufritz are too expensive for us. From the building experience side, we could imagine asking these providers: Danhaus (I’m currently waiting for an offer), EBH Haus, Albert Haus, Keitel-Haus, Haas, Rensch-Haus... there are just so many :-(
We do understand that for a provider who says they build healthy homes, not everything is environmentally friendly.
Whether it will ultimately be a solid masonry house or not, I can’t say yet. For now, we find it easier to start with prefab houses. Although the terms are not always used consistently. For us, any house that is prefabricated and selected from a “catalog” is a prefab house, regardless of the material.
Oh man, this text has turned into half a novel again.
Thanks in advance for your answers, tips, and suggestions.
Best regards
Katdreas
P.S. I have been reading here for quite some time now
First of all, thank you for your replies.
We have already visited Heßdorf several times and plan to go to other model home centers as well. We have made a sort of collection of things we like. But we are quite open to many options. In the end, it has to appeal to us but, above all, fit within our budget. Although we would probably be able to get a bit more financing from the banks than the limit we set for ourselves. I am just trying to find out if we can actually get something for the amount we plan to spend. It’s clear that there won’t be enough for a lot of extras.
Could you please tell me a bit about how the quotation process for prefab houses worked for you? We are currently waiting for the first two offers. I find it very difficult to compare. One says the price includes materials for flooring/laminate and walls/wallpaper and even outdoor landscaping, and another doesn’t even include tiles or roller shutters. I have also heard that a carport is included in the incidental building costs and yet those are still under 30,000 euros (about 33,000 US dollars)? What exactly can I reasonably expect from a trustworthy provider in terms of planning and cost calculation before I sign a contract? And I still haven’t been able to figure out why I often read online that the construction ended up much more expensive than initially calculated and that people had to significantly increase their financing.
How do you choose the providers to start talks with? For many, I can’t even tell what price range they belong to. And what benefit do the seller and I have in investing several hours if they don’t build in our price segment? Is there anywhere that provides information about housebuilding companies? Or some kind of rating system? On the internet I find practically nothing for some providers, and for many you can find both “good” and “bad” reviews. That hasn’t really helped me so far.
Which providers in the mid-price segment are generally recommended, or who belongs to that middle range anyway? At the moment, I think, for example, I will avoid Danwood and Massa Haus, and Allkauf Haus (if we receive an offer) doesn’t seem trustworthy to me with all their supposedly impressive sample calculations. Davinchi Haus, Kampa, Luxhaus, and Baufritz are too expensive for us. From the building experience side, we could imagine asking these providers: Danhaus (I’m currently waiting for an offer), EBH Haus, Albert Haus, Keitel-Haus, Haas, Rensch-Haus... there are just so many :-(
We do understand that for a provider who says they build healthy homes, not everything is environmentally friendly.
Whether it will ultimately be a solid masonry house or not, I can’t say yet. For now, we find it easier to start with prefab houses. Although the terms are not always used consistently. For us, any house that is prefabricated and selected from a “catalog” is a prefab house, regardless of the material.
Oh man, this text has turned into half a novel again.
Thanks in advance for your answers, tips, and suggestions.
Best regards
Katdreas
P.S. I have been reading here for quite some time now