ᐅ Rental House – Prefabricated House or Traditional Brick Construction

11ant schrieb:
Prefabricated doesn’t necessarily mean timber frame, and solid construction doesn’t necessarily mean brick. Aerated concrete is quite common nowadays as well.

You can find plenty of pros and cons when discussing solid versus prefabricated houses, and the longer the discussion goes on, the more the comments tend to balance out around 50:50.

Basically, I tend to see today’s prefabricated house providers as regular contractors to whom you can submit the same preliminary designs for a quote as you would to solid construction contractors.

Unfortunately, when it comes to “two-family houses,” most prefab providers currently only offer duplexes (which can also be placed on a single, undivided lot, but usually attract a different tenant demographic than single-level apartments).

The trend toward custom design has taken away one of the old prefab advantages (well-developed, because it has been built exactly the same way 100 times).

Prefab providers mostly build in the latest styles, whereas local solid construction contractors tend to stick with the same look, even for decades.

I wouldn’t really see it that way. With many general contractors (all those we requested quotes from), we were able to submit our own design, which was then implemented 1:1 with only slight adjustments to the brick grid. Even during the construction phase, that is while the structural masonry was being built, we could still make changes to the windows. This is almost impossible with a prefab house.
Why should solid houses be built the same way for decades?
Only the very large companies like Heinz von Heiden or Town & Country make it difficult to make changes, but I assume it is similar with Massa Haus, Allkauf Haus, etc.

It doesn’t need to be anything “fancy.” Two well-designed 3- or 4-room apartments would be perfectly fine.
It’s supposed to be a sensible rental property, not our personal dream home.
Honestly, I don’t mind if it looks similar to other rental buildings in the area, as long as the apartments have a practical layout… and the building isn’t unattractively ugly.

Another question… with a basement or without?
I know I can’t include a high amount for the basement in the rent (although I’m a bit unsure to what extent), but tenants also need storage space, right?
Another idea was to have large garages (with some extra space inside), but that would further limit the building area for the house (unfortunately, we have quite strict regulations here).

Dimma schrieb:
Another question... with a basement or without?

With a basement, partly for storage space, and also for the laundry room and building services.
In 2017, no one would want these in their apartment anymore.

Whether solid construction or timber frame:
For rental purposes, I would lean toward solid construction. As already mentioned, soundproofing is a factor, but also the ability to securely attach items to the walls. In my view, after a few years and different tenants, timber frame houses don’t look as good anymore (just my opinion).

That’s difficult to say. The utility room needs to be located somewhere, and families often have bikes, skis, and so on. Then there’s also the need for space for a lawnmower, or possibly a laundry room in the basement? That could potentially increase the value of the apartment if the washer, dryer, etc., don’t have to be inside the living area.

Of course, all of this comes with additional costs. An alternative, in my view, would be to build somewhat larger so that the utility room can at least fit on the ground floor, making the upper apartment slightly bigger in return. For example, the garage could be 6 x 9 m (20 x 30 ft) to provide more space.

RobsonMKK schrieb:
On one hand because of the storage space, and on the other for the laundry room and building services. Nobody will want that inside an apartment anymore in 2017.

Whether solid construction or timber frame:
If the property is for rental, I would lean more toward solid construction. As already mentioned, there is the issue of sound insulation, but also the attachment of objects to the walls. In my view, after a few years and several different tenants, a timber frame house won't look as good anymore (just my opinion)

And if it’s not already built with a high-quality installation cavity, after the third tenant the vapor barrier will be full of holes like Swiss cheese.

Peanuts74 schrieb:

Almost impossible with a prefab house.

You’re a bit out of date on that. Prefab house providers have now completely moved away from fixed catalog options to either ‘all or nothing’ choices, and when it comes to relocating walls, they always do so in 62.5cm (25 inches) increments using made-to-measure systems.

Peanuts74 schrieb:

Why should solid houses have been built the same way for decades???

Because that’s just how it is, simply out of habit, nothing else. Looking at the apartment blocks and terraced houses in my area, I can tell which housing association or developer built them just by passing by, whether from 1960 or 1990.

Dimma schrieb:

If it looks similar to other rental buildings around, I don’t really mind, honestly. As long as the apartments have a sensible layout... and the building isn’t unattractively ugly...

Potential new tenants looking at similarly sized apartments also pay attention to how much the floor plan differs from other local ones. Especially if you let the developer design it (which most large housing developers typically want), they basically build their standard housing type, just changing the owner’s name, but otherwise it’s pretty much the same. There’s a great song by Köbes Underground called “we are all the children of the Bofrostman” ;-)

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