ᐅ Potential savings with a turnkey prefab house – your assessment?
Created on: 6 Aug 2018 10:03
G
Golfi90
Hello everyone!
Yesterday, we visited the Viebrockhaus model home park.
We looked at the "V1."
The design is simple and straightforward. But we really like the size, room layout, and construction style—it fits our needs perfectly! That’s how we want it to be, except for two small changes...
The model home was built with "extra features" and to KfW 40+ energy efficiency standard, priced at 260,000€ turnkey!
However, we do not want to build through Viebrockhaus; we prefer to manage the construction ourselves.
We also don’t want to build to the KfW 40 Plus standard, since I’ve read several times that the additional cost is often not worth it...
Additionally, we want to do some work ourselves and have several skilled tradespeople in our family who are willing to support us.
What are your thoughts? How much savings potential do you see compared to the turnkey build from Viebrockhaus?
Is a construction budget of 200,000€ realistic? We don’t want the most expensive bricks or render, nor the most expensive tiles and roof shingles. Just a nice, solid single-family home for the future.
It’s not that we can’t get financing or anything like that. We simply don’t want to take out more money than necessary.
I would really appreciate an expert assessment from you!
Yesterday, we visited the Viebrockhaus model home park.
We looked at the "V1."
The design is simple and straightforward. But we really like the size, room layout, and construction style—it fits our needs perfectly! That’s how we want it to be, except for two small changes...
The model home was built with "extra features" and to KfW 40+ energy efficiency standard, priced at 260,000€ turnkey!
However, we do not want to build through Viebrockhaus; we prefer to manage the construction ourselves.
We also don’t want to build to the KfW 40 Plus standard, since I’ve read several times that the additional cost is often not worth it...
Additionally, we want to do some work ourselves and have several skilled tradespeople in our family who are willing to support us.
What are your thoughts? How much savings potential do you see compared to the turnkey build from Viebrockhaus?
Is a construction budget of 200,000€ realistic? We don’t want the most expensive bricks or render, nor the most expensive tiles and roof shingles. Just a nice, solid single-family home for the future.
It’s not that we can’t get financing or anything like that. We simply don’t want to take out more money than necessary.
I would really appreciate an expert assessment from you!
Living rent-free already reduces the cost factor.
I can only compare based on our own experience and what is happening in our circle of acquaintances and village.
One house was built almost entirely through self-construction and was completed very quickly. However, nearly every trade was represented within the extended family, so few subcontractors were needed.
Two houses are mostly contracted out with normal self-construction contributions. Construction started in 2017, but completion is still open; one doesn’t even have windows yet, and the other is just now being plastered. These two also complain about some of the high bids.
Costs are getting out of control (though this also depends on the basis of the planning – so this is tentative).
In our case, everything planned with the general contractor went well and quickly; the rest was discouraging. In October 2017, the contracted company said they wouldn’t do the garage roof due to lack of time. In January 2018, through contacts, we finally found another company – they started this morning. Originally, this was scheduled for May 2018. Just as an example.
I can only compare based on our own experience and what is happening in our circle of acquaintances and village.
One house was built almost entirely through self-construction and was completed very quickly. However, nearly every trade was represented within the extended family, so few subcontractors were needed.
Two houses are mostly contracted out with normal self-construction contributions. Construction started in 2017, but completion is still open; one doesn’t even have windows yet, and the other is just now being plastered. These two also complain about some of the high bids.
Costs are getting out of control (though this also depends on the basis of the planning – so this is tentative).
In our case, everything planned with the general contractor went well and quickly; the rest was discouraging. In October 2017, the contracted company said they wouldn’t do the garage roof due to lack of time. In January 2018, through contacts, we finally found another company – they started this morning. Originally, this was scheduled for May 2018. Just as an example.
You cannot simply deduct a few tens of thousands of euros as a flat rate. Viebrockhaus does not build anything else. Their entire house concept is designed accordingly, and they build on a large scale.
Take the floor plan and ask a smaller regional general contractor who builds houses according to the Energy Saving Ordinance and can meet KfW 55 standards, if necessary, for a quote.
Take the floor plan and ask a smaller regional general contractor who builds houses according to the Energy Saving Ordinance and can meet KfW 55 standards, if necessary, for a quote.
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readytorumble6 Aug 2018 12:13What exactly do you want to do with the self-performed work?
It doesn’t make sense to look at how much Viebrockhaus offers a house for, subtract amount X, and then plan based on that.
You want to do a lot yourselves and build freely, so you need an architect. Find one and design the house you want to build. Then have the architect provide a detailed cost estimate, breaking down every trade.
You can verify this cost breakdown by getting quotes from the trades you won’t be doing yourselves. For the trades you fully or partially complete yourself, you can calculate the material costs and then deduct your own labor from the cost estimate. In some trades, labor costs are only about 30%, while in others labor can account for up to 60%.
One important note: Viebrockhaus doesn’t have to create their own structural calculations or building plans/permits since they build this standard house repeatedly. You or your architect, however, must produce your own plans and have the structural engineering done (or reviewed), etc. Moreover, Viebrockhaus purchases materials at very different prices or even uses completely different materials (a house consists of more than just bricks).
That’s why I don’t think your approach is effective.
It doesn’t make sense to look at how much Viebrockhaus offers a house for, subtract amount X, and then plan based on that.
You want to do a lot yourselves and build freely, so you need an architect. Find one and design the house you want to build. Then have the architect provide a detailed cost estimate, breaking down every trade.
You can verify this cost breakdown by getting quotes from the trades you won’t be doing yourselves. For the trades you fully or partially complete yourself, you can calculate the material costs and then deduct your own labor from the cost estimate. In some trades, labor costs are only about 30%, while in others labor can account for up to 60%.
One important note: Viebrockhaus doesn’t have to create their own structural calculations or building plans/permits since they build this standard house repeatedly. You or your architect, however, must produce your own plans and have the structural engineering done (or reviewed), etc. Moreover, Viebrockhaus purchases materials at very different prices or even uses completely different materials (a house consists of more than just bricks).
That’s why I don’t think your approach is effective.
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