ᐅ Sign now or wait? Concerns about construction halts and material shortages

Hello dear homebuilding enthusiasts,

we are approaching the signing of the contract for our solid (masonry) house. However, we are concerned about the shortage of raw materials and worried that our construction might come to a halt. The planned start of construction is not until August 2022. Given the current situation, would you sign a contract now or rather wait one to two years until the situation possibly improves?

Best regards,
Thomas88

Thomas88 schrieb:

Hello fellow home builders,

we are now quite close to signing the contract for our solid house.
However, we are worried about the shortage of raw materials and fear that our construction might come to a halt.
Construction would only start in August 2022.
Given the current situation, would you sign a contract now or rather wait one or two years until the situation possibly calms down?

Regards
Thomas

It always depends on the contract and how confident you are that construction can indeed start in August (building permit / planning permission, site development?). How long is the fixed price guarantee, and have you already had the contract reviewed?

Exactly, it depends on the contract.

If you have agreed on everything logically, sign now.

So, without a price escalation clause, with a fixed price at a defined point in time, scheduling the start and end of construction, penalty clauses for delays, ... and many other potential pitfalls...

Recommendation: sign now, but only sign what you fully understand!

As the previous speakers already mentioned, only sign if everything is clearly defined. Regarding whether to wait or not -> Just look at the development over the last 5 years. It was quite unwise to hope for falling prices back then. You could have definitely saved around 20% from then to now 😀 So waiting only wastes money. If everything is well planned, what is there to wait for?

Thomas88 schrieb:

Construction would only start in August 2022.

By then, the supply chains should be functioning properly again. The real issue is: Who guarantees the price until then?

Hausbauer2021 schrieb:

Just look at the trend over the past 5 years. Pretty foolish anyone was hoping for prices to fall back then.

Who, please, is so naive to have expected or planned for falling prices?
As I have mentioned before, apart from "electronic waste" and other junk, prices only move in one direction.

As already mentioned, it depends on the contract.