ᐅ Single-family home of 170-180 sqm – which home builders do you recommend?
Created on: 30 Jun 2025 17:24
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gtown1994
Hello everyone,
We (31m, 30f) are currently planning to build a single-family house in Hesse with about 175-185 sqm (3 (children’s) bedrooms + office planned, on a slab foundation). We will soon visit an architect to have a floor plan drawn up, which we will use to request quotes from home builders.
At the moment, we prefer a prefabricated house, where part of the trades (mainly flooring, painting, and plumbing installation) will be subcontracted to local craftsmen.
Current net monthly income:
M: ~4000€ net
F: ~4000€ net
We have one child so far; parental leave is planned for one year only, after which both will return to full-time work (family lives nearby).
The plot will be fully financed from our own equity (about 200,000€ all in). Additional equity amounting to about 60,000€ is invested in stocks/ETFs and will not be touched initially.
Our budget for the pure house price without additional costs, landscaping, land, etc., is approximately 550,000-600,000€ with a monthly payment of about 3000€.
Two couples we know have built with Büdenbender and Keitel-Haus, so we definitely want to check those out. Are there any other recommendations within our desired budget?
Best regards,
Dennis
We (31m, 30f) are currently planning to build a single-family house in Hesse with about 175-185 sqm (3 (children’s) bedrooms + office planned, on a slab foundation). We will soon visit an architect to have a floor plan drawn up, which we will use to request quotes from home builders.
At the moment, we prefer a prefabricated house, where part of the trades (mainly flooring, painting, and plumbing installation) will be subcontracted to local craftsmen.
Current net monthly income:
M: ~4000€ net
F: ~4000€ net
We have one child so far; parental leave is planned for one year only, after which both will return to full-time work (family lives nearby).
The plot will be fully financed from our own equity (about 200,000€ all in). Additional equity amounting to about 60,000€ is invested in stocks/ETFs and will not be touched initially.
Our budget for the pure house price without additional costs, landscaping, land, etc., is approximately 550,000-600,000€ with a monthly payment of about 3000€.
Two couples we know have built with Büdenbender and Keitel-Haus, so we definitely want to check those out. Are there any other recommendations within our desired budget?
Best regards,
Dennis
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MachsSelbst14 Aug 2025 18:29Ah… out of 75 small contractors, there were “some” who take pride in delivering quality work, even if it means losing money because they completely miscalculated the new project. How many are we talking about? 5? 10? Even with 10, that’s only about 13%, which actually supports the point made by 11ant… because 87% then have less pride and, if necessary, just try to finish the job somehow, no matter what…
I can tell you from 15 years of professional experience in custom system installation… When companies do something for the first time, it goes wrong about 90% of the time, unless you assign someone to closely supervise them all day. A good example was when we had 50Hz electricians wiring a system with several frequency converters… almost everything had to be redone—no shielded cables, spares looped in the ring, shields either missing or, worse, only connected on one side, and so on. A total disaster. They simply didn’t realize that in their field, electromagnetic interference doesn’t really exist…
You wouldn’t think of hiring a regular roofer to cover your roof with slate or thatch… you find someone who does that every day, who is capable and has plenty of experience.
I can tell you from 15 years of professional experience in custom system installation… When companies do something for the first time, it goes wrong about 90% of the time, unless you assign someone to closely supervise them all day. A good example was when we had 50Hz electricians wiring a system with several frequency converters… almost everything had to be redone—no shielded cables, spares looped in the ring, shields either missing or, worse, only connected on one side, and so on. A total disaster. They simply didn’t realize that in their field, electromagnetic interference doesn’t really exist…
You wouldn’t think of hiring a regular roofer to cover your roof with slate or thatch… you find someone who does that every day, who is capable and has plenty of experience.
MachsSelbst schrieb:
and thus absolute confirmation of 11ant’s statement I only said that the exemplary or commendable cases are unfortunately neither the norm nor the standard the industry sets for itself. The "what goes around comes around" effect—that clients with the mindset of users like @wiltshire or @rick2018 are significantly less likely to experience contractors adding unnecessary or questionable extras from their respective trades—has already come up here several times. The typical or at least clear majority scenario is, unfortunately, that contractors expect a penny-pinching client and therefore “respond” by delivering their work according to the generally accepted but minimal standards.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
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MachsSelbst14 Aug 2025 20:05However you want to interpret this... it is unfortunately a romantically naive notion that a significant portion of tradespeople feel personally challenged by an unusual job and go the extra mile to prove something to the homeowner.
It’s the same for me, by the way. We are sometimes overwhelmed with work, so special requests are simply annoying and you want to complete them as efficiently as possible, not with extra care or attention to detail.
It’s the same for me, by the way. We are sometimes overwhelmed with work, so special requests are simply annoying and you want to complete them as efficiently as possible, not with extra care or attention to detail.
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gtown199414 Aug 2025 21:4511ant schrieb:
As far as I know, there is an architect who also represents Isowood on the side. @roteweste worked with Ms. Forster on the planning and is satisfied (I wasn’t convinced by the service — and even less so by the performance of your likely architect). There was a good personal rapport, yes — but that alone is not “half the battle.” I currently have a project in progress designed by someone from that circle. Afterwards, Yvonne took it over, and the clients only had to make relatively minor modifications until it was ready for decisive approval. Thank you for the feedback. Once we receive a design, we will gladly upload it here and look forward to your input.
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wiltshire15 Aug 2025 09:04MachsSelbst schrieb:
Unfortunately, it is a romantically naive idea that a significant number of craft businesses feel personally challenged by an unusual job and put in extra effort because of their pride.I completely agree. That’s why it is so important to make sure you actually find those businesses when it comes to quality, because you cannot buy a business partner’s attitude.W
wiltshire15 Aug 2025 11:21I’ll show a very simple example of workmanship from an experienced craftsman who truly values his trade. Instead of just saving time by making a few straight cuts to somehow “patch” a wooden cover around the gutter and the edge flashing, he creates a wooden piece that fits the situation perfectly. When a company encourages its workers to approach tasks in this way, the client has basically already won. Of course, such a company may not offer the lowest price.
I appreciate these thoughtfully considered solutions, which altogether result in high overall quality.
I appreciate these thoughtfully considered solutions, which altogether result in high overall quality.