ᐅ Single-Family Home – New Construction Project from Day One – And the Planning Begins
Created on: 7 Feb 2020 22:54
D
DaSch17
Hello dear community,
For the past few weeks, I have been following this forum and have already gathered some valuable tips for our own planning.
I would like to use this thread to keep you updated from the very first day of planning until moving in. I hope to receive some valuable advice from the community and that this thread can also serve as a guide for other first-time homebuilders.
Now, a bit about our building project:
As mentioned, we are still quite early in the process...
It all started, as it probably does for most, with requesting a catalog from a prefabricated house company. In our case, it was FingerHaus around mid-December.
This was followed by a phone call with a sales representative from the mentioned company and arranging a first consultation. This appointment is scheduled for Sunday, 09.02.2020.
Since then, we have been intensively working on budget planning, possible floor plans and building plots, as well as ideal typical living space layouts.
So far, we have not purchased a plot yet. However, we are in contact with a municipality that is currently planning an expansion of a new residential area. Fortunately, this allowed us to help decide the size, location, and shape of our future plot. Our desired plot is reserved for us.
Key details of our planned single-family home:
– Location: Southwestphalia, Siegen-Wittgenstein district
– Living area: 179 sqm (1,925 sq ft)
– Concrete slab foundation
– Gable roof
– 1.5 stories with gable roof
– Single garage with extended length for tools/storage room
Our budget:
– Plot including property transfer tax: 70,000 EUR
– Construction costs: 470,000 EUR
– Additional construction costs including earthworks: 70,000 EUR
Our schedule:
– By May 2021: Selection of the construction company
– By July 2021: Contract signing, building permit / planning permission application
– By July 2023: Completion of construction work
– By October 2023: Completion of owner-performed work (painting and flooring) and move-in
We understand that the start of construction depends on the delivery time of the prefab house company, which can vary between 6 and 24 months.
We have now selected 8 different companies with whom we want to conduct initial meetings:
– FingerHaus
– Hanse Haus
– SchwörerHaus
– Bien-Zenker
– Schäfer Haus (contact via family)
– Büdenbender Haus
– WeberHaus
– a local developer
After these initial talks, we want to proceed with more detailed discussions with 4 of these providers.
–––––––––––––––––––
What should we pay attention to during the initial meetings? What is particularly important? Should we disclose our budget to the sales representatives?
For the past few weeks, I have been following this forum and have already gathered some valuable tips for our own planning.
I would like to use this thread to keep you updated from the very first day of planning until moving in. I hope to receive some valuable advice from the community and that this thread can also serve as a guide for other first-time homebuilders.
Now, a bit about our building project:
As mentioned, we are still quite early in the process...
It all started, as it probably does for most, with requesting a catalog from a prefabricated house company. In our case, it was FingerHaus around mid-December.
This was followed by a phone call with a sales representative from the mentioned company and arranging a first consultation. This appointment is scheduled for Sunday, 09.02.2020.
Since then, we have been intensively working on budget planning, possible floor plans and building plots, as well as ideal typical living space layouts.
So far, we have not purchased a plot yet. However, we are in contact with a municipality that is currently planning an expansion of a new residential area. Fortunately, this allowed us to help decide the size, location, and shape of our future plot. Our desired plot is reserved for us.
Key details of our planned single-family home:
– Location: Southwestphalia, Siegen-Wittgenstein district
– Living area: 179 sqm (1,925 sq ft)
– Concrete slab foundation
– Gable roof
– 1.5 stories with gable roof
– Single garage with extended length for tools/storage room
Our budget:
– Plot including property transfer tax: 70,000 EUR
– Construction costs: 470,000 EUR
– Additional construction costs including earthworks: 70,000 EUR
Our schedule:
– By May 2021: Selection of the construction company
– By July 2021: Contract signing, building permit / planning permission application
– By July 2023: Completion of construction work
– By October 2023: Completion of owner-performed work (painting and flooring) and move-in
We understand that the start of construction depends on the delivery time of the prefab house company, which can vary between 6 and 24 months.
We have now selected 8 different companies with whom we want to conduct initial meetings:
– FingerHaus
– Hanse Haus
– SchwörerHaus
– Bien-Zenker
– Schäfer Haus (contact via family)
– Büdenbender Haus
– WeberHaus
– a local developer
After these initial talks, we want to proceed with more detailed discussions with 4 of these providers.
–––––––––––––––––––
What should we pay attention to during the initial meetings? What is particularly important? Should we disclose our budget to the sales representatives?
What are your house building plans?
You can probably tinker with the floor plan forever, and there are always pros and cons to everything. Even afterward, we’re still not sure what was right and what wasn’t.
By the way, our living room is significantly less deep than what you’re planning, and yet four of us can comfortably sit in front of the TV.
But that was also a necessary compromise for us, not a dream solution.
Otherwise, I find it impressive how much effort you’re putting into gathering quotes. We obtained offers based on our floor plan from two prefab home manufacturers and two traditional builders, and all four bids were within a range of 450,000 to 470,000 (USD). Our ideal budget was actually 400,000, so none of them even came close to meeting that. Nobody said they could significantly reduce the price. A $500 selection voucher was the only concession...
In the end, we even chose the most expensive offer because the level of fixtures and fittings likely justified the price difference, and especially because we knew satisfied homeowners from that builder.
And of course, the chemistry and everything else just felt right.
One other thing I found interesting in your thread:
I’ve often wondered who could possibly afford it...
But compared to you, we’re financing a total volume of 1 million (USD) on a comparable income. And we haven’t inherited anything so far. So there’s still a lot of room to grow compared to your price expectations.
And unfortunately, we don’t have anywhere near the level of finishes and equipment you want.
Where this is headed, I can also tell you.
In our area, several terraced houses with about 200m² (2,150 sq ft) of land, 110m² (1,185 sq ft) of living space without a basement and without a carport, and the simplest possible finishes were sold for 650,000 (USD). There were plenty of interested buyers pretty quickly.
I also never thought I’d build a house without electric shutters, especially since my parents installed electric shutters on all their windows 20 years ago.
But in our area, it’s not that noticeable because you first have to be able to afford shutters at all. Our previous homes didn’t have shutters...
So everything is always relative.
You can probably tinker with the floor plan forever, and there are always pros and cons to everything. Even afterward, we’re still not sure what was right and what wasn’t.
By the way, our living room is significantly less deep than what you’re planning, and yet four of us can comfortably sit in front of the TV.
But that was also a necessary compromise for us, not a dream solution.
Otherwise, I find it impressive how much effort you’re putting into gathering quotes. We obtained offers based on our floor plan from two prefab home manufacturers and two traditional builders, and all four bids were within a range of 450,000 to 470,000 (USD). Our ideal budget was actually 400,000, so none of them even came close to meeting that. Nobody said they could significantly reduce the price. A $500 selection voucher was the only concession...
In the end, we even chose the most expensive offer because the level of fixtures and fittings likely justified the price difference, and especially because we knew satisfied homeowners from that builder.
And of course, the chemistry and everything else just felt right.
One other thing I found interesting in your thread:
I’ve often wondered who could possibly afford it...
But compared to you, we’re financing a total volume of 1 million (USD) on a comparable income. And we haven’t inherited anything so far. So there’s still a lot of room to grow compared to your price expectations.
And unfortunately, we don’t have anywhere near the level of finishes and equipment you want.
Where this is headed, I can also tell you.
In our area, several terraced houses with about 200m² (2,150 sq ft) of land, 110m² (1,185 sq ft) of living space without a basement and without a carport, and the simplest possible finishes were sold for 650,000 (USD). There were plenty of interested buyers pretty quickly.
I also never thought I’d build a house without electric shutters, especially since my parents installed electric shutters on all their windows 20 years ago.
But in our area, it’s not that noticeable because you first have to be able to afford shutters at all. Our previous homes didn’t have shutters...
So everything is always relative.
Thank you for your kind words and interest.
Based on the floor plans in #200, we have now received quotes from four providers. The offers vary significantly and range from 45,000 EUR to around 100,000 EUR over our budget, despite having the same floor plan and nearly identical specifications.
We have now narrowed it down to three providers. Today we have a final appointment with provider #3 (rightmost column), who wants to explain their numbers in detail. The price is still "negotiable"—whatever that might mean.
By now, we are quite relaxed and have accepted that we will need to ask the bank for a small additional loan or alternatively replace the garage with a carport. The encouraging thing is that our initial favorite now also offers the apparently lowest price (leftmost column). We plan to sleep on it over the weekend and then decide on one of the three providers.
In the coming weeks, we will move on to detailed planning. Separately, we have already approached the building authority with our preliminary plans to assess the chances of obtaining building permission/planning permission. A special case for us: the land use plan is still being developed but is expected to closely follow the original new development area above us.
We are already quite happy with the floor plan, apart from a few minor details that were also discussed here. For now, the main goal was to have a planning basis for the quotes. I expect we will fine-tune it further during detailed planning.
The current schedule looks as follows:
- Early September 2020: decision on building partner and signing of planning contract
- By October 2020: written reservation of the plot, followed by soil survey and surveying
- By December 2020: purchase of the plot, completion of detailed planning, and finalizing construction financing
- By February 2021 at the latest: submission of the building permit/planning application
- July/August 2021: start of construction
- December 2021: ideally moving in
We did not compare that many providers with each other. I believe we had seven initial meetings with different companies but then proceeded with detailed discussions only with four providers, which was very valuable for us in terms of floor plan design and defining special features.
However, the topic of house building has been omnipresent since February. It’s fun, though, and you feel like you dig deeper into the subject every day.
Yes, I also find it crazy how much prices have changed recently. One provider told us that three years ago, we could have built an identical house for about 50,000 EUR less—not exactly encouraging.
Based on the floor plans in #200, we have now received quotes from four providers. The offers vary significantly and range from 45,000 EUR to around 100,000 EUR over our budget, despite having the same floor plan and nearly identical specifications.
We have now narrowed it down to three providers. Today we have a final appointment with provider #3 (rightmost column), who wants to explain their numbers in detail. The price is still "negotiable"—whatever that might mean.
By now, we are quite relaxed and have accepted that we will need to ask the bank for a small additional loan or alternatively replace the garage with a carport. The encouraging thing is that our initial favorite now also offers the apparently lowest price (leftmost column). We plan to sleep on it over the weekend and then decide on one of the three providers.
In the coming weeks, we will move on to detailed planning. Separately, we have already approached the building authority with our preliminary plans to assess the chances of obtaining building permission/planning permission. A special case for us: the land use plan is still being developed but is expected to closely follow the original new development area above us.
We are already quite happy with the floor plan, apart from a few minor details that were also discussed here. For now, the main goal was to have a planning basis for the quotes. I expect we will fine-tune it further during detailed planning.
The current schedule looks as follows:
- Early September 2020: decision on building partner and signing of planning contract
- By October 2020: written reservation of the plot, followed by soil survey and surveying
- By December 2020: purchase of the plot, completion of detailed planning, and finalizing construction financing
- By February 2021 at the latest: submission of the building permit/planning application
- July/August 2021: start of construction
- December 2021: ideally moving in
We did not compare that many providers with each other. I believe we had seven initial meetings with different companies but then proceeded with detailed discussions only with four providers, which was very valuable for us in terms of floor plan design and defining special features.
However, the topic of house building has been omnipresent since February. It’s fun, though, and you feel like you dig deeper into the subject every day.
Yes, I also find it crazy how much prices have changed recently. One provider told us that three years ago, we could have built an identical house for about 50,000 EUR less—not exactly encouraging.
A
Alessandro27 Aug 2020 09:15The panoramic fireplace won’t work well if the flue stays where it is currently shown!
Alessandro schrieb:
The panoramic fireplace won’t work well if the flue stays as shown! If this is confirmed during the detailed planning with the architect, we will either have a smaller fireplace, place it elsewhere, or omit it entirely.
We are not emotionally attached to the panoramic fireplace.
A
Alessandro27 Aug 2020 09:30The choice of the fireplace should be made in advance because the routing of the chimney pipe (and the ventilation pipe if you decide to go with that option) through the upper floor can cause issues. You can always reduce its size later if needed.
We also moved the chimney pipe 70cm (28 inches) backward later on to create a larger opening into the living room. This required a steel beam, which in turn shifted the bedroom door.
If you need to install a steel beam as well, it will run directly through the walk-in closet!
We also moved the chimney pipe 70cm (28 inches) backward later on to create a larger opening into the living room. This required a steel beam, which in turn shifted the bedroom door.
If you need to install a steel beam as well, it will run directly through the walk-in closet!
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