ᐅ Stopping or pausing a home construction project? Costs too high
Created on: 23 Nov 2021 12:06
C
Coffee82Good morning,
My husband and I want to build a house.
We already have the plot of land. We are now facing an unpleasant situation.
We planned the house roughly with an architect, which went very quickly.
No building permit / planning permission has been applied for yet, and no detailed execution plan has been made.
The architect provided a cost estimate that surprised us a lot.
Of course, we had previously asked acquaintances, friends, and family members about the costs of their construction projects.
Obviously, we only considered recent projects.
The architect’s estimate is more than double what we initially expected—around 4500-5000€/sqm (420-465 USD/sqft).
After this, we consulted a few others locally and two from a bit further away. Everyone seems to agree on the construction costs.
I’m not allowed to share the documents here, but there is really nothing unusual. It’s a KW40+ house with 198 sqm (2132 sqft) of living and usable space, plus a double garage attached to the left side of the house. Of course, no basement.
The specifications given to the architect were average and typical. No marble floors, no smart home features. A simple house like my uncle’s, just new.
It looks like the house will cost around 1 million euros. On top of that, of course, there are additional costs such as fees for the architect, landscaping, etc. Together with the land, the total is so high that we neither can finance it nor afford to pay it.
Unfortunately, the architect had to do quite some work before he could estimate the costs.
Now we are worried that if we cancel the project, the architect will want 15,000 to 20,000 euros for the work he has already done.
What would you do in our place?
Best regards,
Coffee82
My husband and I want to build a house.
We already have the plot of land. We are now facing an unpleasant situation.
We planned the house roughly with an architect, which went very quickly.
No building permit / planning permission has been applied for yet, and no detailed execution plan has been made.
The architect provided a cost estimate that surprised us a lot.
Of course, we had previously asked acquaintances, friends, and family members about the costs of their construction projects.
Obviously, we only considered recent projects.
The architect’s estimate is more than double what we initially expected—around 4500-5000€/sqm (420-465 USD/sqft).
After this, we consulted a few others locally and two from a bit further away. Everyone seems to agree on the construction costs.
I’m not allowed to share the documents here, but there is really nothing unusual. It’s a KW40+ house with 198 sqm (2132 sqft) of living and usable space, plus a double garage attached to the left side of the house. Of course, no basement.
The specifications given to the architect were average and typical. No marble floors, no smart home features. A simple house like my uncle’s, just new.
It looks like the house will cost around 1 million euros. On top of that, of course, there are additional costs such as fees for the architect, landscaping, etc. Together with the land, the total is so high that we neither can finance it nor afford to pay it.
Unfortunately, the architect had to do quite some work before he could estimate the costs.
Now we are worried that if we cancel the project, the architect will want 15,000 to 20,000 euros for the work he has already done.
What would you do in our place?
Best regards,
Coffee82
O
Oetzberger23 Nov 2021 12:12You can take the architect’s floor plan and get fixed price quotes from various general contractors. Are you in the Munich area? If not, you should be able to find a significantly cheaper provider.
Otherwise, the usual advice applies: plan for less square meters, skip the “hobby” KfW40+ standard (which you need to be able to afford), reduce the equipment and special features. Consider a carport instead of a double garage.
The cost risk currently arises from the upcoming end of the KfW55 subsidy (which might actually be more suitable for you) and from the forthcoming tightening of energy standards by the government coalition.
Otherwise, the usual advice applies: plan for less square meters, skip the “hobby” KfW40+ standard (which you need to be able to afford), reduce the equipment and special features. Consider a carport instead of a double garage.
The cost risk currently arises from the upcoming end of the KfW55 subsidy (which might actually be more suitable for you) and from the forthcoming tightening of energy standards by the government coalition.
B
Benutzer20023 Nov 2021 12:12Coffee82 schrieb:
The architect’s estimate is more than double what we initially expected. It’s around 4500–5000 €/m² (42–46 USD/ft²). Wow!!! How does he come up with that? This is going to be a luxury villa. Or what exactly did he include in the calculation?
What did you discuss with the architect beforehand regarding your budget? A 198 m² (2131 ft²) KfW 40+ house is already beyond a standard home.
From my experience with clients (in multi-family residential construction), construction costs at that level only occur with true luxury projects. And by that, I mean real luxury.
Coffee82 schrieb:
Unfortunately, the architect had to do a certain amount of work before he could estimate the costs. That doesn’t make sense. The architect already knows the approximate costs when you have the first meeting with him.
Oetzberger schrieb:
You can take the architect’s floor plan and approach various general contractors to get a fixed price quote. Are you in the Munich area? If not, you should be able to find a significantly cheaper provider. We want to build in Gifhorn. It’s close to Wolfsburg.
Oetzberger schrieb:
You can take the architect’s floor plan and approach various general contractors to get a fixed price quote. We’ve already tried that. Either they are all very busy, or maybe they just don’t like us, but they come across as noticeably uninterested from the start. Some don’t respond at all.
Oetzberger schrieb:
Otherwise, the usual: plan fewer square meters, skip the “hobby” KfW40+ standard (you have to be able to afford it), reduce finishes and special extras. Carport instead of a double garage. Already tried. It doesn’t reduce costs as much as it impacts quality, unfortunately.
Benutzer200 schrieb:
Wow!!! How does he manage that? We don’t know either. It’s quite puzzling that others estimate similarly.
Benutzer200 schrieb:
What did you discuss with the architect in advance regarding your budget? A 198m² (2132 sq ft) KfW40+ house is no longer a standard home.
From my experience with clients (in multi-family residential construction), I only know such construction costs when it comes to genuine luxury—and I mean true luxury. Unfortunately, we didn’t talk about the budget. We consulted several acquaintances, and their costs seemed acceptable to us.
KfW40+ is not a standard house, but that’s all. No luxury was requested or needed.
Benutzer200 schrieb:
That’s nonsense. He already knows (roughly) the costs when you have the first meeting with him. His argument was that he needs to do some sketching and preparation to be able to provide an estimate at all.
We couldn’t really disagree with that.
That’s how his preliminary floor plan came about.
Do I understand correctly that you want to cancel the entire build if you don’t get the standard you want?
You will probably have to pay the architect. Of course, it’s questionable what they have actually accomplished in what was likely a short period of time.
Otherwise, I would keep pestering other construction companies and follow up persistently. If they don’t respond, call again and again.
Out of curiosity: I would consider 198 sqm (2131 sq ft) quite a luxury. Could you share a bit more about the project? I assume you are not building on a slope, but maybe there are other cost drivers?
You will probably have to pay the architect. Of course, it’s questionable what they have actually accomplished in what was likely a short period of time.
Otherwise, I would keep pestering other construction companies and follow up persistently. If they don’t respond, call again and again.
Out of curiosity: I would consider 198 sqm (2131 sq ft) quite a luxury. Could you share a bit more about the project? I assume you are not building on a slope, but maybe there are other cost drivers?
Similar topics