ᐅ Stopping or pausing a home construction project? Costs too high
Created on: 23 Nov 2021 12:06
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Coffee82
Good 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
Coffee82 schrieb:
I gratefully received your offer. We really appreciate your willingness to help.
The only reason we hesitate to send the email is that the situation is not yet clarified; we have not yet spoken with the architect. Thank you. I prefer to handle such matters discreetly, so I just wanted to quickly assess whether the issue is related to the building structure itself or the architect’s business. You can consider whether this would be useful for you.
Coffee82 schrieb:
We assume the mistake was on our side.
The neighbor built their house for 610,000 euros, a friend named Peter for 570,000 euros. Others had a price range from 400,000 to 600,000 euros.
So we thought that with our maximum of 900,000 euros we would be well within range. We don’t need a luxury house anyway.
Money wasn’t even a topic of discussion yet. You were quite naive, but hopefully I misunderstood if I read these words as follows:
We can spend up to 900,000 and know two people who built for around 600,000—so there’s definitely enough leeway that we don’t even need to talk about money?
A professional architect should always say, even in casual preliminary talks: “Up to this point, we’ve just been chatting, but if we continue, this stops being an informal discussion and becomes contractual negotiation” (whatever you say from now on can be used against you in court / You are leaving the American Sector). The budget, like the land plot, is an essential parameter that must be established at the start of the planning process. Any sketching or design work done without prior budget clarification is unprofessional (and, in my opinion, should be reported to the professional chamber).
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
4.5 to 5k per m2 (10.7 to 12.9 per sq ft) in Gifhorn? We are building near Hanover for a bit over 3k per m2 (about 28) with separate contracting and very high-end finishes. So either prices 50 km (31 miles) east are completely inflated, or your house is extremely extravagant, or the cost estimate is not reliable, or the architect doesn’t know any suitable companies for the trades. The size of the house just makes the pain even worse.
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HilfeHilfe24 Nov 2021 06:03wow amazing.. I would also recommend contacting general contractors. Somehow, I don't fully trust the architect.
I don’t understand the architect either. Of course, every architect would love to be creative instead of constantly designing the same generic urban villas. But they should know that the design is pointless if the client can’t afford it.
Or was it somehow mistakenly implied that money was no object? Maybe that actually happened, and a phrase like “we’ll talk about costs later” was said.
Or was it somehow mistakenly implied that money was no object? Maybe that actually happened, and a phrase like “we’ll talk about costs later” was said.
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Benutzer20024 Nov 2021 10:07Once again. Pure luxury must be the goal or planned. I’m currently working on a cost calculation for a client, which ends up at €4,000 (roughly $4,000) per square meter plus additional construction-related costs, architect fees, and landscaping. And we’re talking about apartments (including underground parking) that will ultimately be purchased by professional football players, business executives, and similar.
Something has gone seriously wrong between you and the architect. You need to communicate with each other immediately.
Something has gone seriously wrong between you and the architect. You need to communicate with each other immediately.
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