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
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Gerddieter25 Nov 2021 18:48Somehow quite absurd – the blunders by architects towards clients/homeowners are sugarcoated and justified, while the customer/homeowner is blamed for getting taken advantage of...
An interesting perspective...
An interesting perspective...
Tassimat schrieb:
I support a school subject called "Mathematics." It develops logical thinking. Could you explain the context to us now!? 🙄
To me, they go together like mowing the lawn and drinking beer. 😀
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chand198625 Nov 2021 21:55Law truly overlaps with logic only when you are familiar with a completely counterintuitive way of thinking along with its technical terminology.
driver55 schrieb:
For me, they go together like mowing the lawn and drinking beer.At least with a scythe, this is a traditional combination, see Friedbert Rauscher "Der Schwaben-Rap" *LOL*https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
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hampshire26 Nov 2021 12:13Gerddieter schrieb:
Somehow quite grotesque – the mistakes made by homeowners through architects are sugarcoated and justifiedIt’s interesting how someone forms a firm judgment based on the available information...Regarding the school subject:
- At school, our children mainly learn solutions to problems whose answers are already known. It would be much better if they learned how to solve problems, how to approach them, how to separate different levels of abstraction, how to connect related concepts, how to communicate with others about them, how to involve specialists, and how to ask the right questions in a goal-oriented way... That would better prepare them to solve the problems they will actually face.
- It would also be useful to put more emphasis on our social system, starting from rule of law principles such as separation of powers, through legislation—especially the constitution—the federal distribution of power, institutions and their responsibilities, all the way to the municipal level. For example, visiting local committees together to experience that it’s not "those up there", but that you can easily and personally access every authority and politician representing you. This helps counter feelings of helplessness and reduces susceptibility to nonsensical conspiracy theories. Conversely, those who understand the system and know how to get help manage better. The key term is feeling self-efficacy.
- Students also need practical knowledge about contracts and types of contracts—specifically, working with contracts such as a rental agreement for housing, a service contract for a mobile phone, a data protection agreement like for Instagram, or a financing contract such as installment purchases.
- It would be great to incorporate communication skills more strongly. I repeatedly observe that practical tools, like the communication model by Friedemann Schulz von Thun, are a revelation to many people. Often, this leads to practical application in daily life and many things improve as a result.
@hampshire
Basically, I agree with that, but I’m not sure if a specific subject needs to be introduced for it. It would actually be enough to encourage students to think independently and demand their own ideas. I had a history teacher who challenged our advanced class a lot in that regard, and looking back, I’m very grateful for it, even though the lessons were quite demanding.
Basically, I agree with that, but I’m not sure if a specific subject needs to be introduced for it. It would actually be enough to encourage students to think independently and demand their own ideas. I had a history teacher who challenged our advanced class a lot in that regard, and looking back, I’m very grateful for it, even though the lessons were quite demanding.