H
hauslbausl14 Mar 2014 23:03Hello everyone,
here are my experiences and those from my circle regarding the topic of
"turnkey construction."
I do not want to discourage anyone from choosing turnkey construction.
However, this desire unfortunately stems from the fact that people want to have as little effort as possible when building. You can forget about that.
It is a pipe dream! Just ask your acquaintances, family, etc., who have already built a house.
Anyone trying to escape the hassle of building by saying, "I don’t have time to deal with the details, so I want turnkey," will end up facing even more problems.
The demand for turnkey construction is massively exploited.
You are building for the first time, the construction company—no matter which one—has been around for 20 years or more.
All acquaintances in my environment who went down this route paid thousands of euros extra.
Just imagine that you hesitate for weeks over every 500 euro (about $535) investment beforehand, and then, under pressure, you spend your entire life savings in a very short time. Often, under the additional pressure of having children or expecting them, you are practically exhausted. This is exploited on a large scale and will cost you hundreds of thousands more. You have to imagine that, with typical financing, the total cost over the repayment period will almost certainly be twice what’s on paper. For companies offering "turnkey" services, it doesn’t matter if you pay it off your whole life. This doesn’t have to be the case. The cheating factor is enormously high. In my estimate from acquaintances, it quickly reaches 100,000 euros (about $107,000). Over the repayment period, surely double that. Have you ever thought about how much you really have left each month? You are paying everything from your net income!
I am not from the construction industry myself, but I do clearly see how bad the situation is.
Suggestions on how you can do better:
- Don’t expect to get a house without effort. That will be expensive and you will work for it your entire life. In that time, you could have built your house by hand five times!
- Tone down your initial “King Ludwig” expectations. With a normal financial situation, you will pay double for everything!
- Know someone with experience who, for a fee, takes care of selecting reliable craftsmen.
- Check forums like this one to see how reputable a provider is.
- Don’t focus only on tiles or making everything as bright as possible. These are typical minor issues that will end up costing you a lot of money and that construction companies know well because you don’t. Those who are naive will pay or work themselves to exhaustion!
The most common trick in turnkey building specifications:
Specify very little and then send invoices for everything extra.
I have seen this many times within my circle.
For example, “You get a gas heating system.” Well, which one?
Where are the radiators? Is the basement heated?
I could come up with 100 other questions offhand that aren’t specified there!
Good luck with your building project, and those who accept that building a house means a lot of effort will come out ahead.
here are my experiences and those from my circle regarding the topic of
"turnkey construction."
I do not want to discourage anyone from choosing turnkey construction.
However, this desire unfortunately stems from the fact that people want to have as little effort as possible when building. You can forget about that.
It is a pipe dream! Just ask your acquaintances, family, etc., who have already built a house.
Anyone trying to escape the hassle of building by saying, "I don’t have time to deal with the details, so I want turnkey," will end up facing even more problems.
The demand for turnkey construction is massively exploited.
You are building for the first time, the construction company—no matter which one—has been around for 20 years or more.
All acquaintances in my environment who went down this route paid thousands of euros extra.
Just imagine that you hesitate for weeks over every 500 euro (about $535) investment beforehand, and then, under pressure, you spend your entire life savings in a very short time. Often, under the additional pressure of having children or expecting them, you are practically exhausted. This is exploited on a large scale and will cost you hundreds of thousands more. You have to imagine that, with typical financing, the total cost over the repayment period will almost certainly be twice what’s on paper. For companies offering "turnkey" services, it doesn’t matter if you pay it off your whole life. This doesn’t have to be the case. The cheating factor is enormously high. In my estimate from acquaintances, it quickly reaches 100,000 euros (about $107,000). Over the repayment period, surely double that. Have you ever thought about how much you really have left each month? You are paying everything from your net income!
I am not from the construction industry myself, but I do clearly see how bad the situation is.
Suggestions on how you can do better:
- Don’t expect to get a house without effort. That will be expensive and you will work for it your entire life. In that time, you could have built your house by hand five times!
- Tone down your initial “King Ludwig” expectations. With a normal financial situation, you will pay double for everything!
- Know someone with experience who, for a fee, takes care of selecting reliable craftsmen.
- Check forums like this one to see how reputable a provider is.
- Don’t focus only on tiles or making everything as bright as possible. These are typical minor issues that will end up costing you a lot of money and that construction companies know well because you don’t. Those who are naive will pay or work themselves to exhaustion!
The most common trick in turnkey building specifications:
Specify very little and then send invoices for everything extra.
I have seen this many times within my circle.
For example, “You get a gas heating system.” Well, which one?
Where are the radiators? Is the basement heated?
I could come up with 100 other questions offhand that aren’t specified there!
Good luck with your building project, and those who accept that building a house means a lot of effort will come out ahead.
B
Bauexperte15 Mar 2014 01:39Good evening,
"Suggestions on how they can do it better"
Don’t just focus on the price at the bottom right, and definitely don’t sign with the cheapest builder.
Best regards, Bauexperte
"Suggestions on how they can do it better"
Don’t just focus on the price at the bottom right, and definitely don’t sign with the cheapest builder.
Best regards, Bauexperte
We have already purchased a newly built condominium once and have therefore gained some experience. We included everything that was important to us and that we definitely wanted in the purchase contract. What still remains are upgrades such as additional tiling if we exceed the material cost, more electrical outlets / satellite system, and a slightly nicer bathroom ... but if you are aware of this and do your research, I believe you can certainly be positively surprised.
Bauexperte schrieb:
Good evening,
"Suggestions on how they could do better"
Don’t just look at the price in the bottom right corner, and definitely don’t sign with a bargain builder.
Regards, BauexperteI think that is exactly the right answer.
I also had a turnkey build and didn’t have time to take care of anything myself, because it seemed more reasonable to me to earn the money for demolition than to supervise the contractors.
It cost exactly the agreed price down to the last cent, and there were no errors or problems. Not entirely true: there were issues with the basement, kitchen, and heating. Those were exactly the three trades I, in my wisdom, didn’t want to leave to the main builder to save a few dollars and wanted to involve local contractors instead.
What would be the alternative? To negotiate and contract all trades separately? Good luck and much success!
Similar topics