A house under €140,000?

Hello

My question is whether it is possible to build a really cheap house?

I don’t need much space since there are only 2 of us. One car. No special wishes or extravagances.

Doing some work myself would also be fine. I am not completely untalented with crafts. Also, I have time. I can lay tiles as well. I have also done masonry before. Only insulation I would be a bit wary of. Insulation should be done properly.

I can get a fully developed plot for €38,000.
I have seen prices for the slab foundation of €70-100/sqm. Although I would quite like a basement. It’s just a question of groundwater.
Taxes/notary 3.5-4.5% of €38,000
House (I haven’t looked at anything concrete yet. So far, only online) €70,000
Own work €10,000
Buffer €10,000

Is this realistic? Should I better buy a used house with such a small budget?

How many m² did you have in mind? 50 m² without basement (70,000 / 1,500 € per sqm) might just work? 1,500 €/m² was still considered the standard rate 2-3 years ago. Today, with the new [Energieeinsparverordnung], it is definitely more.

Hey,

My question is whether it is possible to build a really cheap house?

Radio Yerevan ;-)

I don’t need much space since there are only 2 of us. One car. No special wishes or extravagances.

We are currently planning/building such a small house. 2 people, around 85 sqm living space, single-story, no basement, plot 580 sqm. Realistically, we come to roughly 240,000 € in total, the house kit (wood and no, we are not assembling it ourselves) alone costs "only" 60,000 €, the plot cost 50,000 € without the notorious additional costs. With your budget, you should forget about the basement right away.

Doing some of the work myself would also be fine. I’m not completely untalented when it comes to crafts.

If you know the current regulations, okay. Otherwise, you’ll be left with only wallpapering. ;-)

Is this realistic?

Clever craftsmen with good connections and access to good resources might manage it, but otherwise it will be really difficult. With house costing x and plot costing y, it won’t work because there is a lot more to add. On the web, you can find construction cost calculators for a rough estimate; search under the term "Gesamtkosten Hausbau Rechner", several sites are listed there. You will get an idea of how much money besides the house and plot you need to invest to realize your project.

Should I better buy a used house with such a small budget?

Please keep in mind that nowadays required home technology (especially heating, thermal insulation) is becoming increasingly expensive relative to the rest of the house price. Just as an idea: a power connection to the house with a junction box costs roughly 2000 €, no matter whether the house has 50 or 250 sqm of living space. Therefore, such standard cost/sqm estimates become more inaccurate the smaller the house overall is. The costs per sqm go up in the end. Ultimately, good calculations help; however, it doesn’t seem completely impossible to me.

For reading, the following thread might be interesting:

With old buildings, some of these costs do not apply, but there are other things to consider such as backlog of repairs or some "landmines" that caused the previous owner to sell, like planned construction of noisy roads, etc.

Is that realistic?

No. You have forgotten all the incidental construction costs, the costs for the interior work, some access road, land charge registration, etc. There are still lots of small items that – if the budget is this tight – can break your neck. Take a look here and here

Should I better buy a used house with such a small budget?

Yes.

I had a prefabricated house in mind. So not planning, building, etc. myself, everything from a single source with self-build kits. Or a used one, but these are hard to find if they are still somewhat decent.

The answer is simply: no.