Affordable small house with basement, 100m2

After a long search, I have found a plot of land and made a decision.

I now have various offers with the following basic data: the cheapest offer with a basement and approximately 100m2 of floor space, including incidental construction costs and all wall/floor work, turnkey, is just under 200K. (It is a well-known prefab house provider from Poland).

When flipping through books on the topic of "building cheaply," one might think that it could possibly be cheaper if an architect plans a small house, who reduces costs with some tricks, of course also by foregoing one or another comfort?

(1) Do you think that the above offer can be realized significantly cheaper with a prefab house provider (without the house being qualitatively substandard)?

(2) Could it be cheaper to plan an inexpensive house with the help of an architect and then implement it with a local construction company?

It certainly cannot be generalized, but your personal experiences would already be an important point of reference here before I spend good money on an architect, whose house then turns out to be significantly more expensive than one of the prefab house provider models.

You always need an architect who prepares the building application or building notification documents. If they are employed by the provider, it does not get cheaper but just does not appear separately on the invoice.

It is unfortunately sometimes true that a freelance architect does not necessarily have to be more imaginative than an employee. The smaller the plot or the tighter the developmental plan constraints, the more important a clever designer is.

You can save a lot on the fittings, sometimes at the wrong end. Also on the fees: if nothing else is agreed, the HOAI basically rewards the architect for little cost discipline.

There is no connection between the price per square or cubic meter and the question of whether walls are built up on site or delivered prefabricated. Prefabricated construction is neither inherently an advantage nor a disadvantage here. Prefabricated construction simply manages shorter construction times. Both ways lead to tailor-made houses. In resale, prefabricated houses are now well regarded; unfortunately, when mortgaging, they are still somewhat underestimated by people with a savings bank mindset.

A central question can be the cellar. Those who do not want one should specifically look for level plots. The more uneven the terrain, the closer you come to the costs of a cellar even if you "leave it out."

Carports and garages can also be retrofitted, which can relieve some pressure on the financing.

If you want to throw money out the window, it is best done with corner windows.

cheapest offer with basement and approx. 100m2 floor area

What do you mean by floor area? 100sqm living space? 100sqm built-up area?

...with basement and ... turnkey including incidental building costs and all wall/floor work at just under 200K.

That is a dumping price.
DW is priced in the lower mid-range (or upper lower range ) ... incidental building costs are almost always calculated by the builder at the very lowest level and can easily be twice as much.

If you, for example, subtract 25,000 from the 200,000, not much remains for a house with basement... how much cheaper should the house still get when you also calculate the architect's fees?

Architect's fees increase a small cheap house... and in my opinion only pay off when you build a good average house, where the capacity of savings through the architect is higher than their fee.

With your values, I see no room left to save anywhere.

102 m2 living space, the plot is over 500m2 in size and relatively flat. Thanks for your assessments!

The plot is over 500m2 in size and relatively flat.

Relatively is relative I see about 0.5 m of terrain unevenness under the floor plan as the limit above which foregoing a basement would be questionable in terms of cost. Beyond a certain point, I want to have space for money, not just foundations.

... if nothing else is agreed, the HOAI practically rewards the architect for little cost discipline. ...

I am also very interested in the question posed by the thread creator.

Are there any solution experiences in this forum regarding the quoted point that the architect earns more the more money he wastes? After all, the architect is only human; voluntary renunciation can hardly be expected.