Architect and budget limit... insurance? possibilities

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Regarding the general contractor, I think somewhat like a developer - they clearly want to save everywhere for me, so I simply have reservations about building with a general contractor/developer, and there is another instance in between that adds profit...

you are trolling, you call up a small budget with the architect and he says he has to save, and in the same breath a GC also saves in your eyes :rolleyes:

usually the GC has an advantage, off-the-shelf house. The statics, architect, etc. have already been used there long ago :p

on the topic of hillside location and rocky soil. Here I would make sure that there is no basement & filling to come your way. That easily adds up to 50k, no big deal

We have just finished the planning (over 1 year) with the architect. The initial cost estimate was 180sqm * 1600 EUR plus garage (15000-20000) and additional construction costs (40000-50000). In total, about 350k. At that time, we took out a loan of 500k. That was our personal limit anyway.

It ended up being 220*2050 EUR plus garage (40000) plus 80000 additional construction costs. In total 571000 EUR.

Why so much more? The architect is not to blame... on the contrary! He always put on the brakes... we wanted bigger, with a finished attic, heated and insulated garage, and 1000 other little things that cost a lot of money. The problem is: with an architect you have access to the ENTIRE market... he even takes you to 10x tile studios :) Also, when building with an architect, there is usually no time pressure. Try that with a general contractor. Our architect only builds "high-end" houses and accordingly has great ideas. You can easily get caught up in that :)

We are now starting construction and still lack a good chunk of money. I hope to save during the construction period, or if necessary, the outdoor area will have to wait a bit.

Regards, Steffen

that's how we know him, steffen bigger bigger bigger :p

that's how we know him, steffen bigger bigger bigger :p

It is absolutely not good behavior to always adjust your expectations to your income. It would be better to stay grounded and be happy about more security (shorter repayment periods, etc.). Unfortunately, I regularly lose the battle with my weaker self :(

But I believe it can’t really get that out of control with a general contractor.

Best regards, Steffen

Balance is probably important. What good are all the riches in the bank? You can also gladly find priorities. If the cabin is so important to you, just put more money into it.


Your architect costs are not negligible. Look up fee calculators online and see how to use them for a normal single-family house.

Structural analysis is also added and is not insignificant either.

what do you mean by no basement? The direct neighbor also has a basement and according to the development plan, filling in / excavating is only possible up to 1.10m... the slope is not exactly flat, so the 1.10m won't make much / any difference (my assessment) May I ask what equity you had, meaning the loan-to-value ratio? Feel free to send it via PM I mean, the thing is that we actually stay below the limit of what is possible for us, but as said, we don’t want to pay it off until the bitter end... the whole thing should be done in max 20 years and with a manageable rate because I simply think ahead and also consider income losses (death, disability insurance, etc.) I know you can’t think of and secure everything, but normally I’m doing well with my approach. Regarding the topic that it doesn’t fit together that the general contractor saves and I tell the architect he has a small budget and he also saves as a result. Difference => I don’t have a general contractor in between who also earns on everything I install! So one less instance But basically it’s like this that I actually have to give the architect a budget, let’s say the one I mentioned, because it won’t work anyway and I have to calculate with 20% more and thus also borrow about that much more?!