Assessment of feasibility of construction project

Hello dear forum members,

I have been a silent reader for some time and wanted to get an assessment from you regarding our project.

Briefly about us:

He is an employee at an IT company with a net income of 2100,- (increasing yearly)
She is employed in the public sector currently part-time 75% with 1800 net (planned to work full-time again in 6 years, then about 2300 net without considering tariff increases)
+ child benefits for 2 children
Current savings rate about 1500,-
Rent including utilities currently 700,-

We already have a plot of land valued at €34,000 fully developed with a development plan and about €10,000 in equity.

Our first impulse was a prefabricated house (Weberhaus,Schwörerhaus,Streif Haus) but the prices obtained do not meet our expectations.

Now we have 3 offers from local general contractors, all in the range of €250,000. Included according to our specifications:

- about 140 sqm standard energy saving ordinance, gable roof without dormers etc. 1m knee wall, 45° roof pitch
- exterior wall 36.5 Ytong with Kalksandstein inside
- geothermal energy with deep drilling
- central controlled residential ventilation
- fireplace
- prefabricated garage 9x3 m + foundation/base
- cistern
- turnkey including painting work excluding floor coverings (kitchen, utility room, bathrooms but included)
- network cabling all living rooms + 20 additional sockets/switches/outlets

Assuming the usual estimated €50k ancillary construction costs here (which should then include the most necessary outdoor facilities such as terrace, driveway, access path all about 50 sqm + splash protection strip)

This results in a total investment of about €334,000 minus land and equity about €290,000 required loan amount.

Question:
Project feasible or should we lower our expectations?

Thank you very much

Cistern gone, geothermal gone, network, why, isn’t WLAN invented at your place? Probably there are still 20 in there, and it will be more relaxed. Cistern, seriously, why store thousands of liters of rainwater? Do you have a rice field to irrigate? The 200 l barrel at the downpipe is enough, same with geothermal, take a gas boiler and two collectors, done. Otherwise, go through the building description critically again. Aluminum front door? Use plastic! Sash windows? Etc.... Every euro less is less debt. I am a friend of freedom. No debt is freedom. So, the sooner you move away from it, the closer the installments to the rent, the freer you are. Don’t enter debt bondage! Karsten

Hello Nordlys,

I fully agree with you about the cistern, but unfortunately it is mandatory according to the development plan. I originally wanted gas too, geothermal energy is almost cost-neutral with BAFA funding (about 5k extra cost), so I have included it in the planning for now but not definitively.

Network cabling is a must, but if necessary, I will do it myself.

Network, what for, isn’t WLAN invented at your place?

WLAN is a shared medium. That means all users have to share the bandwidth. If one user needs a large bandwidth, the others have to back off. WLAN by far does not reach the speeds that a network achieves. In 2017, building a house without structured network cabling is, in my opinion, not up-to-date. Instead, you can omit all telephone and TV cables. Structured cabling is also suitable for that.

Wi-Fi by far does not reach the speeds that a wired network achieves. Building a house without structured network cabling in 2017 is not up-to-date for me.

I agree, but those are two different things: Wi-Fi is for the laptop on your lap, the same laptop on the table connects to the socket. "Cordless cables" belong with nomadic end devices, desktop devices get their fixed connections. I would use Wi-Fi partly to save the smartphone at home from UMTS traffic. Wi-Fi and cables complement each other; they are not intended as replacements. Each has its strengths – tablets are designed to be portable.

I fully agree with you about the cistern, but unfortunately it is mandatory according to the development plan. I originally wanted gas too; geothermal energy with BAFA funding is almost cost-neutral (about 5k additional cost), so I have now included it in the planning for the time being but not yet finalized.

Network cabling is a must, but if necessary I will do it myself.

Everything done correctly. Remember to apply for BAFA before you sign the contract with the general contractor.