Basement prices vary greatly

The additional GU offer is now available to me. Total house price €443,000 for about 170m2 living space plus full basement. (85m2)

The price scares me and it should scare you too. Off the top of my head, I don't know anyone who can build for that price. I bet my life that there will be a nasty awakening. Even if the basement only cost €63k, that leaves €380k for the house. That is about €2,200 per sqm of living space. Currently, you can only build a house for that price if various additional charges come later. P.S. Compare your price here... https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/suchen-feedback-zu-190m2-efh-mit-keller.44266/

I think that’s good. So, do you feel like you’ve made progress / are able to make a smart choice now (or what would you still need for that)?

Basically yes... I have focused on 2 GCs, one of whom is currently my favorite. Unfortunately, the favorite is the one with the expensive basement. I have a meeting with him the week after next and will focus on the basement. Since I have a ground survey, he should be able to give us a price. The general statement of 1750€ to 2200€ for a basement still seems too high to me; I can justify that well with an offer freely available on the website of a major basement manufacturer.

If the GC sticks to that, we have 2 options.

1. Build a smaller basement and still be happy
2. Take the other GC

The price scares me, and it should scare you too.

Off the top of my head, I don’t know anyone who can build for that price.
I bet there will be a nasty wake-up call later. Even if the basement were only €63k, that leaves €380k for the house. That’s about €2,200 per sqm of living space. You can only build a house for that currently if various additional costs come later.

P.S. Compare your price here...
https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/suchen-feedback-zu-190m2-efh-mit-keller.44266/

The price doesn’t scare me, but I am aware that many things I want are missing. A large cheap house provider has prices of €1750 per sqm here in the area, but they only have standard floor plans and do not do custom planning. We received an offer for additional services and the total is then €550,000. That still will not be enough because 1 or 2 things are still missing.

I have focused on 2 GCs, with one of them currently being my favorite. Unfortunately, the favorite is the one with the expensive basement. [...] I still find the general statement of €1750 to €2200 for a basement too much,

Two minus one GC is practically only one GC. The price is normal for a utility basement or WU (waterproof) is not unusually high. If you don't love someone – which is practically the normal state in business life – you also don't give them anything.

If the GC insists, we have 2 options. 1. Build a smaller basement and still be happy 2. Take the other GC

No, because for 2. there are reasons why the other is not the favorite; and 1. is easier said than done. A partial basement is often a Pyrrhic victory, the plot and soil conditions speak quite loudly about what is possible and sensible.

I want to tell you how it ended.

11ant was right with his statement that the partial cellar would have been a Pyrrhic victory. You must know that our plot lies somewhat lower than the access road (about 0.5m to 1.5m) and at the places where there is no partial cellar, it has to be backfilled. By the way, a partial cellar is hardly cheaper than a full cellar. I therefore informed the general contractor that we would like to build with him but cannot because we cannot afford the full cellar. That means we gave him a rejection. The general contractor didn’t want to let us go immediately, probably because there aren’t many interested parties at the moment. ;) But the general contractor insisted that we do a soil investigation and survey to give us a good price.

Afterwards, we created a floor plan with cellar and received an offer. Price including full cellar was €517,000. Thus, it was again within our budget and we decided on GU1.

I wish for you that it stays that way and that countless addendums do not come upon you.

I hope it stays that way and that countless additions do not come your way.

I had the same thoughts.. suddenly there are a few cubic meters more earth, etc.