Bavaria: 2 single-family houses or a duplex?

Hello everyone,

we are planning to buy and share a plot of land with family members in the Munich surrounding area. Originally, we planned to build 2 single-family houses, but we are now considering building a semi-detached house instead to save costs.

Plot:

[*]flat
[*]rectangular (2 single-family houses would fit side by side on the street side)

Single-family house / semi-detached house 1:
- 170 m²
- 2.5 floors
- with basement

Single-family house / semi-detached house 2:
- 120 m²
- basement optional
- 2-2.5 floors

We would build a prefabricated house with hopefully not too many change requests.

My questions:

[*]What total costs should we expect for 2 single-family houses? For single-family house 1, we estimated about 700K EUR including everything, for single-family house 2 about 500K EUR. Are these realistic assumptions?
[*]What would a semi-detached house with the same area approximately cost us?
[*]If the price estimates are not really feasible with the information provided: How large is the relative difference roughly between 2 single-family houses vs. a semi-detached house?

So if one has a basement and the other doesn’t, it will definitely be more expensive to build them attached than with a boundary distance. Generally, forget the idea that a semi-detached house is somehow a two-family house. These are two single-family houses that are simply built attached on one side. Savings are only achieved through synergy effects if you use the same general contractor (but not always). Otherwise, a semi-detached house as an overall project is usually only cheaper because you can squeeze it onto a smaller plot. And then there are the planning constraints. Because of the party wall, you don’t need exterior plaster there; because there are no windows there, you automatically have a setback area and thus possibly less overall space requirement. But that only amounts to a few thousand euros. There are still good reasons to do it (more space on the plot for garden and outbuildings) but not because you think you will save a lot of money if the plot is already fixed. Unless you can separate and sell off a piece of land that way, which can of course have a financial impact depending on the area. The budget can definitely be sufficient, but that depends too much on the requirements and cannot truly be answered clearly with the information available.

Thank you very much, that already helps me a lot. If it is going to be 2 single-family houses, does it make sense to build them simultaneously? Or is it maybe even better to build them one after the other to learn from potential mistakes...

Simultaneously:

- Crane for both
- Deliveries for both (Saddle costs the same whether full or only 2 pallets)
- Concrete pump (if not with bomb) for both
- Excavator for earthworks - only one loading/unloading

Can be continued arbitrarily

How large is the plot? If divided for 2 single-family houses, will there still be 2 reasonable plots left, or is it better to leave out the 6m distance strips in between?

While I am working on an answer for you, please quickly use the time while we are still on page 1 of your thread to fill out the #questionnaire and preferably also attach a cadastral excerpt of the property!