Build a house, buy a house, or...?

From where to where does the terrain slope downward? Where is the valley? Plan the house with the floors accordingly.

The section of the map above is oriented to the north. The property slopes slightly towards the northwest. We are now waiting for the first drawing and further details from "Fertigbauer 2" and have an appointment with a solid construction company at the beginning of March. Then I can report more. Regarding the basement, I will seek another opinion, but I am basically done with it. It is also not feasible cost-wise, and then I prefer to invest a bit more in the floor area of the house or the equipment or the outdoor area or, or, or. I also found a map with contour lines drawn in. About 2 of these lines run across our property from southeast to northwest. So about 2 meters of slope? On my parents' property, there are a little more than 3 contour lines. As I said, they built with a finished basement, which is completely out of the ground on the southwest side. That is exactly what we do not want, however; we want to go directly from the living room/dining room onto the terrace and the lawn, which from my point of view also argues against a basement. This terrace/lawn should then naturally have little slope. That would also be a point I would like to discuss with an earthworks contractor at some point, to what extent such a surface can be leveled.

Regarding the basement, I will get another opinion, but I'm practically done with it. It is also not feasible in terms of costs, and I would rather invest a bit more in the floor area of the house or the fittings or the outdoor area or, or, or

Very sensible and good decision!

have you already bought your plot by now? I now have an offer from a surveyor that covers everything related to surveying that occurs during the construction phase. This offer is about 3000 euros, just slightly below. I read something about approximately 2000 euros for surveying in the forum when listing the incidental construction costs? Is 3000 too much? Can anyone with experience say something about the price? The following is included: Location and elevation plan approx. 550 euros Location plan for the building application approx. 260 euros Rough staking out approx. 480 euros Fine staking out approx. 640 euros Official building survey approx. 990 euros I wonder if I should get another offer to compare. The problem is, we already live in RLP, the next surveyor is in Siegen, thus NRW. But that probably doesn’t matter at all? The offer we have was organized by a prefabricated house provider.

Surveying is a matter for the federal states. Especially sovereign surveying. In other words, you can have the staking done by any surveyor. Sovereign surveying can only be done by the office or a publicly appointed surveyor ([öffentlich bestellter Vermessungsingenieur]). There is also a fixed fee rate for these surveys which is not negotiable.

Rhineland-Palatinate and the nearest surveyor is in NRW? Every village (exaggeratedly speaking) has its own surveyor. They must have certain qualifications and then the price is the same for everyone. Of course, there are also those who offer below standard, but I have not met one yet... Notaries and surveyors value the fee schedule. An architect according to HOAI is, in my opinion, overpriced, or it can be done differently.