Building a house instead of buying a condominium

Just a few rules of thumb for planning: The bungalow requires more land than a 1.5 or 2-story house. Where land costs a fortune, it is therefore uneconomical. Where land is affordable, it is the first choice. The bungalow can be designed rectangular or as an angle. The angled version is architecturally more appealing but more expensive due to the elaborate roof work. The bungalow is low-maintenance; all exterior painting etc. can be done without scaffolding. Otherwise, it is inexpensive to build, as the concrete ceiling is omitted. The larger foundation slab is not that much more expensive. When planning it, pay attention to simple 110 mm window elements, this saves costs; consider 98 mm interior doors for old age; do not make the utility room too small; in the basement-free bungalow, it houses not only building services but also the washing machine, possibly dryer, chest freezer, possibly a utility sink for mop bucket and such. For the living area you aim for of around 100 to 110 sqm, you need a foundation slab area of 130-140 sqm. If you plan it properly, it doesn’t have to cost a fortune outside of SH and MVP either. Karsten

The bungalow can be designed rectangular or as an angle. The angled variant is architecturally more appealing but more expensive due to the elaborate roofing work.

This applies especially to the more popular hip roof form (a gable roof always looks asymmetrical with the classic L-angle, it works with the rarer T-angle), and this again depends particularly on the lengths and widths of the legs.

If you do not want the house shape to be reflected 1:1 onto the roof – for example, a ridge despite a square floor plan (classically a hip roof instead of a pyramid roof) – then you need a tolerance in the roof pitch.

If the planner shies away from these consequences, he can only imagine the angled bungalow in one floor plan type, namely the square with a notched quarter – but then the architectural finesse is almost lost. The same applies if one "chooses" a flat roof only because of the geometric complexity.

How about the following option?

Build a house with a basement (for washing machine, heating, etc.) and an expandable attic. The parents then move in downstairs and you upstairs. If a child comes along, you can expand the attic accordingly. The house where the parents currently live will be rented out and the parents give you the rent or a part of it. This way you could also pay off the house faster.