Building - From the Beginning

Good day,

I am glad to have found this forum! I have already become a lot smarter here :)

I am still quite young but very talented in manual skills, and nowadays everyone worries about retirement provision and in my opinion the best retirement provision is to build a house, which has always been my dream.

I would choose a solid construction method where Styrofoam blocks are assembled and the interior is filled with concrete. And I want to do as much as possible myself with support from friends and family.

I live in the Stuttgart area and would like to build nearby because my workplace is here at the railway. Unfortunately, I don’t know much yet about what I have to consider at the beginning or what will come up, so I have a few questions that I hope you can help me with.

Namely, how should I start?

How do I find a suitable plot? - Real estate agent or not? What does a building plot cost approximately?

Who has to plan and design the house? - An architect? - What will that cost approximately?

Where do I have to submit the application for the building permit? What costs come with this?

What costs come together at the notary, 1.5% from the land or from the total object?

What is the cost of pure construction excluding interior finishing or material costs, if I do most of it myself?

Have I perhaps forgotten something that I need to consider?

I am calculating with a total price of about €250,000; is that realistic?

Best regards

M. W.

aa) Did I maybe forget something I need to consider? bb) I am calculating with a total price of around €250,000, is that realistic?

aa) plenty bb) in short: it could be tight?

For building land at (150 euros, the scale is open upwards) you will spend around 60,000 euros for roughly 400 m2 + calculate another 15% surcharge. For building applications, planning costs, utilities (water, sewer, electricity, telephone, gas) another five-figure amount starting with a 2 or 4.

For the raw cellar, you should calculate another 30 - 40 thousand euros, depending on size (10 x 10 m standard) or you can skip the cellar (which you will regret later) and calculate around 10,000 euros.

Masonry + ground floor support + concrete ceiling upper floor shell + knee wall + roof, completely will easily cost another 55 - 70,000. Then you still have no windows, no doors, no screed, plaster, etc.

The raw shell including the plot will surely cost you around 190,000 euros? But then you still don't have a turnkey hut.

Personally, I wouldn’t build new anymore.

A house is no longer an investment today. Running around with building authorities, approvals, utility connection costs... a lot of running around and you burn an enormous amount of money in the first 30 years. After that, the stuff needs renovation again and in retirement, it starts all over again?

Better buy a well-maintained 30 or 40-year-old complete house and renovate it. Then you have a tinkering project until retirement and burn less money than with this whole new house mania.

So, how should I start?

With finding the budget. How much can you afford? How many euros can the project spend monthly for the next X years?
The budget is derived from:

Monthly income (please do not include 13th salary, Christmas bonus or possible tax refunds here)
Then subtract (do not deduct rent + utilities):
- Living expenses
- Temptations
- Car (insurance, tax, reserves)
- all other statements
- 10% buffer
= Total monthly budget for the house construction / purchase project

From what is left, deduct at least 200€, preferably 300€ again. These should already be set aside as reserves (at some point a new heating system, new plaster, new roof - if you don't want to take out a loan for that).

Then also deduct the housing ancillary costs (these may be higher than your current ones, as the insurances / taxes will only be your responsibility from then on).

What remains is the monthly budget for interest + repayment to the bank.
Based on this, it can be determined quite quickly how much money one can / should get from the bank. Please repay at least 2% if you want to be debt-free in this life.
A rough rule of thumb is about 500€ monthly burden per 100,000€ loan.

Reached an unsatisfactory result at this point? Please do not start to fudge the numbers.
Not yet shocked by what all lies ahead? Then one should get advice. How much house / building land can you get for the money? For us, such contact points were model house parks / forums like this one. There you get a rough idea of prices. What size is possible, is the money enough. What other costs will come up? etc.

How do I find a suitable plot? - Real estate agent or not? What does a building plot approximately cost?

Just keep your eyes open. It doesn't have to be through an agent. Are there or are new development areas emerging that appeal to you / that you know of? Ask the city, read newspapers, search online.
The cost of the plot mainly depends on 2 factors:
1. Cost per m²
2. How many m² you finally buy / want to buy.

Additionally: real estate transfer tax (Ba-Wü: 5%), possible (further) development costs (depending on the plot and development progress), if applicable agent fee.

Who has to plan and design the house? - An architect? - What will that cost approximately?

Always (yes, even large prefab house providers have architects - even if you don't always see them). Then the structural engineer reviews it.

Where do I have to submit the application for the building permit? What costs are added here?

At the responsible building authority.

What costs come together at the notary, the 1.5% of the plot or the entire object?

Every contract that must be notarized by a notary.

What does the pure construction cost without interior work or material costs cost, if I do most of it myself?

Without knowing the desired size of the house. With or without basement and many other details, it can be anything from a garden shed to a castle.

Have I perhaps forgotten something I need to consider?

Start at the beginning above all :)

I am calculating with a total price of about 250,000€. Is that realistic?

Is the question really about a sum you calculated? So is there still room upwards, or do you flinch if now 340,000€ come together?
(* number just thrown into the room)

Or is that already the budget you set and everything has to fit into this now?

Otherwise see question/answer: "What does the pure construction cost without interior work or material costs cost, if I do most of it myself?"

Hello WolfM,

I think first you should be clear about how and what you want to build. Roughly speaking, that is enough so that you can find the right plot of land for your wishes. However, in the Stuttgart area, the cost per square meter is usually quite high. The closer to a city, the more expensive. I live in the Pforzheim area and even here we already have square meter prices of over 200 euros. So you should calculate at least 80,000 euros just for a 400m² plot plus 5% land transfer tax plus notary costs (about 500-1000 euros).

But before you buy or do anything, you should be sure that you can finance the entire construction + land.

Regards Earl