Construction company wanted in the Stuttgart metropolitan area!

PS: There will be another update on Hauser, U-Haus, and AWS at the end of the week.

Hello , I’m really curious about how it went with the two companies? Or did the appointments fall victim to the Corona issue?

Thanks Markuss85 for the inquiry. Despite the current Corona situation, here is an update on the selection. Luckily, we managed to complete all the appointments before the situation escalated.

Prefabricated House / Timber Construction

[*]Hanse Haus -> Offer received | The base price was relatively good, but a few things were forgotten. Therefore, it will probably be more expensive. Unfortunately, the listing is very simple, but the relevant included points are listed separately. Afterwards, we felt somewhat left alone. This can be seen positively in the sense that they didn’t pressure us, but the real willingness to sell somehow seemed to be lacking.
[*]Bien-Zenker -> Offer received | Unfortunately, the offer missed our expectations and the conversation completely. Some points were added that we never talked about and do not need. Other points were not considered. The listing is unfortunately very opaque and plain.
[*]Bittermann & Weiss -> Offer received | A lot of effort was made here. The offer already includes a draft of the plans. The listing is very detailed, each item is listed individually and marked with a price. So you can see exactly where you might save or what, for example, an additional roof window would cost. It was also the most complete offer including various extras and design elements. For this reason, the price was higher than the other offers, which is understandable due to the additional services. I really have to praise B&W here, so far the best prefabricated house provider.
[*]Talbau Haus -> excluded (more on this in a few days)
[*]Fertighaus Weiss -> excluded
[*]Schwabenhaus -> excluded/terminated
[*]Albert Haus -> put on hold

Solid House Providers

[*]Haus der Handwerker -> Offer received | not pursued further yet. The listing is detailed, but a few points are still missing. Price is in the mid-range.
[*]Hauser Massivbau -> Appointment took place | The conversation was very familiar and open. I also had the feeling that they are very transparent and share experiences from other projects. A sample plan was drawn together and the individual floors were discussed (what needs to go in, etc.). At Hauser, you could also do a kind of "mini selection" because the most important products (in the standard) are set up there. From wall construction, through sanitary fittings to floors and tiles. This gives you a sense of their standard. At the end, they promised to create and send an offer. The only major negative point is accessibility (even before Corona). If you write an email, you get no response or reaction. If you call, the request is taken by the receptionist and a callback is promised which never happens. I could understand this currently, but it was already like this when setting up the appointment before the Corona issue. We are currently waiting for the offer.
[*]Köhler Wildberg -> Appointment took place | very positive contact and a very pleasant conversation. Various reference houses and plans were shown to us and then our building project was discussed. In the end, a rough price range and the next steps were outlined. The house is planned with an architect and then the trades are awarded as a general contractor. We felt that Köhler does "honest" work and will try to find a solution in case of problems. This was not one of those "I have to sell a house now" appointments, but an honest and open conversation. However, we missed a bit the feeling about the quality of the "standard" at Köhler. That is, what is included in the standard and if it suits our taste. Also, the price range was estimated rather roughly, so we actually can’t make any statement about the later price. Of course, this can only be determined in detail after the architect's planning, but a rough price range including our special requests would not be bad. This should possibly be addressed again at a follow-up appointment.
[*]AWS -> Appointment took place | also here very nice contact, who has been in the construction business for a long time and speaks openly about the topics. I also had the feeling here that they don’t necessarily have to sell and that you won’t be taken advantage of, but that honest work is being done. They also have well-known customers from the region – hopefully this doesn’t reflect in the price. After some info about AWS, the house was gone through floor by floor and the most important points noted. Then you could get some impressions of the different equipment (sanitary, doors, etc.) based on catalogs. The statement was that their long experience has been used to already integrate a lot into the standard. We are curious about the offer and the price.
[*]U-Haus -> Appointment took place | also a nice conversation here. They talked less about previous projects and U-Haus itself, but went straight to the development plan and the floor plan. Many questions were answered and efforts were made. Then we went through all rooms and discussed equipment and wishes so an offer can be created. In retrospect, I am missing a feeling of the style and type of U-Haus. Of course, I also looked at the model house, but compared to other providers, you somehow learn little. Extremely positive, however, is the willingness to make an effort. They gave feedback on some points the very next day and got back to us a few days later with a progress update and proactively checked something. No provider has been so dedicated so far. We are now waiting for the offer and the price.
[*]FERMO -> excluded - clearly too expensive
[*]Härtter Renningen -> rejection from Härtter due to capacity

A brief general update:
With another provider, after an initial consultation, we were made to understand that they had no interest in the construction project. Even after several phone calls, the response was very dismissive and the call was even ended. We neither had special requirements nor were we unfriendly. We are currently clarifying how to proceed, whether possibly another sales consultant will take over or if we will completely write off the company. Once the issue is resolved, I will also provide an update on which company it was.

As promised, here is an update on this as well.

There was another conversation with the sales consultant, which went just as "well" as described above. I don't want to go into details here.

We have therefore now decided not to continue with the provider. It was Bien-Zenker.

Wow, thank you very much for the detailed documentation with the different companies. Something like this would have been worth its weight in gold for us 1.5 years ago

Do you have a concrete schedule for when you want/have to make a decision? All offers should actually be available soon. For us, it was sometimes difficult towards the end because individual providers had to be "kept waiting" for weeks, while others had not yet submitted an offer at all

Do you have a specific schedule by when you want/need to make a decision? All offers should actually be available soon. Towards the end, it was partly difficult for us because some providers had to be "kept waiting" for weeks, while others had not yet submitted an offer at all

A request for proposal should basically first of all contain two "deadlines" (i.e. an "invisible" date – which is only noted in one’s own calendar to follow up – and a visible date "please respond by ..."), and secondly the note, "please send us a rejection if you are not interested or cannot participate for time reasons." Also basically, I recommend those requesting offers to indicate the size of the participant group: if someone does not know whether they are competing against two or ten others, they will probably not make the effort to calculate. It also significantly increases the response rate to address those requested personally. I professionally request offers: if a bidder is dealing with me for the first time, I always call them, tell them something about myself, and explain my procedure. Writing offers takes time; you don't do it blindly for a pig in a poke.

Additionally, it should also be mentioned that an experienced provider can categorize the candidates very quickly. In other words, he knows who shoots with a shotgun and who takes deliberate shots. Accordingly, his motivation in submitting an offer, unsolicited offer, or no offer may also be affected.