Construction cost per sqm, affordable vs. expensive providers, construction cost reduction

Actually, the chances of building now are not that bad if you have equity and do not have to finance everything.

With individual contracting combined with own work, I would build myself in BW for under 200k.

You also have to consider that those who have a house built must pay VAT. For construction costs over 400,000 euros, about 80,000 VAT is included. This money is gone and is not built into the house.

Of course, you also have to design your building style with cost savings in mind. You don’t necessarily have to make big compromises, but what is expensive simply has to be canceled. You can also be modest and upgrade something properly later, depending on your income situation.

Today, everything has to be top-notch immediately. There is certainly a certain mentality to be observed here.

Why must one move from a very good income situation into an uncertain future with exorbitantly high debt, in a geopolitically certainly uniquely uncertain situation? We are practically on the eve of a major war in Europe, in which Germany will certainly not be uninvolved. Especially in BW, the automotive industry is facing a turning point.

In the current situation, I would hold my powder dry. Possibly one really has to seek their fortune elsewhere.

Is there even a plot of land available?

Actually, the chances of building now are not that bad. If you have equity and don't have to finance everything.

With individual contracts combined with own labor, I myself would build in BW for under 200k.

You also have to consider that those who build have to pay value-added tax. For construction costs over 400,000 euros, about 80,000 VAT is included. This money is gone and is not built in.

Of course, you also have to design your building style for cost savings. You don't necessarily have to make big compromises here, but what is expensive just has to be canceled. You can also be a bit modest and upgrade something properly later, depending on your income situation.

Today, however, everything has to be top-notch immediately and right away. There is already a certain mentality observed here.

Why must one move from a very good income situation into an uncertain future with exorbitantly high debt, in a geopolitically certainly uniquely uncertain situation. We are practically on the eve of a great war in Europe, in which Germany will certainly not be uninvolved. Especially in BW, the automotive industry is facing a turning point.

In the current situation, I would keep my powder dry. Possibly one really has to seek salvation elsewhere.

Individual contracts = you may be able to have a lot of influence on the execution and affect the quality, but it’s not that much cheaper than building with a general contractor, experienced firsthand and confirmed multiple times by architect friends. For under 200k you can build a high-quality triple garage with a pit, but for God’s sake not a livable house (over 100m²) with 21st-century technology.
What do you want to properly upgrade later because it’s so expensive from the start? The windows? The bricks? The building services? Just finishing up with tiles and a toilet won’t get you to construction costs of only 200k, especially not in BW.

Now I have to recalculate with 3 beers and Saturday night.

We take small and solid craft companies and buy the materials ourselves.

Foundation slab with everything included: 20,000
Shell bungalow 150sqm: 20,000
Roof frame with ceiling and materials: 30,000
Roof: 20,000
Windows: 20,000
Electrical: 10,000
Heating and water: 10,000
Plasterer: 10,000

That leaves 60,000 for painters, flooring, sanitary and other amenities as desired. A photovoltaic system is also included.

Then you have a very solid and healthy house. 36cm walls with the best thermal insulation values with a healthy indoor climate and without costly ventilation systems.

As heating, a used oil furnace is sufficient for now. Oil is currently the cheapest heating method. It can be built so that later a heat pump can be easily installed. 1000 euros with oil tanks are completely sufficient. And it will still run for 20 years.

And always remember. "Impossible" does not exist.

A small cost example from practice For our house with a calculated roof area of 300 m², we need a roof frame for a hip roof. The roof construction is carried out in a standard manner, no visible roof frame is necessary, and special wind and snow loads do not have to be considered. [TH]Item[/TH] [TH]Price[/TH]

Material costs construction timber, fastening materials	4,300 EUR
Craftsmen costs	8,800 EUR
Total costs	13,100 EUR
that corresponds to	87.33 EUR per m²

My estimated total costs of 30,000 euros are therefore very high. This still includes the ceiling construction and, for example, the battens, insulation and so on. And now let everyone compare with the quotation from the general contractor.

I also think that doing it yourself is the magic word. We did that too, every evening after work, every weekend, every vacation for over 2.5 years. And in bed at night, watching tutorials, writing material lists, etc. It was doable, you just have to create the right environment for yourself. I am not a craftsman (was), but you can really learn a lot. I helped out in almost every trade, had a lot shown to me, and basically wore work pants on the construction site. Now I can lay bricks, grout, lay floor slabs and rebar, pour ring beams, build drains, do drywall, fill, wallpaper, paint, seal, build stoves, electrical work, insulate, plaster, kitchen construction, lay parquet, pave, operate cranes, wheel loaders and excavators, and much more. That will save us a lot of money in the future as well. The craftsmen who were here respected that and usually liked to teach me. Plus, you get good tips for the following trades. The "door opener" was a self-employed bricklayer with whom I raised the shell, who worked out a schedule with us, who knew where to best buy building materials, and who I could call next. There are many excuses, but if you really want to, you can. We now have a beautiful, large house with lots of extras for about 1400€ per square meter.