Construction costs for a 180 sqm single-family house

I would say that negotiating also plays a role. We are below 1,500 euros/m² construction costs, but have a level of equipment that leans towards luxury*. If I hadn’t negotiated hard back then, we would have paid around 1,900.

*Luxury: expensive clinker bricks, the finest roof tiles and interior doors, floors completely of granite and marble, very good electrical equipment and windows, but only according to the Energy Saving Ordinance, without controlled residential ventilation, etc.

Aha, so the company has, for example, waived 72,000 EUR profit on a 180 sqm house. A company that gives a 72,000 EUR discount is so highly unprofessional that I wouldn’t build with them even after a 72,000 EUR discount...

Aha, the company has therefore waived EUR 72,000 profit on, for example, a 180 sqm house. A company that gives EUR 72,000 discount is so highly unprofessional that I wouldn't build with them even after EUR 72,000 discount...

Well, maybe that's how it is in Saxony

Good evening,

Well, maybe it's like that in Saxony

That's true .... for now

You, like many other users, repeatedly forget that construction prices vary greatly from state to state!

For example, you believe that you negotiated well. Meanwhile,

I would say that negotiating also plays a role. We are below €1,500/m² construction costs, but have equipment that tends toward luxury*. If I hadn’t negotiated hard back then, we would have paid around €1,900.

- negotiating down from €1,900.00/m² to €1,500.00/m² has little to do with skillful negotiation – in terms of comparing nationwide construction costs/m²; for 160 sqm – even with a half-hipped roof – €1,500.00/m² is quite normal in NI ... still.

I think you simply found a provider who thought he might as well try. Then he met you and remembered that a bird in the hand is better than a pigeon on the roof

Rhineland regards

Hello building expert,

Lower Saxony is large; our so-called "metropolitan region" Göttingen - Wolfsburg - Hannover, for example, cannot be compared to Emden. Apart from that, I am, of course, aware that there are regional differences beyond that. I thought it was clear that I only gave one example, and my comment regarding Saxony was actually meant to make that clear as well.

Basically, all regional GCs initially appeared like this to us:

1. Okay, we can build that for you, but we do not yet know the completion date. Actually, we are 120% booked, so be glad you are even getting a quote.
2. By the way, it looks the same with our competitors.

The offers were then all such that the construction would have been a real pleasure for the GC. After some back and forth, prices dropped significantly with all of them. To maintain credibility, it was then said, for example: oh yes, in this construction area we still have 2 more projects, so there is already 15% due to synergies...

Well, maybe that's how it is in Saxony

If you negotiated the company down by 60-70k EUR, then the offer before was simply unprofessional. And the offer afterward actually was too, because the whole company is unprofessional. Just as an example, the company from Lehrte has a profit margin of just over 6 percent. And that's a well-organized corporation with standardized processes. If a house costs 240,000 EUR with them, on average there's no more than 15,000 EUR profit included. If you negotiated a company down by 70,000 EUR, then there was 85,000 EUR profit in it before and now 15,000 EUR? Or are they now making over 50,000 EUR loss just for you?

Oh Grym,

did you even read and understand my last post? Have you ever bought a high-quality sofa in a furniture store? Do you know how much room for negotiation there is? The offers may not be legitimate by your definition. But they are best practice.