Construction costs when building with architects. What does your experience say?

Hello everyone,

some time ago we decided to build. After talks with friends and colleagues who already have experience in this field, the whole thing should be done with an architect. Reason: neither of us are experts (and unfortunately we don’t have one in the close family) and we would like someone who advises us independently. We have not planned any own contributions.

We already have a plot in prospect, about 800 sqm for around 70k € (rural area, no slope, Baden-Württemberg). I actually thought that with the price of the plot there should be enough left for a nice little house. Yesterday we had a first meeting with an architect who was recommended to us. Although he already told us on the phone that building is expensive at the moment, during the talk he said that we should reckon with 420 € per cubic meter of enclosed space or about 2000 €/sqm.

Our plans included:

[*]180 sqm living space
[*]basement
[*]double garage

That makes about 500,000 € + additional costs (according to the architect about 16%). Kitchen and outdoor facilities are not included in this yet. With the plot that makes about 650,000 €.

Do these costs per sqm match your experiences? Honestly, I find that very expensive.

The alternative would be a Weberhaus (e.g. Generation 5.0 or something along those lines). That costs about 250,000 € with the living space; according to the catalog, mind you. Then 50,000 € for the basement would be added + 15,000 € for the double garage. That would put us at about 320,000 €. Plus this and that renovation measures – which I would roughly estimate at 50,000 €. That would make 370,000 € and thus 130,000 € below the price given by the architect. Or have I overlooked something crucial?

Many thanks in advance for your tips and information

Whether building with an architect, general contractor (GU/GÜ), or whoever... you can have bad luck with any of them. We are building with a GU and are bringing in our own expertise (construction supervision through building savings contract + contract review). Tip: Dive into the subject yourself as deeply as your own time and interest allow.

Whether building with an architect, general contractor/management or God knows what.. you can have bad luck with all of them.

That is clear to us.

Tip: Get deeply into the subject yourself, as much as your own time and enthusiasm allow

We are already working hard on that. My post was more about comparing the costs. A colleague recently told me that a prefabricated house is not significantly cheaper compared to building with an architect (provided a high-quality prefabricated house provider). According to the above calculation, I would end up with an architect-designed house at around €550,000. With a comparable Weberhaus at €370,000. Of course, the question arises whether a crucial item is still missing in the prefabricated house, or whether I actually come out that much cheaper...

Can one now compare it so easily at your stage?
Catalog price Weberhaus: what is included there? What (heating) technology is offered?
When you go to the website, they are currently making an offer for 3 additional features – that means: each item is added again to the catalog price – whether roller shutters, additional electric, colored windows, and so on. For that, one would have to read and study the construction specification to see what standard the (shell) house (also energy saving ordinance) will have later.

€2000/sqm from the architect is already calculated very generously

But honestly: 180sqm + basement (90sqm) + double garage is already very generously planned.
Most builders can come to terms with an affordable 150sqm without basement + carport and storage room, without having to talk about social housing

Can you really compare that so easily at your stage?

No, unfortunately not. I was more looking for a rough figure of what would basically be an option for us.

Weberhaus catalog price: what is included there? What (heating) technology is available in the offer

Well, I would like to know that too. You probably can’t avoid a personal conversation with the advisor. The price non-transparency is one point I don’t really like about prefab house providers.

€2000 /sqm from the architect is already calculated very generously

That’s what I hoped.

But honestly: 180sqm + basement (90sqm) + double garage is already planned very generously. Most builders can be satisfied with affordable 150sqm without basement + carport and storage room without having to talk about social housing

We just went into the race with the nice-to-have variant.

Thanks for the hints!

...

We just went into the race with the nice-to-have version

Well, you guys are funny. For me, nice-to-have is a Range Rover, but I am then not really surprised about the price starting at 70000 ...

However, one should always consider whether the nice-to-have really has the "want-to-have" aspect or the nice-to-have in another life: large areas also need heating and cleaning and also have a lot of walking surfaces in addition