Morning,
we have calculated something similar. With a price per sqm of about €1500 you are still doing "well".. We have already had a few talks with some construction companies in Saxony-Anhalt and currently we are between €1600 and €1800 / sqm.. I would rather calculate with a slightly higher price per sqm as a buffer, maybe. Do you already have a construction company? You are from Saxony-Anhalt after all. Unfortunately, I can’t send you a private message.. Sorry if I’m spamming here.. May I ask which general contractor you decided on?!
Thanks
Regards
Steven
Heinz von Heiden. We were with other construction companies before, but one thing made a significant difference with our Heinz von Heiden advisor: The others were salespeople, she is an engineer herself and actually advises instead of primarily aiming for contract closure. Another big plus: She is currently having a house built in the same construction region.
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What kind of features do you want that drive the price?
The quoted price is not our base price but the price including some extras we have already added. Others are still pending:
Already included in the price are anthracite windows + front door on the outside. We might still adjust the front door model during the selection phase.
We also need to look again at the window shapes. I quite like floor-to-ceiling windows in the living room. I would also give up one of two patio doors there. At the moment I still lack a feeling for the price. Currently there are two windows 126 cm x 138 cm and two patio doors installed.
Air-water heat pump with underfloor heating throughout the building as well as central controlled living space ventilation with heat recovery. Here we would probably consider a summer bypass during selection as well as the outdoor unit of the heat pump in anthracite.
Tile laying in the bathroom is included up to wall tile height of 2 meters, but tile edge length 12 - 35 cm per tile. I would like to upgrade the laying to 30 x 60.
Outdoor water tap, that caught my eye in the construction service description and will still be a topic.
Regarding electrics we are adjusting the number of sockets in the living room and adding LAN cabling in living room, office, and children’s room. So far we have always had TV signal via internet connection, we are not really “live” TV watchers but almost exclusively on demand... Still, does anyone have an idea what a satellite system costs? I hardly have any experience with that.
Otherwise, interior doors and the front door mentioned above are topics during the selection process.
With what money? The missing splash protection around the house constantly dirties your house base if nothing is done immediately.
It’s not like outside the financing we are putting ourselves at a financial zero point. Splash protection is still a good idea.
Make sure the stove and washing machine are protected. Also flush-mount drain for the washing machine. Two-way switch in the bedroom.
Personally, I think a two-way switch in the bedroom is unnecessary. A simple switch at the door and decorative bedside lamps are enough.
Flush-mount drain for the washing machine… That might have aesthetic advantages, but are there others I don’t see? The look in the house connection room is mostly irrelevant to me. In fact, if the drain ever needs replacing, I find a surface-mounted solution more practical.
If 175 x 70 is enough for you, ok. If you like the standard, ok.
Think about mirror and lighting, plus a washbasin cabinet or something. Most also want the toilet paper holder from the same series as the towel holders.
That, as always, is a question of habit, need, taste, budget, and what is already in stock and can be used. For example, in our current apartment it’s a simple DIY store toilet paper holder in chrome look, stuck onto the tile with Pattex. That looks perfect. And if it copes well with the dismantling, then I don’t have to create a new cost item for it and just buy some towel holder that fits the bathroom concept. Mirror and lighting will come with it or be newly purchased after all. For that, I have a furnishing buffer.
Either way: There are also practical solutions for many things without having to touch big budgets.
Remember that your needs change too. In 5 years you will have more electrical devices again than when moving in. In the kitchen very annoying. But also with small lamps you leave on at dusk for burglary protection.
Yes, more devices, but especially in the kitchen they are not permanently in use or have to occupy sockets permanently. The surfaces taken up by bread makers, blenders, dough machines, whatever, are simply too precious for me. They go cleaned into the cupboard after use (rather blender and dough machine). Others like coffee machine or convection oven certainly stay outside permanently. But what else should be added there?
I understand your arguments. I don’t want to rule out that there might someday be a point at which I’d appreciate one more socket. But there are also other practical solutions. And especially if the planned budget is a bit tight or deliberately kept tight during construction, I don’t find that objectionable.
I also find that exaggerated. Usually (efficiently) built houses don’t allow other options to furnish differently anyway. So you don’t need a battery of sockets everywhere like you do for TV and console.
Actually, from our floor plan I see hardly any options for our living wall to be in another position, for example. One wall is interrupted by a door and an open kitchen. Two more by windows or patio doors. Within the fourth wall, you could still shift it, but then the large sofa would have to be closer to the door to watch straight ahead… The furnishing is actually quite fixed already.
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I consider no outdoor facilities at all to be a no-go. I myself come from a village, from cheap corners, and plots from the 90s, partly even older, that still have nothing. Money was once there through the loan and then that was it. A few concrete slabs laid in front of the door and that’s called a terrace.
There’s no need to talk about resale value, 30 years of use and such a property feels ready for demolition. Young people then prefer to build new.
The value of your own house also depends on the surroundings and I think everyone can go to a village of their choice and see streets that were never really completed.
To break it down: So far I have found nothing objectionable about concrete slabs. Although not my taste, I never saw that as a flaw. And apparently others don’t either.
Therefore, I don’t disagree with you: Every builder then has to decide how economical, cheap, expensive, or extravagant they want to build and experience their home. But as I said: Habit, need, taste, budget are so different that there will probably never be a consensus on everything and for everyone. And that makes some streets not only demolition-ready but also interesting again because of their variety.