Cost for an offer

2019-06-18 12:31:24

Hi,
dear apokolok,
I don’t think it will be a Frankenstein house, the problem is simply that "standard designs" don’t fit due to restrictions resulting from an illness. We have to build the ground floor completely wheelchair accessible, the staircase must be as simple as possible for a possible stairlift, etc.

Of course, there is already a plot of land, at least reserved, because I want to have an overall overview before I buy it.
Before the question about finances comes up: that is also settled, the bank has given us the green light up to amount X (our personal limit, the bank would offer more). Before I talk to construction companies, the finances etc. are settled.

My concerns are simply whether it is common practice that such a service costs money or if this is rather the exception. I find 500€ okay for a planner to come to my home, create something based on our draft, and present it to us. But if this is not common practice, I would like to question it before I fall into any traps.

2019-06-18 12:32:37

sorry, also deleted the most important part:
take the 2000/sqm and add 10% for accessibility on top.
The ancillary construction costs make everything flexible anyway (earthworks and load-bearing capacity)

2019-06-18 12:33:56

My concerns are simply about whether it is common practice that such a service costs money

Yes.

2019-06-18 12:48:31

That this service costs money, I find quite normal, and 500 euros not exaggerated either. What I would rather ask is whether you already need this at the current stage? To make an offer, a general contractor doesn’t need to know where the kitchen will be in the future. They rather need to know how many square meters there should be, what kind of roof is desired, whether there will be a basement or not, what the terrain is like – things like that. The rest is in the construction service description, and you can decide yourselves what you want to have additionally calculated as special requests.

So if it benefits you to have someone create a plan with you to understand what space requirements you have, go ahead. Otherwise, you can also use a floor plan from the internet that comes close to your wishes if it’s only about the price.

2019-06-18 22:33:03

It sounds like my case.
Had a nice conversation with the advisor. At the end of the conversation, the advisor said that he doesn’t have a suitable plan for me. He has to plan it himself. I will be credited the 500€ if I build with him later.
I declined his offer (because of the procedure). He still asked why.
I went to another advisor (also at the same company but about 1 hour travel time from me).
I signed the contract 10 days ago. There is indeed a model house according to our ideas (with minimal changes).
We had such advisors (sales representatives - self-employed), who came to us three times in the evening. And in my opinion, all that is part of the advance work for building a house.
I don’t pay as long as I don’t know what I will get and whether I will be satisfied with the plan. 500€ for a house is not much, though.

Morning,
we are currently checking out 2-3 general contractors for an offer for a turnkey house.
I myself drew a "desired floor plan," the first general contractor said he would make a house sketch and, based on that, an offer without costs for us.

Yesterday we had a conversation with another general contractor that we really liked, very informative, he looked at the floor plan and said right away that you can work with it but various small things (e.g. shower) need to be changed so that the ground floor is wheelchair accessible (our wish). Now comes the part that makes our stomachs grumble a little.

He said for a proper offer where both sides don’t get any surprises you need a proper plan so that you know how thick which wall needs to be, how big which windows are, etc. This would be done by a house planner who works with the company. However, this would run independently of the construction company and would cost us about 500€.

Everything sounded completely logical and also okay, but you hear a lot of bad things and have a weird feeling about it.
My question is basically whether this is normal or the exception. The general contractor builds various houses here and has a good reputation.
I just don’t want to fall into some trap that becomes super expensive. Basically, I think it’s okay, who likes to work for free. The thing is, apparently not every general contractor charges money for this (somewhere in the invoice in advance it will be included).

Best regards, me

2019-06-19 15:51:31

We recently also had the case that a requested company charges €500 for an offer. We decided to exclude this company. There are enough other good construction companies that consider this service as part of their offering and we rely on them. When I go to the car dealership to configure a car that I might possibly order, the dealership does not charge a flat fee either.

Cost for an offer

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