Costs of garden landscaping and outdoor facilities at a single-family house on a slope

if we had known the costs for the still missing outdoor facilities were in this range, we might have been able to negotiate the purchase price even better.

....you don’t know that and in hindsight I wouldn’t want to think about it so much: In the end, someone else would have bought it from you and you probably would have regretted it permanently. The often quoted best, once-in-a-lifetime great price is achieved by almost no one; if you like the house, then you did it right. With pictures, it would be much easier for the participants here to assess. I also wonder what kind of house you bought. I remember a few TOP properties here that, due to their overall situation and also the intentions of the builders, require a very large sum for the outdoor facilities. But I also remember the majority of "ordinary" houses, and by that I don’t mean they are ugly or less tasteful. There were repeatedly projects here that deliberately aimed for lower costs for the outdoor facilities and still achieved extraordinarily beautiful results. I’d say this: The price of the outdoor facility would have to stand in a certain relation to the value of the house for me; for a 600k house I wouldn’t want to spend 200k on outdoor facilities AND especially I would first outfit the interior of the house really optimally, just as it makes my life highly comfortable. If I then still have 200k left and it doesn’t burden me, then I’d let the garden landscaper come and really make everything fancy. I believe that with your plan you may have somewhat tripped yourself up in terms of costs; that’s no problem and happens to everyone. Maybe you initially have the truly necessary things built (unfortunately we don’t know exactly what that is), so the access way, stairs, entrance, and you work out the other things little by little in small projects, as has already been mentioned here. I have experienced that when I completely let go of my own determinations, sometimes one comes up with great, individual and especially cheap ideas that you don’t see just anywhere else.

One really has to strongly distinguish here between a slope and a normal plot? For 200k I can have a small paradise with a pool built on a relatively normal plot, but on an extreme slope it might only be enough for paths and retaining walls?

Retaining is already expensive on a small scale, if you have to retain a lot, it becomes really expensive. As already said, for relatively simple gardens here—paving a little driveway, a few curbstones, putting up a normal fence, etc.—people are talking about prices between 50-80k for relatively flat plots, maybe 1m height difference across the plot or to the neighbor.

200k may be partly due to the somewhat exquisite wishes here. But I hardly believe you can get it done with simple materials for less than 150k. And as mentioned... especially on a slope it’s just not that easy with "do it step by step." I’ve already explained why. On top of that, the slope must be secured as quickly as possible in case of heavy rain.

Furthermore, you shouldn’t underestimate how much strength the slope costs you. Pushing a full wheelbarrow or carrying a sack of concrete is already exhausting on a flat plot, especially after a few hours. If you add the slope you have to fight against... that really takes a toll on your stamina. You already achieve little by hand alone, on a slope even less.

My personal assessment after 2 years of own work inside and outside... not doable. If you just take the retaining wall behind the house... 23m, that means about 4m³ of gravel and 4m³ of concrete (23m of palisades, 40cm wide, 40cm gravel, 40cm concrete). How is a DIYer supposed to get that up the slope without machines? That’s about 70, 80 wheelbarrows each time. Forget it ;) Unless you have friends/acquaintances who are willing to help you every weekend for years. But that’s rare.

Experience with landscaping contractors from the job. 500€ per sqm garden for simple outdoor facilities up to 1,000€ for “normal” ones. These are then finished outdoor facilities as you want them. High-quality materials, retaining walls, oversized terraces, large hedges/fences/flowers, etc. are then significantly more expensive. In this respect, I stick to it - from a distance - as there are no cheap offers. 20k more or less I consider almost the same price.

Are you off by the decimal point? I have a good 300m² garden, which according to your calculation would be 300,000 EUR for a normal garden by the landscape gardener? Is your Sparkasse by the [Starnberger See]? That would also explain quite a few other things...

Experience with landscaping contractors from the job. 500€ per sqm garden for simple outdoor areas up to 1,000€ for "normal" ones. These are then finished outdoor areas as you would want them. High-quality materials, edge restraints, oversized terraces, large hedges/fences/flowers etc. then become significantly more expensive. In this respect, I stick to it - from a distance - as there are no cheap offers. 20k more or less I consider roughly price-equivalent.

Do you also handle zeros so casually at your bank?...

Slope location is only very expensive when people want to "optimally use" every square meter of their property and therefore reshape the slope. The smaller the property, the more owners cling to every square meter. The more someone wants to impose "their will" on their slope property, the more expensive it becomes. Anyone dreaming of a central lawn and symmetrical bed arrangement with a clean look should never buy a steeper slope property.