Developer or architect - costs

Hello everyone
I wanted to get in touch again and share my experiences with you.

That's so kind of you to come back after such a long time and dig up your thread to update us. Maybe you'd also like to do that in picture form? - there is a special collection thread for that:

Thank you for this report! 15 months of construction time is certainly quite a lot. How exactly were your works defined for the bids? I currently can't imagine how I could design a tender. Therefore, I would probably leave it to the architect. Did you get through the construction phase without defects?

There wasn’t much involved in the tenders. They weren’t really tenders in that sense. We looked for companies and got offers. Of course, you have to know what you want and inform yourself. Here in the Bavarian Forest, most people build in this way. We did have one or two defects. But everything could be clarified, everything was reworked. What more can an architect do there? In the end, the 100,000 we saved are definitely worth it. Or rather, the extra performance we got. With a general contractor, we would have had a standard house with the cheapest fittings!! Okay, 15 months is long. But compared to the savings, it quickly puts things into perspective. Moving into a damp house is not the point either. A couple of friends built a year before us, also got offers themselves and wanted to build with a general contractor before. At first, I didn’t believe that they saved 100,000… The advantage was also that with every company we could negotiate on the offers. Between 3-7% was common. Architects and general contractors keep that to themselves. As I said, most people here build like this, and so far I don’t know anyone who hasn’t managed it.

What I also remember is that our floor layer worked for Town & Country. He told us that the standard floor sold to people for 25€ per sqm is the one he sells for 7€ per sqm. He didn’t want to be part of this scam anymore.. The standard floors would have also cost us 25 euros. They were not exactly high quality... I think that many people who give advice in such forums also have a personal interest in it

What I just thought of, our floor installer worked for Town & Country. He told us that the standard floor sold to people for 25€ per sqm is the one he sells for 7€ per sqm. He didn’t want to be part of this scam anymore... 25 euros would have been the price for the standard floors with us as well. They were not exactly high quality... I think that many who give tips in such forums also have a personal interest

I’ve mentioned that here before, but it got lost in the general noise. Many don’t seem to realize that the 25€ per sqm with a general contractor does not correspond to the value when contracted out individually.

15 months of construction time is of course quite a lot.

"A lot" is a major deviation from the plan. Whoever plans 15 months and takes 15 months has done everything right. Depending on the terrain and the start of construction, it simply takes a little longer.

and : Thanks for the report on how it turned out.

There wasn't much in the tenders. In that sense, they weren't really tenders. We looked for companies and got offers. Of course, you have to know what you want and inform yourself.

You are welcome to elaborate on this here – unfortunately, the prevailing view here is that in terms of the number of bidders involved, the "more is more" approach leads to the best abundance of offers.