Developer or architect - costs

I had imagined coordinating the trades to be much more difficult. To be honest, there was nothing to it!

That is a very interesting point. Especially because of the (complicated?) coordination, many advise against self-contracting. You had written in your original post from 2016 that you lacked the experience for architect and individual contracting, and therefore tended more towards a general contractor. When and above all why did the "enlightenment" come to do the planning with an architect after all, and to contract the trades yourselves?

That is a very interesting point. Especially because of the (complicated?) coordination, many advise against self-awarding. You wrote in your original post from 2016 that you lacked experience with architect and individual contracting, and therefore tended more towards the general contractor. When and, above all, why did the "enlightenment" come to do the planning with an architect after all, and to award the trades yourselves?

We had that because almost everyone we know who has built said it's not difficult! And it wasn't. We had imagined it to be difficult, yes. Of course, the craftsmen did not come knocking on our door, there were always one or two weeks in between. But that doesn't have to be. We always kept the craftsmen informed about our status. After the shell construction, the roof and windows come into the house—you don't need a degree for that.

On the internet, you can find quite a bit about how the process should be. The craftsmen also help with that.

Great if that worked for you.

But how do you come to that?

The advantage was that with every company we could negotiate on the offers. Everything between 3-7% was possible. Architect and general contractor keep that to themselves.

What the architect negotiates reduces the price for the client.

Great if that worked for you.

But how do you come to that conclusion?



What the architect negotiates reduces the price for the client.

If I look, for example, at prices for laminate, PVC, and tiles from the general contractor.
Or bathroom fittings as the best example. I know they don’t give me any discounts. At best, I pay as much for cheap junk as elsewhere for something high-quality.
And that was the case with both offers from the general contractor!!

Hourly wages could not be negotiated anywhere but they were the same/similar everywhere anyway