So, for us TAFF is now definitely finished.
Despite everything, we did not let ourselves be deterred from the plot, as it was perfectly tailored to our needs. So we signed the contract despite the many vague formulations and points of criticism, because the plot was guaranteed to us by TAFF. Even the 3 builders I asked, who had built with Allegro, were quite satisfied with it, which reassured me a bit.
However, the expert from the Association of Private Homeowners strongly advised me against it, as the contract for work is "absolute rubbish" (original wording) that a builder should never voluntarily bind themselves to. There are many points that have to be provided by the builder (i.e., me), many risks are shifted to the builder, and with the mentioned formulations one apparently faces quite a gauntlet in court if it comes to that.
I then wrote down about 60 questions about the description of work / general terms and conditions / trades / etc. and was able to clarify some of them with TAFF, but they did not want to give me the answers in writing, and certainly not with a signature. Some critical issues, such as a contractually fixed end date for construction work (like "12 months after start of construction excluding interruptions due to weather" or something like that), they did not want or were not even able to assure me verbally. A skeptic will think evil of that. Another point is, for example, a warranty on the windows which only exists if you sign a maintenance contract – none of my contacts at TAFF even knew what that meant, and there was no sample of such a maintenance contract either.
But since we really wanted the plot and have some lawyers among our friends, we signed anyway, as mentioned. The expert from the Association of Private Homeowners even said that the contract is written so unfavorably to customers that certain clauses or even the entire contract are invalid and could be challenged with sufficient endurance.
After signing the contract, the long wait began. We were already wondering, since there was extreme pressure to sign at the beginning and suddenly TAFF stopped contacting us. When I tried to reach someone at TAFF about two weeks later, no one answered, although I called every few hours over two days. In the evening I tried with another number – lo and behold, suddenly reachable. Allegedly they had been on vacation and then sick. And then it was said that the plot was already gone – even though it was guaranteed to us… we were accordingly annoyed and contacted the real estate agent. The agent then suddenly said that the owner would decide who gets the plot and had not yet decided. But when I spoke to the owner on the phone, he said that he had already sold the plot to the agent (??) and that he did not care at all who got the plot. So everything was pretty weird and everyone involved contradicted each other in their statements. By then it was clear to us that something was fishy.
In the following days we were constantly strung along. Allegedly because the notary was overloaded and the drafts of the purchase contracts were not yet available. I don’t understand what is so drastically different about this purchase contract that drafting it takes several weeks, or why a draft purchase contract at all would influence the decision for a buyer, but okay. I think someone offered more or had the right contacts and the agent was just waiting for the financing confirmation. After all, it was suggested more than once that there are people offering more money, and as we later learned, apparently someone from the agent’s family got the deal.
In the end the owner supposedly decided on someone else. I am quite sure, however, that the agent as former managing director of TAFF-Haus had way more influence here than he constantly claimed. He would know nothing about any house contract and he wouldn’t care at all, he was just the agent… meanwhile the TAFF seller tells us: Contact the agent, he decides that. Riiight.
During this whole time, both the "agent" and TAFF in general were very hard to reach. The TAFF seller is apparently still subordinate to the agent, who was TAFF’s managing director until recently, and accordingly his assurances had no value. The agent continually evaded concrete questions, talks people down, and constantly contradicts himself. Behind the professional friendliness there is unfortunately no friendly professionalism… something else is always claimed and promised. The same with the TAFF seller: As with the other interested party here, we were promised more than once appointments with ventilation and heating companies, but they were never kept. Emails generally went unanswered. And the contract for work that we signed was supposedly supposed to reach us again after a week – we only found it weeks later in the mailbox, when the decision had long been made. And this despite the agreed cancellation clause already having come into effect since we could not acquire the plot. At some point the seller called us again to ask about the status, whether we had now acquired the plot (???). He also said he had another comparable plot and asked if he could pass on my number. It says a lot that we were never called in this regard.
When we terminated the contract for work, we had to ask several times until it was confirmed to us.
All in all, a very untrustworthy and insecure experience. We will definitely not build with TAFF, not even on any other plot. Maybe the product is fine, but the people behind it and the contract just leave a bad taste. You don’t really feel taken seriously by the company.
By the way, the second half of the plot, a 13 meter wide strip over which the "3-4 interested parties" supposedly outbid each other, was afterwards offered on Immoscout as a developer-free plot and about €20,000 more expensive. So that statement was just hot air as well.
One more thing: The company only offers about a dozen different houses. Nevertheless, the house we chose has never been built by TAFF before; there was only a parallel construction project. That also worried me somewhat, because when building a house I don’t want to be a pilot project.