Equity - Reserve for Unexpected

For us, fully developed means that the lines already lie up to 1m on our property. With acquaintances of ours, they have not yet been on the property. It is accordingly as the building expert wrote: It depends, but in any case, you still have to have the supply lines laid into the house and these costs always incur.

Hello everyone,

thank you for the answers. I will try with some examples and my corresponding thoughts. Maybe I am simply wrong and then that’s fine too. Don’t get me wrong – I don’t want to exclude these costs from my calculation. I’m just trying to understand it a bit more in detail.

Approx. €2,800–€3,200 surveying service (qualified site plans / height surveying / staking out / building surveying)
==> Shouldn’t these costs already have been covered by the municipality in a fully developed new residential area? Surveying the building is obviously not possible – but regarding the plot?

Internal development (sewage/rainwater pipes), approx. €2,500 – depending on the pipe route
Inspection shafts, soakaway or infiltration shaft, approx. €1,900.00 – €2,200.00
==> Are these costs truly only for the plot itself? Or are costs outside the plot also included here? If everything is related to the plot, I can understand that point, of course. On what basis are these costs calculated? Is this a flat rate or calculated with a specific length in meters?

Electricity/gas/water/telecom, connection to the sewer system, approx. €8,000.00 – €8,500.00 – varies by municipality
==> Same question as above. Does this cost block really only refer to the plot? Can we plan with lower costs here in Lower Saxony? Again, what are these figures based on? What average length of pipes was assumed?

I have already included real estate transfer tax and notary fees in my land price – so these should of course be excluded as additional costs. No agent fees will be incurred.

Removal of excess soil (normal soil conditions) for a basement, approx. €1,500.00
==> Since we are building without a basement, this point certainly falls away – or should at least be reduced. What do you think I should expect there for a build without a basement? (The reserve of €8k is of course still there for unforeseen expenses!)

Creation of soil report, approx. €1,200.00
==> I would actually have to ask the municipality whether this already exists. Or is that absolutely atypical and therefore rather unlikely?

Best regards and many thanks for the answers! Without such guidance on possible additional costs lists, many construction companies and mortgage lenders will probably start with costs that are too low and then be very surprised! Many thanks for that.

Kind regards

Did you get that in service phase 3? The standard is that it is not that detailed in this phase and usually to be paid extra. If that is already included, you have a very good architect...

Yes, that is included for us in this phase. Everything in detail, it even lists the extra roof tile for a solar system with costs.

Even if the municipality has conducted a soil survey, it won’t help you. Unless they have done several drillings on your property. But you shouldn’t assume that, because the municipality is primarily interested in the soil values in the development or street area. We also had a soil survey for the development with various points in the street area. One of them exactly in front of our property. It still didn’t help us. We then had 3 more drillings done on our property, which revealed that we have to expect additional foundation costs even without a basement.

You should definitely not build without a soil survey.

Alright, I already suspected that. We will definitely plan for that and do not want to take any risks and rely on a soil survey that is not intended for our property. Should I do the soil survey before the actual purchase of the property or only afterwards? If the soil survey comes back with an extremely bad result, I might not want the property anymore. What is the best course of action there?

Best before purchasing the property. Unless you know that you want the property anyway.