Evaluation offer townhouse approx. 167m²

It will probably be the classic. The house seller told a flowery story about everything there is and how he assesses this or that item.

Multiple foundation? We have never had it more expensive than 15,000 EUR, the amount from the sample calculation was always enough for a small cistern... yeah yeah

20 additional sockets... additional to what? To 20? Or to 60?
One additional socket probably costs 200 EUR more during the sampling phase.
In the end, we had 85 sockets (where a double socket counts as 2) and I already held back because my wife said more would be absolutely crazy.

Partly floor-to-ceiling windows, that can also be a terrace door, the rest are parapet windows.

RC2... or RC2N? That is often cheated.
I guess whoever wants RC2 on the top as well pays a really big surcharge...

Similarly with the roller shutters. Electric downstairs, the customer wants them upstairs as well. 15,000 EUR more please.

I don't want to claim that with identical equipment it is never and never cheaper than Town & Country or Heinz von Heiden.
But not 15%. That is absolutely impossible.

You can basically remember this. If someone is significantly (!) cheaper than the market, something is fishy. Otherwise, the others would also offer it that cheaply.

It will probably be the classic. The house seller told a flowery story about everything that’s included and how he estimates this and that item.

Additional foundation? We’ve never had it more expensive than 15,000 EUR, the amount from the sample calculation was always enough for a small cistern... yeah yeah

20 additional sockets... additional to what? To 20? Or to 60?
One additional socket probably costs 200 EUR more during the selection process.
In the end, we were at 85 sockets (where a double socket counts as 2), and I already held back because my wife said more would be absolutely crazy.

Partly floor-to-ceiling windows, that can also be a terrace door, the rest are sill-height windows.

RC2... or RC2N? They like to cheat there.
I guess whoever wants RC2 also upstairs, pays a really high surcharge...

Similar with the shutters. Electric on the ground floor, the customer also wants it upstairs. 15,000 EUR more please.

I don’t want to claim that it can never be cheaper than Town & Country or Heinz von Heiden with identical equipment.
But not by 15%. That is absolutely impossible.

You can basically remember this: If someone is significantly(!) cheaper than the market, something is wrong. Otherwise, the others would also offer it that cheaply.

Hello,

we have now obtained offers from several providers and currently have 2 (3) in the final selection.
One of them does stand out a bit.
It is a northern German company that seems to have a good reputation and in some points really
offers very low prices.

Here is the offer:
City villa - 2 full floors, 167m² area or 162m² living area on a slab foundation
The offer price includes some extras like e.g.
- partly floor-to-ceiling windows
- electric aluminum shutters for the ground floor
- shutters for the upper floor
- RC2 windows on the ground floor
- walk-in shower
- 20 additional sockets
- decentralized ventilation with heat recovery (Wolf model CWL-2-325)

Price for this approx. 301,000€

Additionally offered:
- Geothermal instead of air-water heat pump = approx. 11,000€
- Facing brickwork = approx. 6,000€
- Garage (6x9m) approx. 45,000€

We additionally budget:
- Floors 9,000 €
- Painting work 10,000€
- Selection reserve: 15,000€
- Kitchen 15,000€
- Outdoor facilities / fence (partially existing and own work) ~ 10,000€

Estimated other ancillary building costs approx. 30,000€
- additional earthworks (not included in the construction service description)
- surveying
- soil report
- construction water, construction electricity
- construction site setup
- connections
- construction expert
- insurance

This brings us to a total of approx. 452,000€

Have we forgotten anything important?
Does this sound realistic?
BTW: I find the garage somewhat expensive in comparison, but the rest of the offer makes up for it)

So, from experience, here and today I can give the following info, I’m currently building with Town & Country, they are currently working on additional foundation:

Additional foundation: instead of 12,000 EUR, approx. 14,000 EUR due to soil conditions (according to soil report it can then be more expensive, better to add a 2 - 3,000 EUR buffer here)
Earthworks: instead of 8,000 EUR as planned, now approx. 19,000 EUR!!!
This can really get expensive, this is because the soil excavation
is often forgotten or neglected, I unfortunately didn’t have this on my radar either. If you have a plot, say about 500 - 600 m², where to put the excavation? Easily 100 to 150 m³ can accumulate, in the garden? Forget it, 1. You cannot store it, plot too small, 2. the lower soil is usually not suitable for the garden, we had about 18 semitrailer loads just of excavation, per semitrailer 520.00 EUR net (total approx. 11,500 EUR gross) including filling and disposal. Here I would plan at least 15,000 EUR just for that. Good thing I had planned a small buffer that can absorb this somewhat. Also think about excavating the driveway, terrace, entrance and graveling, total 19,000 EUR gross.)
Facing bricks, instead of planned 3,000 EUR, I now have approx. 7,000 EUR, and I will attach the bricks myself, otherwise at least 7,000 EUR for craftsmen would be added.
Interior tiles: at least 5,000 EUR if you do it yourself, otherwise calculate approx. 100 EUR per sqm for laying.
Walls: are smoothed to Q2, either you put in more work yourself and smooth to Q4, then apply painter’s fleece and paint, or you do Q3 and put on textured wallpaper, that’s what I will do.

Long story short, plan at least 10 to 15% more than the calculated total costs, I really recommend it.

Otherwise I am very satisfied with Town & Country, everything is going according to plan, great communication and it’s fun.

Hello,

where or with which partner of Town & Country are you building?
These are completely different companies depending on the region.

So from experience, here and now I can give the following information, I am currently building with Town & Country, at the moment they are at the foundation stage:

Foundation: instead of 12,000 EUR, about 14,000 EUR due to soil conditions (according to the soil survey it can get more expensive, better to add a buffer of 2 - 3,000 EUR here)
Earthworks: instead of 8,000 EUR as in the planning, now about 19,000 EUR!!!
Here it can get really serious, this is because one forgets or neglects the excavated soil, unfortunately I didn’t have that on my radar either. If you have a plot, say about 500 - 600 m², where to put the excavated soil? You easily get 100 to 150 m³ together, in the garden? Forget it, 1. you can’t store it, plot too small, 2. the lower soil is usually not suitable for a garden, we had about 18 semi-trailer loads of excavated soil, per semi-trailer 520.00 EUR net (total about 11,500 EUR gross) including filling and disposal. Here I would plan at least 15,000 EUR just for that. Good that I still planned a small buffer that can catch that somewhat. Also remember the excavation of the driveway, terrace, entrance and graveling, total 19,000 EUR gross.)

Were concrete offers made here in advance for earthworks and foundation based on the soil survey?
(You write "planning", not offer).
Due to the amount of excavated soil, the soil seems to be problematic, or are you building with a basement?

Facing bricks, instead of the planned 3,000 EUR, I now have about 7,000 EUR, and I will attach the bricks myself, otherwise there would be at least another 7,000 EUR for craftsmen.

Also the question here: planning? Was it not included in the offer?

I’m currently building with Town & Country, they are currently working on the raft foundation:
Raft foundation: instead of 12,000 EUR, about 14,000 EUR due to soil conditions (according to the soil survey it could get more expensive, better to add a buffer of 2-3,000 EUR here)
Earthworks: instead of 8,000 EUR as planned, now about 19,000 EUR!!!

Oh, so they immediately give the fancy name "raft foundation" to the simple fact that, thanks to the height variations, even a property that looks "flat" to the layman will never get by with what I’ll call the "basic allowance" of 30 cm deep ground works for a load-bearing compacted sub-base under the slab?
19k bill versus 8k estimate, that’s an overrun by a factor of 2.37 – this already shows the downside of falling for "architect services included": because with an independent architect, such a large inaccuracy would already be a case for his professional liability. But this leaves the builder stuck with it.

Clinker slips, instead of the planned 3,000 EUR, I now have about 7,000 EUR, and I will attach the slips myself,

Furthermore, this is again an incredible "estimate discrepancy" (which wouldn’t go unnoticed in a formal cost estimate), and on the one hand I wonder what you are looking for at Town & Country if you apparently are more a customer for Heinz von Heiden (*SCNR*). And just from the wording, attaching slips myself, I don’t even want to imagine how the results will look. *JohannavonKoczianMode_on* "That little bit of masonry, anyone can do that themselves, says my husband" *JohannavonKoczianMode_off* *ROTFL*

Nope, that’s fine, 11ant. At least if the general contractor doesn’t know the plot of land on which they’re supposed to build the house, because the client “provides” it. That’s the principle behind construction companies like Town & Country franchisees, Heinz von Heiden, and the like. They sell you the house and for the sample calculation there’s an estimate of how much extra foundation work is usually required.

And then it depends on the soil report. Here in the building area, Town & Country had everything from “strip foundation, with the 10,000 EUR from the calculation we’ll make it” over (in our case) “we have to pour foundations down to 3m, expect around 25,000 EUR of extra foundation costs instead of 10,000...” up to “they have to drive piles...” This client then gave up…

You have to be clear about that when you build with such a company.

With the earthworks, it’s always a tricky issue. For my 600m² plot, in addition to the 100m³ of excavation, I also had to bring in almost 100m³ of fill because I had to properly raise the level. The street lies about 50 cm above the original ground level at the back end...

Whoever smooths to Q4 and then sticks painter’s fleece on it… apart from the fact that I’d like to see the amateur who smooths their entire place up to Q4, that takes weeks… or whoever makes Q3 and then sticks woodchip wallpaper on it, I can only wish them good luck. On Q2 you can stick woodchip wallpaper without pain. And if you want to stick smooth fleece, you go to Q3. Smooth fleece then creates the Q4 surface.

We sanded the Q2 plaster, primed it, then filled the worst dents, sanded again, and painted it. With Sol-silicate paint. The filigree ceilings were completely done with surface filler… that was of course tedious work but worth it. An acquaintance is currently sanding the joints between the concrete elements for the third time because they still show through… he painted the concrete directly…

Now I’m going through again, filling the dents you can see, sanding a bit, and painting over again. Done. Even if small dents remain, it looks 100 times better than all walls covered in woodchip wallpaper. I would never, ever plaster a new build with woodchip wallpaper in 2023…

No, that's alright 11ant. At least if the general contractor doesn't know the plot of land on which he is supposed to build the house, because the client "provides" it. That's the principle of construction companies like Town & Country franchisees, Heinz von Heiden and all the others. They sell you the house and for the sample calculation there is an estimate of how much additional foundation work is usually required.

I can still crack up over this funny coinage created specifically for the circumstance of an inevitable surcharge on a pure bait price.