I was able to gain the following experiences with this company under its former name SVP Immobilien (owner Mrs. S.), which I expressly only relate to my construction project and do not want to be understood as generalized, therefore I describe it in the past tense. However, I am aware of many other cases that have suffered a very similar fate.
The company SVP Immobilien/Mrs. S. offered affordable terraced, semi-detached, and also single-family homes in the Munich area. These were often offered with land but could also be purchased solely as construction services on existing or otherwise procured land. However, SVP Immobilien was not a construction company itself but merely established the contact between me as the builder and one of the construction companies for whom they procured customers. At the time of my construction, Mrs. S. had three such construction companies at her disposal. In addition, Mrs. S. worked with an architect who created the house plans/building permit planning or adapted them according to my needs. Upon request, a notary was also procured, and correspondence with the notary's office was handled through Mrs. S., even if the land was not found and purchased through Mrs. S. For this service and further services, which were only to be provided later with the preparation of the building plot, a not insignificant sum of xx000,- Euros had to be paid to Mrs. S.
The contracts for work with the construction company were subsequently concluded only between me as the builder and the company. Mrs. S.’s involvement was providing standard contracts and initial contact with the construction company. All further detailed agreements and related contract changes were made only between me and the construction company without Mrs. S.
So far, so good. House price plus payment to Mrs. S. were still comparatively inexpensive, if only the construction had been completed as contractually agreed.
Unfortunately, the construction company brokered by Mrs. S. initially significantly delayed my build and ultimately had to be terminated due to inactivity according to VOB. Of course, the installments paid up to that point were significantly higher than the construction work performed.
However, there was nothing more to be obtained from this company. The insolvency administrator later did not recognize my claims for reasons not understandable to me. As was apparently the case also for many or even all other affected builders known to me. Shortly thereafter, the second construction company from Mrs. S.’s portfolio also went down the same bumpy path and left many bewildered behind.
In the end, each of the dozens of those affected from both companies had to complete their construction with other companies. Unfortunately, no other company was willing to carry out the remaining construction work at the originally intended prices in my case. Thus, my additional costs were over 25% of the original house price. For that, I could have had a significantly better house built by renowned, well-established companies, presumably without the trouble I experienced.
It is not my intention to blame this financial fiasco solely on Mrs. S. But as a realtor, which she did not want to be (‘realtors have such a bad reputation’), she might have been better able to keep an eye on her construction companies and should no longer have referred new prospective buyers to the dilapidated or becoming dilapidated companies.
I myself was naïve enough to place too much trust in the companies involved and not to heed some of the plenty well-known good advice carefully. Today, these would read, to name just a few:
- Visit all reference addresses and question people personally, not just interrogate by phone. (Probably only those are listed that went relatively smoothly. Ask whether problem cases are known that do not appear on the reference list.)
- At the first signs of mistrust, stop immediately; (Does this look like a proper office of a professional company? Is the number of employees sufficient for so many projects? Are the furniture in the plans intended for adults or children? Measure plans!)
- Go to current construction sites and observe for hours. Is anything happening? Ask the workers about their experience with the construction company. Ask neighbors if there has always been so much/little going on or if there were also long periods of inactivity. With luck, ask builders present about their experiences with the construction company.
- Check with the building authority whether the company is on the blacklist and only served against advance payment.
- Do not accept advance payments in the payment schedule but only pay after the service has been rendered.
- Coordinate the amount of installments with the value of the services provided. Often, the first installments are far too high.
etc.
Then there was a small detail:
If you only purchased the construction service through Mrs. S. and not the plot of land, many of her customers at the time, including myself, were forced by the Mühldorf tax office to pay property transfer tax also on the house price. And that, although for straightforward-thinking citizens it is clear and provable that the land was not purchased through Mrs. S./SVP Immobilien, i.e., no coupling between land and house purchase existed (". stand and fall together ..."). Whether this government action was lawful remains to be seen, as my lawsuit against the Mühldorf tax office is still pending.
Conclusion:
Purchasing my house through SVP Immobilien cost me a lot of nerves, time, and extra money and profoundly changed my lifestyle and prospects, unfortunately not for the better. However, I expressly do not blame the company owner Mrs. S. for this but mainly my own naivety and gullibility; and the in hindsight wrong decision not to accept a job offer abroad and thus leave our caring German fatherland forever.
There remains the vague hope that everyone has learned from this and that things will improve in the future.
Passauf
