First consultation appointment with the prefabricated house manufacturer

Hello everyone,

my girlfriend and I have decided to fulfill our dream of owning a home. We have decided to build a prefabricated house and have already provisionally reserved a plot of land that meets our expectations in terms of location and price.

Our plan now is/was to sit down with prefabricated house manufacturers, show them our development plan and regulations, and then work together on possible floor plans that meet our individual wishes and maybe even obtain one or two offers to plan/estimate the financing of the whole project. Quite rough for a start, I know, but the whole thing should actually help us "only" to decide for or against the reserved plot and of course to better estimate whether we can afford it.

In the past few months, we have already visited many model house parks and have thereby favored 3-4 manufacturers.

Now we had arranged the first appointment and wanted to get advice. By the way, with a "top" manufacturer, at least according to the recent tests from FocusMoney, etc.

At the beginning of the conversation, the lady did not introduce herself or her company in any way. It quickly became clear that this appointment was about nothing other than presenting us with a first offer. We had sent our plot plan etc. in advance, asking her to review it and hoping for feedback on location, orientation... Unfortunately, there was none. When asked, she just said she had shown it to an architect and he saw no problems! We flipped through some catalogs and when I showed her a floor plan that roughly matched our ideas, it was immediately noted and was supposed to be included in the offer. Then she asked me which heating system I wanted. Please, who knows that at the first meeting??? Then she said that actually, with this size, about 160m² on 2 floors, only KFW55 makes sense and an air-to-water heating system. When I asked how flexible the floor plans were, she just said that we would do all that with the architect when the time comes. As it turned out, however, I only get to see an architect if I sign a preliminary contract because planning, according to her statements, incurs high costs and as a company they need some security. I also found out that this manufacturer does not have its own architects but only commissions them.

Is this the normal procedure? I can’t buy a plot without having a floor plan or rough draft beforehand, can I? In the kitchen studio, they also plan my kitchen into the room before I have to sign anything! I always thought you first look at the building site on location with the architect, etc...

Am I seeing this all wrong, is this wishful thinking on my part? What can I really expect?

Thank you very much for your answers

Regards, Dennis

...so basically it is about knowing whether I can expect a prefabricated house manufacturer to design a floor plan for me (of course it would be nice to see the whole thing in 3D) and advise me comprehensively, before I have to sign a preliminary contract?

They may exist. Generally, a catalog provider sells what is shown in the catalog.

By the way, you can definitely buy your plot of land, because the house has to fit the land and not the other way around. The conversation with the lady gave you an initial offer to estimate costs, right? That was your goal to check feasibility. Add another €30-40K for incidental construction costs and €30K for upgrade costs, then it becomes realistic. Garage and garden are also separate.

Architects, unless employed, belong to the group of freelancers. The law there is "time for money." You will certainly get an initial meeting for free, but no one will tailor themselves to your area for around that price. Aside from that, why bother if you want 2-3 preliminary designs with cost estimates, I consider that dispensable, provided the necessary documents are available (development plan, measurements, etc.). Cost range from €2-5K in my experience.

I think this is part of the entrepreneurial risk, but with full order books, no one really makes the effort.

Among all the prefabricated house manufacturers, only Weberhaus actually made an effort and genuinely showed interest in the plot and the development plan (unfortunately, too expensive). With the others, it felt more like they were aiming for a quick deal. A negative example is Kampa, who nicely calculated the house for us with 1% repayment.

My recommendation is to go to a small local general contractor; that’s where we had the best experiences. They also gave tips on the floor plan, the plot (experiences with additional construction costs), a proper offer including all possible costs, CAD model, calculations, etc., and it was significantly cheaper.

Since I also come from Baden-Württemberg and have already visited many show homes in Offenburg and Fellbach, I might be able to contribute a little. With most companies, a design from the catalog was suggested during the consultation, in which you could then change the floor plan. Most companies were eliminated early on in our case because of inflexibility or negative reviews on the internet. At the moment we have not yet made a decision. At Talbauhaus in Weissach im Tal, a smaller regional prefab house provider, we received excellent advice and were personally cared for by the owner, whom we even met spontaneously at the show home. The house was planned free of charge for us by the company’s own architect based on our development plan. Unfortunately, we decided against this company due to the distance from our building site and the offer being too expensive for us. We are now looking for a provider in our region, but we are also in no hurry to move. It was also important to us to have a contact person on site for the time after the house construction, e.g. if the heating fails, etc.

Please take care of the property. If there is a development plan, it is somewhat doable for laypeople. First question, is it relatively flat? Otherwise, a lot of excavation is needed, which costs money. How is the soil at your place? For us, a soil report was part of the property, so you knew before purchasing that it was proper building ground. Then look at your building envelope. It is marked on the plan. You are only allowed to build in that part of the property. Then GZ or plot ratio. Plot ratio. For us, it is 0.25. That means if you have 600 sqm of land, you may build 150 sqm of it. Including terrace. We have 570 sqm, built 133 plus 10 terrace. Fully utilized. Larger was impossible. The plan also contains information about the allowed number of floors, maximum ridge height, possibly ridge direction. For us, max 1.5 floors. On some properties, duplex houses were allowed, on others not. It is marked. Once you understand this, you realize what is possible. Town villas, for example, are not allowed for us. Because two full floors, not one and a half. Flat roofs also not allowed, because at least 25 degrees roof pitch is specified. Shed roofs also prohibited for aesthetic reasons, Mrs. Müller Marienthal in the municipal council does not like them... If you now look at catalog houses, you realize what is possible, what is not. The closer you stick to the standard in the catalog, the cheaper it gets. And less problematic. If nothing really works, only individual planning with a general contractor or independent architect remains. A general contractor can often top a prefab house in price. Architect house is usually always quite expensive. You have to go to a sales meeting, because that’s what it is, prepared. They will not advise you, but want to sell you something. Karsten