Thank you very much for the numerous answers.
Topic Property: For us, location, price, and the neighborhood were decisive. Of course, it would be nice if it were a bit wider, but that simply cannot be changed anymore. Unfortunately, we only had one day to make the purchase decision, as otherwise someone else would have gotten it. Theoretically, we could sell it again at a profit at any time, but that would cause trouble.
Budget: We would like to stay in the range of 500–600 thousand euros. Financially, an extra 100 thousand euros would still be possible, but financial freedom is important to us – especially with regard to our desire to have a child after the house is completed. My fiancée would like to take three years of parental leave; that would be possible at 600 thousand euros, but more difficult at 700 thousand euros.
House Consultant:
My fiancée does not want to build freely with an architect but together with a general contractor. For us, the problem is also that we currently live about two hours away from the property. Therefore, it would be best for us if we had someone who builds the house and takes care of most things by themselves.
In the meantime, we had several appointments with different house providers:
[*]Viebrockhaus: Basically had a good first conversation, but the consultant wanted to get back to us with an offer within 14 days. It has now been three weeks and we have heard nothing → unprofessional and therefore out.
[*]Fullwood: Very pleasant atmosphere and rather relaxed and young consultants. However, we find the offer relatively expensive and many things are missing. The big advantage would be the by far thinnest wall and the living climate in a wooden house. However, we are very uncertain about a solid wood house regarding sound insulation and appearance. In addition, the house would have to be co-built, as full assembly is very expensive.
[*]Massivbau Laux: We still have an appointment at their show house, which we would actually build exactly as is because we like the floor plan quite well in advance. Big advantage: You can look at the floor plan live. However, they unfortunately build with sand-lime brick + ETICS; I would actually prefer to build monolithically.
[*]Town & Country: So far, this has been by far the best contact. It is the only provider who has already put more thought into the property, etc., seems the most professional, and so far lists the most costs in the offer of all providers (although not all and typically partially somewhat too low). Of course, so far the cheapest. However, we are aware that we will need a lot of budget for upgrades or would outsource bathrooms, stairs, interior doors, painting work, and flooring externally. The floor plan of the Aura 125 served as a basis but was already enlarged and adapted to the property. We had the impression that this consultant has taken the most time so far to prepare the offer properly and considered our information – and did not simply offer us a catalog floor plan with the note that everything could be changed later and it would not be a problem.
However, they build with 30 cm aerated concrete or Ytong. I have great concerns about the sound insulation here. We currently live in an apartment (built in 2022), which is massively built with 36.5 cm Poroton, and that is just about okay for us in terms of sound insulation.
[*]Local Carpenter: He is also preparing an offer for us. He would build in the classic prefabricated house style, i.e., timber frame construction with cellulose and wood fiber insulation and inside with an installation level, OSB, and Fermacell panels. I think that should also be quite decent – at least without foil and styrofoam in the wall. He also wants to show us one of his customer houses, which is located in the same town.
Floor Plan:
[*]Windows are barely planned on the east side because of the neighbor and the parking space.
[*]The staircase in the living area is actually our wish because we do not want it in the hallway – due to our dog and dirt. €20,000 is also planned for the staircase to make it look decent.
[*]We have played around quite a bit with the floor plan; therefore, the symmetry on the upper floor is no longer correct. The bedroom needs to be a bit wider and the office a bit narrower – you are right about that.
[*]The dressing room is planned relatively large because laundry is supposed to be dried there in the middle – via a drying rack on the ceiling that can be raised and lowered as needed.
[*]The bathroom is only roughly sketched; we do not want a bathtub, only a large shower.
[*]We also see a problem with the width in the living area if sofa and dining table are arranged side by side. One solution would be either Fullwood with the thin wall, a bay window, or swapping sofa and kitchen. We will think about this in more detail once we know exactly with whom we want to build.