House Construction Cost Overview, 2024, Experiences and Summary

I would be interested to know if you would do anything differently in hindsight?

Hi

Thanks to everyone for your feedback

Sure, there are a few things we would have done differently. You notice them more after the move or during the construction phases
We signed the construction contract exactly during the construction crisis, the companies hardly had any orders then, but we hardly negotiated with the construction company and accepted the proposed price - 15k. The construction phases then started quickly and it was clear to us that orders were slow and we could have negotiated a few more things into the price
For example, I would have had blinds installed on the upper floor and negotiated them in the base price, with the large windows and curious neighbors (we do live in the village) a privacy screen is worth it - I don’t really like curtains as an alternative.
Large windows with some fixed elements (2x2m in the stair area) look nice, but are hard to maintain.
I would also have negotiated a wooden carport directly with the company in the construction contract, we would certainly have gotten a good price or discount.

Overall, the company was reputable and even small defects that we noticed after handover were immediately fixed

Regards

Look on the bright side, the company was able to make some money and keep the employees. You also don't know what would have happened if you had pushed the price down and forced the boss of the company to save somewhere. Then he might have skimped on the material or started to cut corners.

And honestly. 500,000 EUR for a house with all the bells and whistles. 20,000 really doesn't hurt, does it? A 5% tip is okay, live and let live...

So I have attached our house building costs (€867K) in case anyone is interested. We built last year. I think it's too expensive. Some things way too expensive, some just expensive. But overall, we built quite a lot of square meters. That was due to the plot. You could definitely build smaller and more efficiently on a greenfield site, but then maybe more outdoor facilities would be needed. We have few outdoor facilities because we basically built on a "public square." I also find our engineering costs too high (architect, structural engineer, etc.). The roof structure was also expensive. The architect always told me that a lot of unforeseen things came up to be able to build onto the existing house. However, about €10K also came for underpinning the neighboring building.

So this is our basic equipment:

Decentralized ventilation BlueMartin

No KNX

1x Front door with electric lock

1x Side entrance door

1x Electric garage door

3x Windows 1.6x2.15m

1x Window 1.75x1.1m

1x Window 2.5x1.1m

1x Lift-slide door 5.0x2.2m

1x Dormer window 4.2x2.4m

Floor-to-ceiling windows with glass balustrade

2x Electric roof windows with electric blinds

All windows aluminum/plastic

All windows with venetian blinds

No basement, windows only on 2 sides

Hardly any outdoor facilities

All floors parquet herringbone or 60x60 tiles

No smooth plaster inside

3x Staircases (2x wood, 1x concrete)

House footprint 7.8x14.1m

Roof terrace across the entire width of the house about 2m deep

Indoor garage

Brick construction

Pure construction costs of 3,300€/sqm (I included the garage in the house). This is not too expensive, especially when I read about the equipment and your description.

No, I don't think it's too expensive - just not a bargain. If it helps, I think everyone has experienced that there were items where, in hindsight, you think it was way too expensive, I could have negotiated better - you don't want to know what my photovoltaic system cost, but the price was agreed upon during the photovoltaic boom period in 2022 and delivered during the price downturn.... Best regards