House construction schedule including subsidies (KFW, L-Bank) sensibly

Hello dear forum,

as a silent follower, I have now decided to also open a thread for our construction project to simply gain your opinions, tips, and also constructive criticism.

About us:
- both (31), employed, wife on parental leave (max. 2 more years) then part-time. We have 2 children, (2 years and 1 month).

Basics:
- The plot was allocated to us by the municipality. New development area fully developed and fully meets our expectations! We have not bought it yet. There is a building obligation that a ready-to-move-in house must be completed within 2 years, but we are currently negotiating to extend this to at least 5 years.
- Our wish is to build a single-family house with about 130-140sqm living space.
- We want to start building in 1-2 years.

Financial:
- Equity available, but not enough to fully pay for the plot. Therefore, a loan is needed.
- For the house construction, we also want to apply for the promotional loan from the L-Bank. According to initial checks (also with a financial advisor), we are basically eligible for funding.

Our thoughts on the process:
- Separate financing for the plot (fixed interest rate or variable loan) – we still need to obtain financing offers.
- Have the plot surveyed and carry out a soil survey on the property.
- Hire an architect for service phases 1-2 to create preliminary design planning.
- Using the results of the preliminary design planning and the surveying of the plot and soil survey, get offers from construction companies and simultaneously request a quote from an excavation contractor (earthworks, disposal, etc.) in order to plan. (I am aware that there are additional incidental construction costs, but I see this step as planning the largest cost item as best as possible.)
- After the confirmation that we are basically eligible for funding, we would decide on a construction company (after comparing the offers in parallel).
- Handle the remaining financing in parallel.

- When should/can we submit the application for the L-Bank? At which step would you include this?
- Do you generally find the approach sensible?

Thank you in advance.
Best regards, LetsBau24

Just a few questions:
1. Why do you want to have the property measured again?
2. Why service phases 1+2 with the architect and then to the home construction company?
3. What do you understand by "home construction company"?
4. Why a civil engineer when you go to the "home construction company"?
5. How do you want to objectively compare offers from "home construction companies"? There is no one in your planning who does a tender. And each home construction company is supposed to work with you to develop a floor plan - which can look completely different everywhere.

I have no experience with the L-Bank.

- When should/can we submit the application for the L-Bank? At which step would you include this?

It depends on the funding conditions for your program. You usually have certain requirements, while at the same time certain things must not have happened. But it all depends specifically on the concrete program. Definitely watch out for the pitfalls here.

You should finance the property flexibly. A longer fixed term prevents another bank from financing you.

Just a few questions:
1. Why do you want to have the plot measured again?
2. Why phase 1+2 with the architect and then to the house builder?
3. What do you understand by "house builder"?
4. Why a civil engineer when you go to the "house builder"?
5. How do you want to compare offers from "house builders" objectively? There is no one in your planning who issues a tender. And every house builder is supposed to work together with you on a floor plan - which can look different everywhere.

I have no experience with the L-Bank.

Thanks for the questions,
1. It is still being clarified whether the plot boundaries have already been measured.
2. and 3. I do not want to sign a house contract with a general contractor yet and thus bind myself before I have received the basic approval for the funding (which I am apparently not allowed to do according to the conditions). "House builder" = general contractor or house provider, sorry for the wording.
4. We have already obtained offers from house providers and general contractors where the costs for earthworks are only estimated. Likewise, the soil survey is only conducted after signing the house contract. By financing the plot separately (how I do this, I will leave aside for now) and having the soil survey carried out, I try to limit the costs for earthworks as much as possible. That is why a civil engineer provides me with a cost estimate.
5. We want to approach the house providers with the preliminary design plan created in phases 1+2 and have them prepare an exact offer based on these floor plans.

I don’t know whether I have a misconception or am expressing myself incorrectly.

Depends on the funding conditions for your program. You usually have certain requirements, and at the same time, certain things must not have happened. But it's all specific to the particular program. Make sure to watch out for the pitfalls here.

You should finance the property flexibly. A longer fixed term prevents another bank from financing you

That is correct, thanks for the info!
Financing the property flexibly was also on my mind. We also have a condominium that we are selling simultaneously, and we would use the proceeds to pay off the loan (property).

Thanks for the questions,
1. It is still being clarified whether the property boundaries have already been surveyed.

LOL – still being clarified. Either you buy a surveyed plot (= own land register with district and parcel) or a plot to be surveyed as part of the purchase contract, marked with points A-D and an approximate size of x sqm. This will then be surveyed as part of the purchase contract processing.
You cannot become the owner of an unsurveyed plot, nor can you just survey an unsurveyed plot – that doesn’t make sense and isn’t possible.

2. and 3. I don’t want to sign a house contract with a general contractor (GU) and therefore bind myself before I have received the basic approval for the subsidies (which I am not allowed to do according to the conditions) “house building company” = GU or house provider, sorry for the wording.

Ok. So you want an individual architect house, but the work is to be done by a GU and not the architect. That will be interesting. You won't get any comparable offers because you are just throwing them a rough floor plan.
- Materials
- Features
- Energy efficiency
etc.
Every GU will offer you individually. The less good GU will calculate very tightly and give you an unbeatable offer – but then during the construction phase comes various change orders (because nobody made a tender for the individual trade items).
And the GU is also supposed to do service phases 3-X and submit the building application?
Read up on that here in the forum. will surely add his two cents ;-)

4. We have already obtained offers from house providers and GUs and the costs for the earthworks there are only estimated. It is also the case that the soil report will only be carried out after signing the house contract. Since I am financing the plot separately (how I do that I am currently leaving aside) and have the soil report carried out, I am trying to narrow down the costs for the earthworks as well as possible. That is why a civil engineer is giving me a cost estimate.

Getting a soil report done is great. But on what basis is the civil engineer – why isn’t the GU doing this? – supposed to make an offer? Does the civil engineer already know in advance which GU will be awarded the contract and which of the maybe three foundation recommendations the GU will implement how? Are you asking the civil engineer for an offer for a large soil replacement or for strip foundations => what does the GU want?

5. We want to approach the house providers with the preliminary draft plan created in service phases 1+2 and have them make an exact offer based on these floor plans.

OK. For your understanding:
You talk to a car expert who advises you to buy a station wagon with a large trunk and diesel (that is service phases 1-2 of the architect). Then you go to Dacia, VW, Mercedes, and Bentley. All four offer you exactly the car you want – but you haven’t told anyone which equipment, color, and extras you need/want. That would be service phase 6 of the architect. Therefore, you need to look closely at what the architect is supposed to do or what you need sensibly for a proper comparison of the providers. For the usual off-the-shelf home builders, this is the building and service specification, which you are missing with your approach.