House Purchase Agreement - Contract Formulation Questionable

Hello everyone,

I came across this forum and have so far always seen very helpful tips and answers from the community :)

My wife and I want to buy a semi-detached house in Regensburg and have already received a draft purchase contract by mail from the notary. The construction company is more or less responsible for the entire new development area.

In our purchase contract it says:
"Construction start is planned for spring 2018, as soon as the weather permits. Completion is owed within 24 months after the start of construction."

On the internet you always read that you should negotiate a fixed date for ready occupancy and a contractual penalty. I wanted to negotiate this with the construction company as well, but without success, with the reasoning that in case of delay, compensation is regulated in the Building Code.
As far as I have seen, this is also correct.

Now to my concerns:
A "planned" construction start for spring 2018:

1. Does this mean that it is only "planned," but theoretically construction could also start in September 2018 (or, exaggerating, in 2019)?

2. What is the definition of spring? For me this is a rather flexible term (January - June).

Point 1) is especially important to me. Since we are closing financing with the bank and there is usually a 12-month interest-free provisioning period, I could end up paying a lot of provisioning interest if the construction company is not actually obligated to start building at the beginning of 2018.

I hope you can help me a bit and give me your opinion on this :)

Thanks in advance

DHH_Owner (hopefully)

Your concern can happen. 24 months is very long for a semi-detached house. I consider a maximum of 8 months to be normal.

That simply means that the construction company can take two years from the start of construction until completion. I find that very long; one year is already sufficiently long.

Best regards
Sabine

Crazy long, but definitely not negotiable. If they build on the entire area, they probably won’t make exceptions for individual buyers at the appointment. Just ask for a construction schedule for the new development area. Maybe it will show when your half is approximately up.

Point 2 can be omitted.

The planning is set. Whether construction will actually take place is left open.

Construction begins when a) the building permit is approved, b) the buyers are found. Swap a and b. The buyers have special requests that are included in the building application. In this respect, the BTs wait until the buyers are found and the building applications are submitted. Semi-detached houses also need to be coordinated – agreements are expected.

In our new development area, several semi-detached houses were offered. The interested parties signed. Then there were problems with the municipality.... later with the floor area ratio (exceeding the limit). The waiting began... meanwhile the houses are standing: they are estimated to have started about 1 year later than desired/thought. The builders are at their limit or have reached their financial boundary.

Nevertheless: they are looking forward to the house – of course costs arise from commitment interest as well as early cancellations and temporary living arrangements.