How long does the search phase take? Claims against construction companies

Hello everyone,

for about a year now we have decided to build. In May/June we started gathering the first research on prefab house companies and visited various model home exhibitions. The first talks with companies were held.

Due to an accident in the family, we let the topic rest a bit and picked it up again at the end of September. Since then, we have been trying to find someone who will build with us or with whom we want to build.

And that is exactly the sticking point in the story. Slowly I think that no one wants to build with us. We don’t have any crazy ideas (single-family house 150 sqm), the land is available and the budget of 400k (including additional construction costs and miscellaneous) in my opinion is not that small either. By now we pretty much know what we want, so we are only uncertain about minor details and would like to start building as soon as we feel sure about something.

But sometimes we have to chase the consultants to finally get an offer. When asking about a preliminary selection of materials, they just casually say that there is no possibility in the next 2-3 months. And these are all good companies that I would actually like to build with. Apart from those who completely ignore our wishes or those who are simply unsympathetic right away. So by now there are actually only 2.5 (0.5 with a lot of goodwill) left in the running and we are sometimes still waiting for more precise numbers.

Do we have too high demands on the quality of consulting? I am simply not willing to sign a contract after the second appointment without, for example, a preliminary selection. Or to sign anything until most of it is planned and presented the way we imagine it. How many appointments did you have with your construction company before you committed?

By now I’m even at the point where I think “No matter if they are unsympathetic, as long as the house fits” – although that strongly contradicts my gut feeling. How important is the personal level with the seller?

How long did your decision-making phase last? I am sometimes really a bit frustrated and occasionally think that we will never find someone with whom we can or want to build.

I look forward to hearing your experiences.

The discovery phase lasted about 4 months. Preliminary sampling at the house construction company was mandatory.

The question is whether you want to build with a general contractor (GU) or simply go to the architect.

Overall, it must be said currently that construction companies/tradespeople have endless work and are not dependent on every customer. Accordingly, this is often how they operate.

P.S. We decided on a plot of land in January (after about 2.5 months of searching) and were ready to build less than half a year later (with an architect and already some tradespeople). Unfortunately, we then had to wait for the development, so we started building at the beginning of October. So it can also go very quickly.

Hello herann,

to be honest, I am a bit shocked when I read your report here...

Problems like the ones you describe here were completely unknown to us during our planning, selection, and construction phase.

We also built a prefabricated house - we signed the contract in autumn 2013, construction (basement) started in summer 2014, and we moved in February this year.

We searched and planned for about 6 months - however, we also took a very close look at the respective production beforehand.

A certain sympathy was also very important to us, even though the house itself is already more important.

We still have regular contact with our sales consultant today.

We also did a pre-sampling before signing the contract - I would not give that up under any circumstances - we learned and experienced a lot there.

Which 2.5 prefabricated house providers are still in the running with you?

Regards,

Dirk

So we actually want to build with a prefab house company and not deal with the individual craftsmen. However, I also share your impression that many people currently don't "need" it.

Currently, Hanse Haus, Fertighaus Weiss and Weberhaus (50%) are still in the running. I am already very disappointed with Weberhaus. After two rather inconclusive meetings, we have now been waiting for two weeks for a rough figure for our construction project (mind you, not a detailed offer...) maybe they will still manage, but I currently have little hope.

We have already talked to Schwörerhaus, Rensch-Haus, Bien-Zenker (no preliminary sampling possible for the next 2-3 months), Kampa, Hin Haus, Allkauf Haus, Dan Haus. Here, in some cases the offer didn’t fit at all, the concept didn’t or the chemistry with the advisors was missing. The problem is, until you get an offer, usually 2-3 appointments are required – that takes a lot of time and I have the big fear that we won't manage to finally put a bow on it by the end of Q1.

We definitely want to see the production or the sampling exhibition before we make such a big investment, but apparently this is not obvious for many or we are just unattractive as customers...

Hello,

ok, I really didn’t expect that from Weberhaus - but it obviously depends heavily on the consultant.

We built a Weberhaus and, as already mentioned, are more than satisfied...

Where is your Weberhaus consultant based?

Weiss was also still in the running until shortly before the decision, but after visiting the production facility, we decided on Weberhaus. During these visits, we each brought along my father-in-law (as an internal family expert), since he is a master carpenter with experience in timber frame construction and knows exactly where to look.

In the last few months, I have read one or another negative report about Weiss in a construction blog, which also surprised me, since our conversations there left a positive impression.

We also had several appointments during which we adjusted one or another detail - in the end, however, we found it important that everything fits perfectly in such a big project - only when we were convinced that everything was right did we sign the contract.

Regards,

Dirk