Initial thoughts on the topic of homeownership

Hello everyone,

my family and I (4 children, 2 adults) are currently considering buying a house.

At first, we thought about an "old building," but since the prices for a new build are not much higher, we have probably decided on a new build.

For time reasons, it should mainly be a prefabricated house.

Finances:

According to an initial consultation with an independent financial advisor, we can expect the following amounts:

approx. €180,000 financing (bank loan + Kfw subsidies) approx. €40,000 equity + WFA funding

In total: approx. between €250,000 and €300,000

We have chosen, for example, the type Lichthaus from Town & Country:

Costs: approx. €106,000 as a shell house (I am an electrician, an acquaintance is a plumber, another acquaintance is a painter) Additional construction costs: approx. €35,000 (according to another post in this forum, thanks in advance!) Land costs: approx. €80,000 (roughly estimated for 400m²) Costs for finishing: approx. €30,000 (very roughly estimated) would be a total of: €261,000

Garden and garage can also be tackled at a later date!

Are there any additional costs that I have not considered so far? Does anyone notice anything negative about the linked offer spontaneously?

These are just first thoughts we have had and which experts should take a look at. Is building a house feasible roughly like this?

Many thanks in advance, many questions will follow :rolleyes:

Yours

Dominic

Does your acquaintance roughly have a month free just to be there for you? Or at least a little bit now and then? Then the construction will be delayed and that also costs money!

Where do you put the 4 children in the light house? Each in their own room and you on the ground floor? If yes, where do you have storage space?

I consider 30k for the interior finishing to be very low. Floors and walls alone easily cost well over 5000 (if you take 4€ click laminate).

Is the floor slab already included in the 106k?

Often mentioned: a prefabricated house is not faster! But Town & Country isn’t a prefabricated house either, is it?

106,000 for a shell house? That’s almost too cheap, isn’t it? 30,000 for the finishing, I consider unrealistic. You have to buy all the cables, pipes, insulation material, and wall covering. I agree with perlenmann, if you don’t want to buy everything new within 4 years with 4 children, you should invest a bit more in the floors.

Shell house ... the big question you have to ask is, what is included. Are the radiators already included? Is the screed already laid? Enough windows? and so on....

So, let's start from the beginning ;)

My acquaintance (e.g. the plumber) obviously wouldn't have an entire month straight available for us, but I trust myself to lay the water pipes etc. alone, at least following his instructions.

Correct, in this example the children would move to the upper floor and we would have a bedroom on the ground floor.
As storage space, I was thinking of a basement garage. It doesn't need heating and the insulation of the house is simpler/cheaper (I think).

The foundation slab is already included with this house according to the advertisement.

Hmm, a prefab house is not cheaper and also not built faster? So where are the advantages of a prefab house then? Just asking plainly:confused:

This house is a "ready-mixed solid house", I assume the walls consist of solid stone but are already prefabricated and not built stone by stone.

Turnkey this house would be at 170,000.
As a shell construction, I imagine a shell including screed, paneled walls, installed windows and exterior doors. Am I wrong here?

Admittedly, the 30,000 € for the finishing are VERY roughly estimated, bearing in mind that I can buy all the materials at purchase price from the wholesaler, so it should be significantly cheaper.

170,000 for turnkey? That would be just about 1,300 € per sqm for 129 sqm net floor area.... very unlikely, or only the cheapest materials used.

Have you ever had a concrete offer made? You’re talking about advertising. You always have to approach that with caution. The devil is in the details here. A colleague had a Town & Country house built and had quite a bit of trouble during the construction phase. However, after some back and forth, everything was resolved. But that’s because Town & Country doesn’t build themselves, but are licensees, i.e. subcontractors. You can be lucky or unlucky with that.

In general, believing does not mean knowing. Ask for the building service description. That should include everything that is in the shell house. Then go to a Town & Country consultant and have them make you an offer. Then you'll have an approximate figure what the house will cost. And that is definitely more than in the advertising. Always get all promises in writing in principle. Afterwards, no one will remember that. I also found that annoying, as I believe in the good in people, but my consultant wrote everything down on his own and copied it for us.

About prefab houses in general: Sure, they are built faster, and that is their only advantage. A short manageable construction phase, usually everything from one source, industrial production with factory quality control. If the bricklayer lays crookedly, well, maybe no one notices.
Regarding the price: There are prefab houses and prefab houses.... Some use high-quality wood, others cardboard/gypsum boards. You just have to compare the building service descriptions. Floor plans all look the same, and all promise the same thing.

I already feared that there is a big difference between the advertisement and reality.

Today I already made a consultation appointment with Danwood. (even though they seem too cheap/inexpensive to me).
I will also get a consultation at Town & Country shortly.
I will look for a third one, let's see who it will be.
Then we will have a comparison.