Is a house for a total volume of 400k still possible at all?

There is a pretty good list of incidental construction costs here in the forum.

Take it with you to the general contractor or check off items yourself based on the construction specification.
Determine the costs for everything that is not included.

Every builder has to do this homework.

Many do not. They then very often go into additional financing and call the construction company unreliable.

Very well expressed :)

Nowadays, many builders no longer bother to work out every little detail. In my opinion, however, this is the duty of the builder - I simply cannot rely 100% on the statements of general contractors or property developers. You really have to put some effort into such a project and get informed... I don’t take out a loan for half a million and then go like: "GC, just do it, it’s fine like that."

But if for many people this is already "too much" or "too complicated," then I honestly don’t know if building a house is the right decision...

I just happened to come across this thread. As a builder near Düsseldorf (Meerbusch), I have built a single-family house myself over the past 1.5 years and finally moved in in February.

Rough key data would be:

170 sqm living space
2.5 stories, fully basemented (basement not living space)
Masonry garage 9 m x 3 m
KS hollow brick + 18 cm ETICS, gable walls clad with facing bricks
Air-to-water heat pump
A lot (!) of own work

The plot was family-owned. We invested just under 400k including all ancillary construction costs.

BUT: We built without a general contractor or construction manager. Everything was contracted out individually and I myself acted as site manager. I am technically and manually skilled, but unrelated as a mechanical engineer.

If desired, I can break down the costs a little more.

Regards, Jupp

I just happened to come across this thread. As a builder near Düsseldorf (Meerbusch), I have built a single-family house myself over the last 1.5 years and finally moved in in February.

Rough key data would be:

170 sqm living space
2.5 stories, fully basemented (basement not living space)
masonry garage 9 m x 3 m
KS hollow brick + 18 cm ETICS, gable walls clad with facing bricks
air-to-water heat pump
a lot (!) of own labor

The plot was family-owned. We invested just under 400k including all ancillary construction costs.

BUT: We built without a general contractor or construction manager. Everything was contracted out by individual trades and I acted as the construction manager myself. I am technically and craft-wise skilled, but as a mechanical engineer, I am not from the construction field.

If needed, I can break down the costs in more detail.

Best regards,
Jupp

It would certainly be good to know what own labor you did.

Very well expressed :) Many builders nowadays no longer bother to work out everything down to the smallest detail. In my opinion, however, this is the builder's duty - I just can't rely 100% on the statements of the general contractors or property developers. You have to put some effort into such a project and inform yourself... I don't take out a loan for half a million and then act like: "GU, just do it, it's fine like that." But if that's already "too much" or "too complicated" for many people, then I really don't know if building a house is the right decision...

Those who could afford the "GU just do it" approach are rather not represented here. And precisely those who could afford it do not act that way, because you don't make money in the long run with that mentality.

It would certainly be good to know what own contributions you made.

Our quite extensive own contributions included:
- Construction management (architect was only phases 1-4, i.e. up to building permit, support during construction through an expert)
- Electrical (chasing, flush-mounted boxes, cables, smart distribution cabinets, electrician commissioned the system and connected it to the grid)
- Sanitary (water, wastewater, pre-wall elements, final installation of bathroom ceramics)
- Drywall (ready for tiler, i.e. substructure and paneling)
- Laying the underfloor heating (insulation, studded plates, pipes)
- Painting work
- Floor coverings
- Interior doors
- Construction of wastewater inspection chamber
- Insulation between rafters, installation of climate membrane
- countless small stuff and things I have forgotten or repressed...

But I must also admit that in this scope it would have been difficult without Corona (short-time work, leave of absence). At the same time, it was particularly necessary (unplanned income losses).

So, you can build a full-grown single-family house for <= 400k. At least it worked out for us. But that's certainly not the standard procedure.

Regards,
Jupp

Hello Jupp,

that really sounds interesting. I would like to learn more about it if possible, but I am not yet able to receive PMs. Are there other contact options?

Thanks and kind regards