Is the schedule realistic?

This schedule assumes that we are building a prefabricated house with a basement.

[*]September-December 2012: planning the house, floor plan, etc., searching for the plot of land

Hello Nebenkosten

You want to have found a plot of land and completed the planning in 4 months??
Are there that many new development areas where you are?
Do you already know the zoning plans?

We ourselves searched for a suitable plot of land for about 1.5 years.
After all, we want to live there for the rest of our lives (or at least most of it). Therefore, the location of the plot is the most important thing.
Many plots of land we looked at we did not want (poor traffic connections, too close to the highway (noise), too expensive, ... , ... , ...)

During that time we had already obtained offers based on our ideas for our house.
Then we found our plot of land – and were not allowed to build what we wanted there.
So all planning was pointless again!
And I think no reputable provider gets deeply involved in planning if there is no plot of land yet...

Planning time for us, after we had the plot: about half a year. (including external review of the construction specifications and subsequent incorporation of our change requests)

A realistic schedule should be 1 year from the binding reservation of a plot of land. Plus waiting time with the developer...

Regards
Micha

Thank you very much for your answers, I have already tried several times to reply, but for some reason the forum won’t let me send the answer... here we go again....

We are already looking for plots of land, but we are very fixed regarding the location, since we can have a maximum of 10 minutes distance to my husband's workplace. At first we thought this would cause problems, but now I find it quite pleasant not to have so many options. Specifically, there are currently 2 places where up to 10 building plots each are for sale and we consider these to be relatively unproblematic from a construction point of view (no slope, fully developed etc.).

I had no idea that there are waiting times with the construction companies. Is that because many people are building at the moment due to the low interest rates? It disappoints me a lot that it would take so long until we can actually move into our own house, as it probably means we will have to move into a rental property in the meantime – for basically 1 year, which always means a huge move with soon 3 small children. I had hoped that we could be in place by the start of the 2013 school year sigh.....

In addition, I have one more question: does anyone have a literature recommendation on the topic of building, or even more specifically on the topic of buying a plot of land first? I would like to read up on what exactly needs to be considered when it comes to the topic of development... as I understand here up to approx. 50 T Euro can be incurred in addition if one is not careful, DESPITE full development?

I still get a bit upset today about our land purchase.

Our plot is a gap in a built-up area where construction took place between 1960 and 1970. One would assume that it is fully developed. That is also how it was presented to us by the notary and the real estate agent. I even called the municipality as a precaution and inquired whether there were any outstanding invoices for road and sewer connection. The clear answer "No" came by email.
At the notary appointment, we asked the sellers again if there were any outstanding invoices. The answer was yes, a water pipe had been laid back then but not paid for. They would reduce the purchase price by €1000 since the pipe had cost 1000 DM at the time. They had also informed the real estate agent and even the notary. Unfortunately, neither of the two overpaid "service providers" said a word to us.

Well, we didn’t think for long and bought the plot. It would have been bought anyway, as good building plots are scarce in our area.

Well, four weeks ago the invoice arrived, charged at today's prices: €12,000.

No one could tell us in advance, neither the agent, nor the notary, nor the municipality, because the waterworks are not subordinate to the municipality…
Well, it remains a cheap plot, but such things are annoying. Therefore, simply ask the following things before buying:

Street paid?
Sewer paid?
Any outstanding invoices with the water supplier?
Same with electricity, gas, etc.
Then speak with the sellers personally beforehand if it’s not the municipality.

And finally, ask the municipality if anything major is planned in the coming years, like sewer renovation, etc.

Thank you for your answers! A bit discouraging, sometimes I think we should just give it all up and keep renting, ha ha...

We are aware of the extra costs, although we don’t have to have a perfect outdoor area right away in the first year; I would really enjoy being actively involved in designing it.

Do you know if companies like [Helma] also have such long wait times? So, is it specifically because prefabricated houses are currently sold so frequently, or is it the same for traditional house builders of this kind (represented nationwide, etc.)? Are regional traditional house providers perhaps the “faster” option? The reason we are in such a hurry is that, with the 3 small children, I am currently 1.5 hours away by car from my husband’s new workplace (which is also our home and where we want to live long-term) and we have to decide whether we really have to move once more and rent again in the meantime (apart from the fact that the rental market in the mentioned area looks terrible, very expensive or totally run-down accommodations and we are currently renting a very nice house here....). I had the dream that we could move into our new house with just one move by the next kindergarten year.

We have now learned that the area of our preferred plot of land is rather unsuitable for building a basement, so since yesterday we have been planning without a basement as well, and I like it more and more... I now imagine that I could have a small laundry room upstairs and wouldn’t always have to carry the laundry up... and maybe a small pantry and storage room off the kitchen... but that’s another topic again.