Land available, ideas too, and now?

Hello dear forum community! First of all, a big compliment to everyone for answering and discussing so many questions here with so much dedication. I have already read up a lot in the past few days. About my situation: I have already purchased our "dream plot" with my wife in a new development in Cologne (70% financed). Now we want to take the next step in 2013 or 2014 (depending on financial feasibility) and build, or have built. Like most people, I have already considered questions: solid construction or prefabricated. I remain open here and basically only want to decide on our perfect house that fits the price-performance ratio. Whether stone or wood then doesn’t matter to me. We already have relatively concrete ideas about the appearance of the house and the interior layout. We have a 660 m² plot and plan a 180-200 m² house in Mediterranean style with a basement. High-end equipment, but not luxury or anything like that. Parts of the interior finishing will probably be done ourselves, since my wife has a total of 8 (!!) uncles, all of whom work professionally in various trades. ;-) About my question: What is the best way to proceed now? On Sunday we are visiting a model house exhibition to get more information. However, it is clear that every prefabricated house manufacturer there praises itself as the best. Does it make sense to first find an architect and involve them in all further planning, or are there consultants who take on this task? Architects of the prefabricated house manufacturers are only committed to their employer and in case of doubt, we will be left empty-handed. In short: Who tells me that we are not negotiating ourselves into ruin... ;-:)? Should one acquire more knowledge oneself or can one rely on objective services? I would be happy if someone could provide me with information about this. Many greetings Rethgif

If you have so many craftsmen in the family who, at best, also cover different trades and show willingness to help, it practically suggests itself to hire an architect, plan the house freely, and award the trades individually.

Hello,

First of all, a big compliment to everyone for answering and discussing so many questions here with so much dedication.

The forum operator is always happy to receive compliments :)

About my situation:
My wife and I have already purchased our "dream plot" in a new development in Cologne (70% financed).
Now we want to take the next step in 2013 or 2014 (depending on financial feasibility) and build, or have built.

Widdersdorf?

Like most people, I have already gone through questions: solid construction or prefab. Here I remain open and actually just want to decide on the perfect house for us, which fits the price-performance ratio. Whether stone or wood then doesn’t matter to me. We already have fairly concrete ideas about the appearance of the house and the interior layout.

The price-performance ratio is hardly comparable between detached houses and prefabricated houses; furthermore, the high-quality built detached houses are always significantly more expensive.

We have a 660 m² plot and plan a 180-200 m² house in Mediterranean style with a basement. Upmarket equipment, but not luxury or anything like that.
Parts of the interior finishing will probably be done by ourselves, as my wife has a total of 8 (!!) uncles, all of whom are professionally active in various crafts. ;-)

The topic of craftsmen from the family should be settled with your last post. In my opinion, they might be able to help you with tiles, interior doors, flooring, and painting work. These are trades that can easily be done over a few weekends and also justify longer travel times with adequate catering :)

My question:
What is the best way to proceed now?
On Sunday we are visiting a model house exhibition to get more information.
However, it is clear that there every prefab house manufacturer praises themselves as the best.

If you go to W´tal you’ll also find plenty of MH providers, if you go to Frechen you’ll only encounter FH providers. Incidentally, each kennel praises its own puppy :) Go to the new development area where your plot is located or any other and talk to homeowners on-site - preferably on weekends. This way you get honest and unfiltered information about different providers.

Does it make sense to first find an architect and involve him in all further planning, or are there consultants who take on this task? Architects employed by prefabricated house manufacturers are only committed to their employer and in case of doubt, we will be left empty-handed.
In short: Who tells me that we are not negotiating ourselves into ruin... ;-:)?
Should one acquire more knowledge oneself or can one rely on objective services?

It is always important – I have found this throughout my life – to use the resources available to you. The architect for the floor plans, the lawyer for the contracts, and expertise for the construction specification. What other people have studied or worked on for ages, you cannot catch up in an internet crash course. Furthermore, partial knowledge read off is often very dangerous, as you can read here in abundance!

Decide first what is important to you:
- Close support by an architect – then you should work with an architect
- A prefab house – don’t be intimidated by the name; prefab only means in the best case that the house is assembled in the factory before being erected on site – it is also not ready to move in immediately. With prefab houses, it also depends decisively on which provider you choose, otherwise the bank might say no at certain financing levels.
- Or rather a solidly built house.

It will not work without this decision, otherwise you will lose track – because within these groups there are still plenty of things you should carefully check and consider. Not least, it is also a question of your budget.

Kind regards

Thanks first of all for the detailed answer. I will continue to think about it and get back to you later. Do you usually choose your own architect only if you want to build a solid house, or can you also have a prefabricated house built with the designs of your own architect?

Widdersdorf?

Yes, we will be Prima Colonier. ;-)

The topic of craftsmen from the family should be settled with your last post. In my opinion, they might be able to help you with tiles, interior doors, floor coverings, and painting work. These are trades that can be done easily on a few weekends and also - with appropriate catering - justify the longer trip :-)

Yes, that’s exactly how I imagine it.

Hello,

Do you usually choose your own architect only if you want to build a solid house, or can you also have a prefabricated house built based on the designs of your own architect?

As a rule, it is probably mostly solid houses. However, I cannot think of any logical reason why you should not be able to have a prefabricated house built with an architect and the corresponding craftsmen.

However, if you choose an architect, plan with him, and then go to the prefabricated house providers, it could backfire because most of them have quite specific requirements ... so your dream house might not be able to be built by some of them.

Best regards

By the way, thanks already for the tip about Wuppertal. So instead of going to Frechen as planned, we’re going to Wuppertal this weekend. The exhibition is even bigger and the mix of prefab and solid is sensible. :cool: