Looking for regional disability insurance for a single-family house in the Oberbergischer Kreis (ZIP code area 51...).

Hello everyone.

My wife and I own a 929 sqm flat building plot in a new development area (planning 2019, construction start possible since early 2021) in the Oberberg district. We want to build a solid single-family house without a basement on it. In my opinion, the answer to the question "How do you actually start?" is always difficult in this context. Our first thought was to hire a house-building company. Acquaintances immediately mentioned big names, and even friend Google was not shy about providing an immense list. House catalogs were quickly ordered. Currently, four of them remain: Kern-Haus, Town & Country, Helma, and Heinz von Heiden. Quite by chance, I then discovered this forum. I quickly read wildly through the subforums of house-building companies. After that, I was afraid and had a stomach ache because my idealistic idea of building a house broke into many small shards. What stuck with me from the endless comments, however, was one tip: regional builder! Until then, we had not dealt with that at all. But why not? Of course, friend Google can help me again with the search. However, I trust that perhaps one or the other builder here might already be able to share experiences with us?

In the new development area, there is already a completed house from the company Bohn Massivhaus (Odenthal). The builder happened to be outside at the garbage bins and seemed satisfied, among other things because of the construction period of 7 months. There are also shell constructions from Heinz von Heiden and other big players. I am also familiar with the company Korthaus Gruppe (Bergisch Gladbach) from many regional construction projects. Also appealing to me on friend Google was the company Mundt (Bensberg). Further results are the companies Oelsner (Leverkusen), Hütte (Olpe), and Koch (Olpe).

I look forward to your comments and am curious about your experience reports. If someone can recommend a source that provides a chronological and planning guideline on the topic of house building, I would not be averse to a tip.

In advance, I would like to thank everyone who actively contributes to my post to achieve the best possible outcome for us.

Best regards

However, I trust that here one or the other builder might already be able to share experiences with us?

In the section "Experiences with Home Construction Companies" you might already be able to find one or the other of them:

In the new development area there is already a completed house from Fa. Bohn Massivhaus (Odenthal). [...] Through many regional construction projects, I am also familiar with Fa. Korthaus Gruppe (Bergisch Gladbach). Appealing to me on Friendly Google was also Fa. Mundt (Bensberg). Other results are Fa. Oelsner (Leverkusen), Fa. Hütte (Olpe) and Fa. Koch (Olpe).

I just quickly surfed to all of them and at first glance did not find anyone unsuitable in between. With this half dozen regional providers (and the aforementioned big players, whose partner companies are not all bad either) you definitely have more than enough to have a selection or a basis for further filtering.

My wife and I own a 929 sqm large, flat building plot in a new development area

The size should easily be sufficient even with a low floor area ratio, flatness I only believe after closer inspection – there are simply too many "flat" plots here by layman’s assessment.

How does one actually get started? Our first thought was to commission a home construction company.

My even earlier thought would have been an architect, and to initially approach the performance phases 1 and 2 with one and then the module B and possibly so on. But if you have already obtained catalogs, of course you can also look to see which house model from them would be a suitable and appealing basis.
We can already do that together: You open a thread with the completed questionnaire from the head of the floor plan section, also show the plot and the catalog models of the shortlist there.
If you have already read diligently here, you will surely have come across my hint that "independent architect" and "tendering" complement each other (as well as do not exclude an award to a general contractor).
Don’t just look at the houses in the catalogs, but also at the builders, who are often pictured there: do they look like you or your friends, or rather like people from other circles (or a different generation or with different family circumstances)? – because "normal" even for the German average Thomas Müller is very rare. The more differentiated you can "qualify" your own description, the more something can be made of it.

In the new development area, there is already a completed house from the company Bohn Massivhaus (Odenthal). The builder happened to be outside by the garbage bins and seemed satisfied, among other things because of the construction time of 7 months. In addition, there are also shell constructions from Heinz von Heiden and other big players. I am also familiar with the company Korthaus Gruppe (Bergisch Gladbach) through many regional construction projects. Another appealing company on Google for me was Mundt (Bensberg). Other results include Oelsner (Leverkusen), Hütte (Olpe) and Koch (Olpe).

You don’t need more tips than you can give yourself, and you probably won’t get any more from a nationwide forum either.

Hello quasi neighbor. We also built with Schwirten & Klein in Gummersbach using sk Holzbau and are more than satisfied - communication, quality, handling of problems, everything fits. We build either as a carpentry company (core business) or also turnkey. I know the house on the sk Holzbau homepage quite well.;)

In the section "Erfahrungen mit Hausbaufirmen" you might be able to find one or the other from them:

I will try again with the search function. Thanks.

I just quickly browsed through them all and at first glance found no unsuitable ones among them. With this half dozen regional providers (and the aforementioned big players, whose partner companies are also not all bad) you definitely have more than enough together to have a selection or a basis for further filtering.

Thanks for the initial feedback on this.

The size should be sufficient even with a low floor area ratio, I always believe in flatness only after a closer inspection – there are simply too many plots here that look "flat" based on layman’s assessment.

In the development plan, 1 full floor applies with a floor area ratio of 0.35 and a roof pitch between 20 and 40 degrees. Yes, I have estimated that as a layman. In Oberbergischer Landkreis we have a different idea about that as well :-D



I put together an elevation profile. I hope it makes it easier to understand. In fact, we have a steeply sloping hillside on the longest side of the plot.

My much earlier thought would have been an architect, and to initially tackle performance phases 1 and 2 with such a person and then module B and possibly further on. But if you have already obtained catalogs, of course you can also look to see which house model from them would be a suitable and liked basis.

Okay, unfortunately I have not dealt with performance phases and modules, I am hearing about that for the first time.

We can even do that together: you start a thread with the filled-out questionnaire from the top of the floor plan section, also showing the plot and the catalog models in the closer selection.

Sorry, but I unfortunately could not find a questionnaire. Could you help me out?

If you have already been diligently reading here, you have surely come across my hint that "independent architect" and "tendering" complement each other (and do not exclude awarding to a general contractor). Don’t just look at the houses in the catalogs, but also at the builders who are often pictured there: do they look like you or your friends, or rather like people from other circles (or another generation or with different family situations)? – Because "normal" is in fact even the German average Thomas Müller only very rarely. The more differentiated you can "qualify" and describe yourselves, the more useful something can be made of it.

All right, thanks for the tips.

The development plan allows 1 full floor with a floor area ratio of 0.35 and a roof pitch between 20 and 40 degrees. [...] I made a height profile. I hope it is illustrative.

I had already suspected the low ratio given the size. The height profile is enough to confirm my suspicion that my basement rule will argue against a slab-on-grade house.

Okay, unfortunately I haven’t dealt with performance phases and modules, I’m hearing about this for the first time now.

The structuring of the architect's work into performance phases can be found in the fee schedule, google “A house-building roadmap, also for you: the phase model of HOAI!”; the structuring of the package relevant for home builders “performance phases 1 to 8” into modules A to C is a recommendation from me. This goes back to the fact that many prospective builders a) are unsure whether the architect they found is really the “right one” and b) do not want to use all phases. Therefore, I recommend the following procedure: 1. Commission the architect initially only for performance phases 1 and 2 (module A); 2. (IMPORTANT!) a break (= “dough rest”) after completion of the preliminary design phase; 3. Commission the architect with “module B”, i.e. up to and including the execution planning (the milestone “approval stamp” is NOT a suitable point to stop planning!); 4. Apprentice sorcerer gambles or continuing to commission the architect. I note that a majority of prospective builders think it is wise to risk a bloody nose – I am able to learn (as I already did when switching over to the recommendation for aluminum windows and doors only for the embankment elements).

Sorry, but I unfortunately couldn’t find a questionnaire. Could you give me a nudge?

Regular restructuring keeps users fit by constantly forcing them to find the path to essential key threads anew: