Massive house offer, need your help

Good evening,

A few days ago, we bought a plot of land (600 sqm) in the Düren district. Now we have obtained offers for a solid house. One of the providers is from our area. They only work with regional companies.

Regarding the key data: The company would build for us: KFW 100, 170 sqm living space (1 1/2 floors) with architectural and structural engineering services, groundworks and base slab, double garage, Veka triple glazed windows, electronic shutters throughout the house, sanitary installations, fireplace, wooden staircase, Wolf air heat pump, electrical package including construction site setup and Bims masonry, clinker bricks.

Cost 227,000 EUR. Own work such as painting, tiling, buying interior doors, roof insulation and drywall will be additional.

Now an acquaintance says that the offer is way too expensive for that price. A KFW 100 house would not be up to date and the own work included is overestimated at that price.

However, we have no idea...

Can anyone help? What KfW efficiency class should the house have? Allegedly the heating and the windows are also rubbish! If someone can help me, I would also send them the offer.

Thank you and best regards!

Would you like to write the wall structure, roof structure, floor slab, etc.? You will always have acquaintances who say that they only paid half back then :D

Such an offer can only be evaluated if the construction service description (Bauleistungsbeschreibung) of the provider is available in detail and each trade can be checked very precisely both quantitatively and qualitatively for completeness or hidden additional or expansion costs. The construction service description is usually kept very general for this reason.

170m2 / € 227,000 initially means about € 1,335/m2 NNF, a price at which it is hardly possible to build, especially since the so-called incidental construction costs (cost group 700 according to HOAI: fees e.g. for architect, structural engineer, official fees, financing costs) are supposed to be included. Hardly credible. The house is not offered at an extremely high price, but very cheaply, though in my opinion not realistically cheap. Either the construction quality is accordingly inferior or larger "expansion packages" await additional financing.

The sparse information: Bims masonry (monolithic, without ETICS? or with facing brick shell and core insulation?), Wolf heat pump; Veka windows do not allow a clear statement about the equipment standard and quality level. Wolf heating systems do not have the best reputation, Veka windows are generally okay, among the reputable manufacturers in Germany the somewhat cheaper ones. Aside from the equipment details, of course, the "architecture" of the offered house, if available, and the question whether the desired house could also be built on the plot according to building and planning law, e.g. the development plan, are also of interest.

KfW-100 is the minimum standard and is not subsidized by the KfW bank. If that does not matter, building with this construction standard is also possible, as the requirements of the Energy Saving Ordinance have by now exceeded any reasonable measure, at the latest from 01.01.2016.

I’ll upload the offer, anonymized. As said, Kfw 100 house...

.....or even bigger "expansion packages" are waiting for additional financing.

I only skimmed the offer now: The listed required own contributions are really no joke! That's quite a lot of work, even if the materials are provided. Do you know what drywalling (insulation is still okay) means in terms of effort? And the insulation for underfloor heating is not just done over a weekend either.

Additionally: painting the roof overhang. That has to be done twice. But there is no mention of a provided scaffold. And climbing around on a ladder is not recommended for this, it's better done at the same time as the plastering. I wouldn’t want to break my neck that way! The offer almost describes something like a shell-and-core house......

Although the offer mentions house connections, connecting them is only half the story. Also: the price for that seems low, even if you don't have a gas connection.

What about drainage? The inspection shaft? The house perimeter/splash protection? I find nothing about that in the offer (well, it’s late, I’m tired). But if that is really missing, we’re talking about many tens of thousands of euros extra waiting for you.

The excavation is limited to 50 cm. 50 cm for a foundation with a slab is tight. Typically and often - depending on the soil report - it’s rather 80 cm. That quickly adds up to a lot of material, whose excavation, transport, and disposal costs can quickly run into thousands of euros. Of course, you can do a shallow foundation with frost protection apron, but I didn’t read anything about that......(were parts of the offer cut off?)

I personally find the offer (description) rather sparse and often meaningless. Quality of execution and materials etc.....in my view that is far too thin, honestly that is often wishy-washy. At least that’s what strikes me, that’s how I perceive it.....maybe I’m oversensitive (? W. Pickartz, construction expert)

Until proven otherwise, I would dare to cautiously say: This construction could turn out to be a less positive surprise in terms of incidental construction costs; furthermore, it hides a very high potential for own contributions (you have to a) be able to, b) want to, c) have time for it, a lot of time or many friends to help).

Best regards Thorsten

Nice that the company is at least (on paper) able to level concrete ceilings horizontally. That gives hope. Otherwise, in my opinion, it is not worth studying or commenting on this "construction service description." It is more than meager; it is meaningless. If the house design was created with similar inspiration, I would rather want to move into a few nicely arranged construction containers.

The offer that the client can install delivered material themselves is definitely lucrative for the company, but not for you.