we have bought a plot of land in a new development area (500 sqm). Now the question arises for me how we should most sensibly approach building a house. We have not yet settled on a house with stone or solid construction. Also, I cannot say whether Kfw40 or a lower standard. It depends on the additional cost. Should one first talk to an architect or a builder?
First of all, you should create two threads here (and link them in this thread), namely one in the floor plan planning section that starts with the completed questionnaire and please not too narrowly cropped excerpts from the land registry extract and development plan. Caution – you may mention the development plan here, but not link to it!
Therefore, I can unfortunately only recommend you to look up (preferably including the quotation marks) "Ein Hausbau-Fahrplan, auch für Sie: das Phasenmodell der HOAI!" (on
Bauen jetzt). This gives you an insight into reading the structure of the fee structure for architects (which you do not have to apply) as a workflow plan for your planning process. There is also a construction terminology dictionary and, for example, my stone mantra, as well as an explanation of why "model houses lie."
Visiting model home parks might be one option to get a first feel for the subject.
Model home parks and prefab house exhibitions have, on the one hand, the "design flaw" that almost only "prefab" houses (and those mostly from timber frame panel suppliers) are there. On the other hand, you will quickly fall victim to sales talkers there who want to eliminate your openness to both construction methods (and have learned this quite well, even if little else). Visit such parks – but definitely only
after the talks with your architect!
In these exhibitions, you will learn a lot – but only things designed to convince you of the offers there. It is best to go there when you have already discussed the house in its basic form with the architect and merely collect ideas for fittings. The ideal time to visit such exhibitions is the "dough resting phase" (which you can find explained at the aforementioned place). Here in the forum, the search function with the keywords "Fahrplan"/"Vorgehensweise" and "Gerddieter" will lead you to a number of posts in which I explain planning procedures and the topic of architect selection.
We have already done that. We also have very concrete ideas. We also already know where our financial framework lies. Should one directly tell the architect, builder, prefab house manufacturer where the budget is? Or is that rather a disadvantage?
You best discuss budget questions openly here in the forum (but be careful: there is a stiff breeze in this category!) and keep in mind with any kind of house providers that they want to channel your budget into their coffers down to the last drop. Also, you must note that, for example, the fitted kitchen is not among the items included in the construction loan. You already got a bit of a feel for incidental costs when buying the plot, and it will continue that way.
The most important thing with the architect is that you hire one yourself and pay transparently. He is NOT more expensive than the one "included" in the price by the builder but works differently and above all: in the construction management, is partisan
for you. You commission the architect first for "Module A" and then, with the result of the preliminary design planning, make an orientation inquiry to a total of four to five timber and stone builders – you can also partly do this during visits to the model home centers. Based on the feedback, you then decide which construction method is more favorable in your case and commission the architect derived from that for the entire "Module B" or only performance phase 3. But that is actually already a duplication of what you can read in the posts under the aforementioned keywords. Have fun!
P.S.: one more word about the energy standard and special subsidies for granny flats: build the house for yourselves and according to today’s legal standard. The subsidies for tomorrow’s standards, to put it briefly, only pay off for those privately insured, and playing landlord with the batch size "one housing unit" is economically nonsense. Likewise, no one builds a retirement home now if you are under 40.