New single-family house in southern Germany

Which floor plans are you planning with?
How precise is your room program?
How exact are your requirements? There is a world of difference between Town & Country and Weberhaus.
Could the item bathtub already imply a surcharge for the freestanding bathtub, and in the electrical work for KNX?
We had planned with a relatively small general contractor who came to our home for the first meeting to estimate how he prices the equipment. Hülsta or Ikea, no-name or Rudolf Benz, hardware store or designer lamp, Kik or brand clothing.

I would take the holidays to sort out my thoughts. At some point, you literally drown in the infos and possibilities. You lose orientation in the jungle of construction service descriptions. What do you want? Exact room program? Requirements for technology, equipment, etc.
What do you outsource externally, e.g., photovoltaics?

maybe just pay a realistic price right away - without general contractor insolvency, without a butcher who thinks he can play general contractor - but without significant construction defects, without spending the difference on experts, lawyers and the like

no

maybe just pay a realistic price right away - without GU insolvency, without a butcher who thinks he can play GU - but without significant construction defects, without spending the difference on expert fees, lawyers and the like

So far we have come off fairly lightly - at least financially, we'll leave aside the battered nerves. Others also reach their limits when building a house. I know a family with 2 children who have been living in the converted garage for 8 years because they are building the house themselves. That would be worse for me.

It's not like we didn't inform ourselves about GU1 before signing the contract. We looked at 4 houses (although smaller than ours) and the builders were satisfied except for a few minor issues. GU1 had to pay for lawyers and court costs from the first legal dispute. With the prices mentioned here, we would have needed a loan of 1.5 million. And of course, we wouldn't have gotten it. The alternative would be not building at all. So I prefer the current state of affairs. If I can manage to get this house with 2x 210 sqm living space and 200 sqm waterproof basement turnkey for about €600,000, all is well. And as of today, that is achievable.

maybe just pay a realistic price right away - without general contractor insolvency, without a butcher who thinks he can play GC - but without significant construction defects, without spending the difference on experts, lawyers and the like

no

That was not a post, but copied and accidentally sent.

How exact are your requirements? There is a world of difference between Town & Country and Weberhaus.

I know. With Town & Country, radiators are standard, underfloor heating is extra, gas heating instead of heat pump is standard, etc. You can add everything on, but of course that increases the price. Basically, a simpler specification is enough for us, but certain points in the home technology are important.

Could the item bathtub maybe already include a surcharge for the freestanding bathtub, or the electrical system for KNX?

The bathtub usually gets dropped for us. I’ve been living in the apartment for 10 years now and have used the bathtub about 5 times for bathing, otherwise always just as a shower. For what a bathtub costs and the space it takes up, I can go to the thermal baths quite often. There everyone also has plenty of space in the pool. Well, the money tends to go towards the walk-in shower. At first, I thought it was totally unnecessary, but the longer it goes, the more interesting I find the idea. Smart home at our place will be limited to electric blinds. Especially since I come from IT, I don’t want to install too much technology that becomes outdated extremely quickly and is usually exposed on the Internet. Our equipment is generally planned quite down-to-earth. Not necessarily the cheapest but definitely no luxury either. Just something properly functioning. Basically the Skoda of houses.

What do you outsource externally, e.g. photovoltaics.

If possible, we wanted to be involved as little as possible before moving in since we live quite far away. Quickly opening the door for a craftsman is out of the question if it’s a 45-minute drive each way. That’s why we first have all offers prepared as a complete package wherever possible and only want to look at, for example, outsourcing the photovoltaics ourselves once we have decided on a provider. I contacted the local general contractor yesterday about limiting the earthworks and deep drilling. Apparently he slept in this morning and only replied at half past five, but it seems everything is actually included without limitation, e.g. “there won’t be any additional costs for you – we do the drilling that is necessary according to the calculation.” If that is actually the case, it would make the offer significantly cheaper than it looks and definitely competitive with Weberhaus. For the nicer and bigger house with full flexibility. Unfortunately, the building specification is still missing, so I say all this with reservations.

mh could be. Some work according to the principle whatever has to be done, has to be done whether it's 20.5 cm or 35. That puts things into perspective. It was like that with us too. Garbage, insurance, gutters completely and not 30 cm above the ground etc