New single-family house including carport and garage - realistic cost estimate?

Hello,

If you build with your own architect, it will accordingly be expensive.

Sorry, but that is nonsense. Every architect plans what the client wants; that means the final price always depends on the wishes of the client. It only "seems" expensive from the outside or to a layperson because the architect determines the final price through the tendering process, which only becomes concrete when the individual offers are received. An initial cost estimate "can" hit the mark, but usually it gets more expensive ... not least because of the clients' wishes.

The company also has offers for larger houses, e.g. a 155m² house for €272,000 or 163m² for €289,900 or 180m² for €330,000. All offers are KfW 55 energy-efficient houses with pellet heating.

That would mean that a KfW 55-efficient house requires an average of €1,750.00/sqm/living space, and in my experience, that is not achievable. The problem with the KfW is not the KfW itself – just filling out paperwork – but complying with the Energy Saving Ordinance and proving it!

Rhineland regards

ups! What do you mean by this sentence:

That would mean that a KfW 55 efficiency house requires an average of €1,750.00/sqm/living space and in my experience that is not achievable. The problem with the KfW is not the KfW itself – just filling out pure paperwork, but the compliance with the Energy Saving Ordinance and its proof!

We also have a KfW55 in the offer, which (pure house without ancillary costs) is well below 1750. We are more around 1500. However, for 145 sqm.

Hello,

oops! What do you mean by this sentence:

That would mean that a KfW 55 efficiency house requires on average €1,750.00/sq m/living space and in my experience that is not achievable. The problem with KfW is not the KfW itself - just filling out the paperwork - but complying with the Energy Saving Ordinance and proving it!

I have many – currently seemingly even more than usual – conversations with structural engineers, energy consultants or employees of the large stone suppliers. What is “conjured up” in terms of the Energy Saving Ordinance – especially when facing bricks are used – does not make everyone happy and often runs on the edge of legality. €uro is often laughed at here because he consistently sticks to his line. Every user/reader here should take that to heart because €uro is so right when he says that about 95% of all proofs are wrong. I always wonder who is “sitting opposite” that these proofs still pass ....

We also have a kfw55 in the offer which (pure house without additional costs) is clearly under 1750. We are approximately at 1500. However, for 145 sqm.

First of all, the question arises why it has to be KfW 55 at all? The additional investment – if correctly implemented in solid construction and according to current technology and regulations – will not pay off. What do you think you can really save with KfW 55 compared to KfW 70?

For efficiency houses, the Energy Saving Ordinance is the standard, the KfW conditions can easily be met on paper. The transmission heat loss (heat loss to the outside) is the crucial point; it must be at least 45% below the maximum value of the Energy Saving Ordinance.

This is usually achieved through airtightness with a central ventilation system and heat recovery of up to about 80%. Also a modern heating system with renewable energy sources and good insulation as well as a south orientation with corresponding design and window fronts are recommended. What exactly meets the requirements therefore always depends on the individual case and is sometimes not always easy to determine or calculate


From the last sentence you can already see that the usual techniques of the vast majority of providers active nationwide are not enough. This means for every builder who is sold a KfW 55 efficiency house on paper that he must expect additional costs to actually achieve this standard and prove it. Serious sellers point out this circumstance!

What you name above pricewise is a value I assume in the Rhineland for a KfW 70 efficiency house. The possible range of what may be necessary to meet the status of a KfW 55 efficiency house is so diverse that in the end a surcharge of around €40,000 and more is often to be considered. If I now take your 145 sqm/living space for €217,500 and add only the €40,000 possible effort here, I am already at €1,776.00/sqm living space.

I know that the KfW Bank funding only starts at KfW 55 to become truly interesting. On the other hand, I also know that quite often a completely “normal” financing ends up being considerably cheaper for the borrower in the end. And – honestly, economically reasonable and comfortably liveable is still the KfW 70 efficiency house.

Rhineland regards

Are real euro bills used as insulation in the houses?

Seriously: the internet doesn't forget, and when I see that in 2009 you could build a 300 sqm villa for €350,000, I wonder what justifies the totally exaggerated prices? I haven't read anywhere about a multiplication of the minimum construction wage. But I have increasingly heard about exploited Romanians, Bulgarians, etc., who were enticed by unscrupulous developers and then paid less than €3/hour as freelancers.

So where exactly do the tens of thousands of euros in price increases end up - euros as insulation material? Or is it rather the new Lambo for the boss of the construction company?

I'm curious when prices will completely disappear from the internet. I had a discussion with a real estate agent a few weeks ago because a new townhouse project increased in price by over €100,000 over Christmas (simply turning the first 4 into a 5). When I remarked that I would be interested at the old price – "there are enough people who accept and will pay the new price -> no interest in doing business with me."

Hello,

In your opinion, should the architect's fee already be included in that amount?

Yes - ask your architect again if there might be a communication problem.

If we now add the estimated costs of approx. €475,000 plus kitchen, furniture, outdoor facilities, architect's fee, etc., we would be at a total sum of nearly €600,000.

That seems a bit expensive to me for a 190 m² house!!

The costs of a kitchen + furniture have nothing to do with the pure house costs; even with the outdoor facilities, I would like to have some doubts ...

Just post the list here ... of course, with anything concerning the architect blurred out.

Rhineland greetings

That is hard to say, it always depends on the construction method. Am I building solidly, which KfW value do I want to comply with, etc. We decided on solid construction with insulation in brick. The indoor climate is very important to me and so far I have not experienced a passive house that had a pleasant indoor climate for me. I experienced this extremely with timber frame prefabricated houses at a house exhibition – depending on the insulation, there is a worldwide difference. Furthermore, I do not think it makes sense if the house does not breathe – but that is purely a feeling. For example, we have a slightly sloped plot – therefore, a prefabricated garage is out of the question. This also makes a prefabricated house relatively expensive, as manufacturers charge significantly for individual adjustments, from a certain building size and level of equipment onwards. An architect builds what you want, just like some prefabricated house manufacturers – Huf more or less demonstrated that. When it comes to construction costs, you have to consider which construction method you choose, which materials you use, how many windows (possibly custom glazing needed), heating system (there are enormous differences), etc. – there is a nice book about this. We have a builder in the same building as our company and he said that about 1500€/sqm is an average value for solid construction – however, I live in the Stuttgart area and building is expensive here.