Prefabricated house or solid house companies - budget

Your first question was...

Does anyone have experience with building a house in our income bracket? Is it feasible not just on paper but also in reality?

And it was answered in combination with the income.

Your other questions can be answered relatively easily. No general contractor can realistically tell you the ancillary construction costs. Prefabricated houses are not cheaper than solid construction, rather more expensive. Prefabricated houses are also damp. Simply due to the screed. EL limitedly possible. If then as an expansion variant but who can do that. The calculation is relatively simple and rather from the year 2018/2019. Square meter living space 2000€, ancillary construction costs for a flat plot 30k€, outdoor facilities 20k€ without garage or carport. All without fittings, furniture, and buffer. That is the amount you should request from your bank and not a fictitious amount from any general contractor who just wants your signature. Nothing remains of that either. You do not have to give in to the illusion.

In very few threads it says: Solid house cost sum xy, prefab house sum z

What use is that information to you? Sometimes a house has a basement, sometimes not. Sometimes luxury fittings, sometimes just sparse. Sometimes in Munich, sometimes in the middle of nowhere. Sometimes square, practical, or with unusual architecture. Sometimes with a lot of own work, sometimes without. And then there is also the distinction between developer, architect house with individual trades contracting, general contractor, etc. Or new build vs. newly renovated existing building.

Unfortunately, you can’t use the prices. My last house, for example, cost approx. €1,450 gross per sqm with 300 sqm plot area (250 sqm living space) (incl. outdoor facilities such as a 75 sqm wooden terrace and garden pavilion) with high-quality fittings including geothermal energy and a bit of smart home + open fireplace, three bathrooms, controlled residential ventilation etc. (four years ago) – extended commuting area of Düsseldorf. Solid build approx. KFW 55, partly clinker bricks, partly ETICS, no basement.

In summary, just imagine we are the small craftsman family next door from 20 years ago. Something like that.

Well, whether that's necessarily supposed to be good, I would question. The late 90s, early 00s were not a good time, neither for craftsmen nor for Germany as a whole. Unemployment > 10%, record debt, abolition of the master craftsman requirement to get craftsmen into work. Around that time I was trying to find a training position.

My car is 21 years old, cost 4000 € 7 years ago

Also, I don't know if 4000 € is cheap for a 14-year-old clunker. Three years ago I got a car for 1000 € more that wasn't even 5 years old.

In most threads it does not say: a solid house cost sum xy, prefab house sum z. But always just would, could, and maybe.

Look at the posts from . You'll find what you're looking for there.

Our brick house was completely dry after the screed drying program, it is rather too dry than in any way damp and it was already like that when we moved in. I would also look for very inexpensive, small houses near general contractors. Town & Country is also a provider of smaller "standard houses". A small house is always a bit more expensive per square meter because bathrooms etc. are the same.

Best regards
Sabine

: Don’t get discouraged right away. You come across to me as someone who, despite being at the beginning, approaches such a project very down-to-earth and thoughtfully. So, just take the posts here as warnings rather than accusations or condescension. If you then consciously and with open eyes make the decision for the project together with your partner, that’s fine. There’s a saying, I don’t know who originally said it (Ustinov?) "When you are old and look back on your life and regret decisions, let it be for something you did, not for something you didn’t do." Or something like that. That has influenced me quite a bit. Especially if you don’t have a family yet, you can certainly afford to take a little more risk.

Among all the conservative examples here, maybe I can give you a different one. I deliberately haven’t posted anything in the financing area because everyone here would have called me crazy for my project. I’m not going to do that now either, but I want to tell you about my project from 5 years ago. Back then I bought my condo in Berlin. No equity, total acquisition costs of 330,000 EUR, valuation by the bank (mortgage lending value) of 210,000 EUR. Still, they did it (2015, it was a bit more relaxed at ING back then). And that with a net salary of 2,800 EUR. This would have been torn apart here. Five years later the apartment is worth twice as much, so if I sold now I could get 30% over acquisition costs. If I hadn’t done that, I’d still be stuck in my two-room rental apartment, maybe by now I’d have 60,000-80,000 EUR equity, but that wouldn’t help me anymore today because real estate prices and construction costs have gone up even more.

Now the situation is not quite comparable, since you want to build in a completely different area, which probably doesn’t promise such value development. But you are two and according to your stories there is a lot of family support locally. What I want to say: don’t say goodbye to the forum just because here maybe different expectations and (security) needs prevail. I have similar discussions in the planning forum regarding space. The prevailing housing space aristocracy here can mostly not imagine that my plans already represent an absolute improvement in quality of life. I just take it as a suggestion, a warning, but I don’t let myself be deterred from my way to the dream, at most inspired by it.

One question I still have: You reject existing properties so categorically. Why? Especially given your craftily talented family, wouldn’t a resale property that you renovate nicely fit the tight financing model?

Best regards

Tolentino

Answers like Town & Country or regarding the moisture help me. I had expected resistance, but I was practically torn apart here. Not nice for a newcomer. Everyone can, may, and should express concerns, but this was like a lion's den filled with fresh meat.

I rule out existing properties for two reasons. 1. We have been researching potential ownership for quite some time (about 2 years). There is nothing around here that does not need a complete renovation except for the outer walls. Or rather larger houses starting at 280,000. 120 m², 4-5 rooms, smaller plots as we imagine are almost impossible to find here.

2. Simply a "we would like". We would simply like a new building that (as far as the budget allows) is roughly designed according to our wishes.