Procedure land, bank, general contractor order - does this fit as is?

Do you have any other thoughts that I absolutely should consider beforehand?

The one whose signature is on the general contractor contract is the builder.
The one whose signature is on the financing agreement is the debtor.
But whoever is registered as the owner in the land register of the property is also only the owner of the house. It doesn’t matter who the builder is, was, or who pays the bank installments – that does not automatically make you the head of the household.

A completion bond secures only about 20% of the construction sum. And it also costs a few thousand euros. Do you still think it makes sense since payment is made according to the construction phase anyway?

Perhaps to be even clearer: The house will not belong to you because only your partner is registered in the land register.

Sounds all good at first. We also built with a general contractor, and I would always do it that way again, provided it’s a good general contractor. It at least takes some work off your hands; after all, you still have to manage everyday life and work during the construction phase.

However, I would only sign after the planning, and this should definitely be included in the contract with the floor plan. Make sure that a fixed price is agreed upon. Otherwise, the process was identical for us.

I find the note from important: if both of you are repaying the house and taking out the loan together, you should both be listed on the land register. Since she is bringing the land, you might need to think about that. Maybe you have the equity? Even if everything is fine now, no one knows what things will look like in 10 or 20 years. Separations can get tricky, which I certainly don’t wish for you. Then you might end up empty-handed, and she has a house you paid off 50% of for half your life. And it doesn’t stop there—the loan must still be paid. The bank doesn’t care what happens in your private life.

A completion guarantee only covers about 20% of the construction sum. And it only costs a few thousand euros. Do you still think it makes sense, since payment is made anyway according to construction phases?

The completion guarantee protects you against the risks of insolvency and the case where your general contractor sees desertion as a more attractive option than finishing your construction (which often happens near insolvency). Additionally, in the event of insolvency, the administrator wants full performance from you against devalued consideration. The Insolvency Code is far more unfriendly to junior creditors than the Broker and Property Developer Ordinance is consumer-friendly. The final payment is a blunter sword in serious cases than little Fritz thinks – that is why it should be both generously sized and additionally reinforced.

We also built with a general contractor and I would always do it that way again, provided it’s a good GC. It at least takes some work off your hands, since you still have to manage everyday life and work during the construction phase.
However, I would only sign after the planning is done, and the floor plan should definitely be included in the contract. Make sure that a fixed price is agreed upon.

I wish all builders that their hope "GC = (mostly) the builder can put their feet up" at least partially comes true – but alas, I lack faith. The specific house – including detailed plans – must absolutely be included in the construction contract. This does not mean physically stapling all drawings – they just need to be clearly designated; if necessary, including thumbnails like on fax dispatch protocols. Fixed price commitments are basically only worth as much as firmly sealed their backdoors are.

I always have to wonder again. What is wrong with the general contractor if you like a standard floor plan that has been built, tested, and optimized hundreds of times? I saw the floor plan, liked it, and signed. Fits. Does anyone go to the Mercedes dealer and specify legroom, trunk dimensions, and engine compartment size individually? You can only shake your head...