Savings potential in house construction

It is only about possibilities. We ourselves plan to have the house built by the developer up to and including the sheathing and to coordinate everything from flooring to painting ourselves.

As Portoalegre said, it is only about potential.

Was there a thread a long time ago about... otherwise

- simple geometry
- make sure that affordable does not turn into cheap
- determine the space requirements and save square meters through good floor plans
- shed instead of basement (depending on conditions)
- discipline
- don’t let yourself be driven crazy by what you absolutely must have

Well, I now think that no one has anything to give away for free and that a quality x also has the price x. That you get quality x at price x from developer A is one thing - but I don’t believe you suddenly get a truly comparable quality service from developer B at price y. Profit margins will be calculated the same everywhere. Profit maximization is economical, they have their respective business economists in the necessary departments and if a price from provider b is significantly lower, it will not be because they are generously giving you something. Of course, I am happy to be corrected.

I also find building extremely expensive and if the land already hits hard regionally, as it does with us, I find every attempt to find savings potential only logical. But all research we have done so far always came to the point that a quality x will cost x euros regardless of who you build with. Assuming seriousness.

At least doing painting and flooring work yourself partially or contracting it out yourself will pay off, I consider that very certain now.

Completely contracting out trades yourself, a friend who is an architect strongly advised against that. You need to have VERY much time, you need to know exactly what it’s about (which we usually don’t know from a construction technical point of view), and the risk that in the end you haven’t saved anything and still got badly hit is high.

Then I would rather look at what minimal standard you can live with. Then possibly only the cheapest equipment line will work, which doesn’t have to be wrong, I believe.

Interior design. One area where you can both spend and save money. Especially the bathroom and kitchen are hot candidates. Often "standard" or simple kitchens look only marginally worse than quality kitchens, and I don't even mean custom-made kitchens. Also, in the case of electrical appliances, the quality of non-brand products is only slightly below what brand products promise. In the bathroom, inexpensive options often don't look worse than brand products. I also think that sellers tend to exaggerate the quality aspect. Much of it is just minimally better, and you simply don't need all the various frills.

Of course, this can be applied to all other living areas as well. The amount of money saved everywhere might not be that much, but in total it does add up.

If you have to save money, of course you can omit a few things that are not absolutely necessary.

Otherwise, I see it similarly to garfunkel. With things like flooring, walls, furnishings, plumbing, or kitchen, you can save quite a bit without sacrificing much comfort. For example, you save 50% but only get 10% less performance. Moreover, these are things that need to be replaced after a certain time anyway. Whether I replace my floor or kitchen 3 years earlier or later doesn't make much difference. For other things that will most likely last the entire usage time of the house (pipes, etc.), you should think about it more carefully.

Or rather, you also have to take your own life situation into account.

For example, we have two small children; whether a third will come, we'll see. With 2-3 small children, I consider it unwise to spend the maximum on interior doors, wallpapers, or flooring, especially in the children's rooms. Children know how to wear out a floor, doors take a beating too, and our kitchen is not treated very carefully either. We will consciously choose cheaper options for these items. Of course, not to the extent that it no longer looks good or the quality is rubbish. But I also believe that even just brand versus non-brand makes a big difference for the wallet, which you won’t notice in everyday use when you use the kitchen and doors.