Single-family house new construction - How do we come to a decision now?

That sounds tight but maybe just doable if the plot is flat, well bearing, connections are easy and short, and one really stays consistent with the selection process. Things like parquet floors, hardwood stairs, windows in special colors, large-format tiles, lift-and-slide doors for the terrace or the outdoor areas make it expensive – the list is of course endless.

In any case, a complete renovation was always required, and even then the money wouldn’t have been enough to properly renovate such a house energetically.

Yes, the core of my statement was that the current energy saving ordinance standard norms are sufficiently good for building. If the money is that tight, it would really be pretty silly to invest even more money into energy saving.

If 350k is the absolute limit, then leave it. It is not feasible, not even at the discount store.

If 350k is the absolute limit, then forget it. It's not feasible, not even at the discount store.

Um, I read 550K. Did you misread or did I miscalculate?

We have been gathering information over the past few weeks at various show homes and factory tours of prefabricated house manufacturers and are currently somewhat overwhelmed about how best to make a decision. I can’t just sign a contract anywhere and see what kind of house comes out in the end and how expensive it will be. And I also can’t commission planning from several manufacturers for X thousand euros to compare what the fun will cost me in the end. But somehow I have to plan the right house for us on exactly this plot. How did you go about making your decision?

Both the solution and hints on the way to me can be found at or by searching the term "11ant Hausbau-Fahrplan". Another building consultant (in Heidelberg) has also been mentioned here in the forum. Where in RLP is the plot located? How to proceed methodically in principle, I have also already discussed in many places here.

and simply a proper timber frame construction, which maybe doesn’t necessarily have to be hauled with 5 trucks from the Czech Republic to Rhineland-Palatinate.

For whatever reason you favor timber frame construction: it doesn’t always have to be the big companies, also local timber builders, and yes, solid construction is not unecological either, you should take a look at it. As you already say: everyone initially calculates flat rates per sqm. Exhibitions and catalogs are good to decide on a building style and to estimate room size as well as window effect. A solid company has standard houses: you can check there if one or another house fits the plot. Standard houses can usually be adjusted in size and floor plan. The planners of the house providers are somewhat uncreative, but there is help here in the forum. Which provider it will be is usually a gut feeling based on trust, offer, and price… nowadays less focus is put on energy standards (which are practically already mandatory), ecology (formaldehyde and asbestos are no longer used) and special architecture given the budget.

We informed ourselves about which companies the other people in our building area had built with (the majority moved in about 4 years before we acquired the property). We sought conversations with these local companies (HSB and massiv) and other firms to define our requirements and obtain a cost estimate. Mostly, we were also provided with free individual floor plans planned by an architect through this process. That helped us a lot, and you learn something new with each conversation. After about 3-4 months, we knew what we wanted to build.

Like you, we came into possession of a property very suddenly and are about to complete the shell construction work.