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

Neither passive house nor star architect, basement, triple garage and granny flat are the demands here. We are already planning "only" with 150 sqm, slab foundation and carport. A modern heating system and photovoltaics are the "luxury" I would gladly afford and of course a proper timber frame construction, which perhaps doesn’t necessarily have to be hauled in with 5 trucks from the Czech Republic to Rhineland-Palatinate. According to my calculations so far, we still have 550k EUR including ancillary building costs (the land is already paid for) and somehow I have the feeling that it will really be tight.

So that should still be possible in RLP for 550k, depending on where in RLP it is. I didn’t find WilderSüden’s approach bad. In general, you don’t have to pay a lot of money right away for every planning. Get catalogs from local construction companies. If you request materials, you’ll also be on their list of interested parties. And in my assessment, demand for new builds is currently declining, so salespeople should be motivated. At least we recently received mail from the former construction company offering to connect interested parties and get a bonus for it.

I am unfortunately not familiar with timber frame construction, so I can’t directly help you with providers. Initial rough plans where a catalog house is adapted for you and planned on your plot have always been part of the acquisition process for us (in solid constructions) and did not have to be paid for if you decided against it afterwards.

This could be tight. We obtained similar offers from local construction companies last year and were also looking at a minimum of 3000 /qm for the most basic version. We were then offered and acquired an old property from the family. We would like to do some expansion, but the search for an architect is currently a real obstacle. Fortunately, we are not under any time pressure and hope that material prices will ease a bit more.

550 thousand euros with everything included as EH40+ should be possible without problems, however, to implement this relatively relaxed you have to swallow the bitter pill: the company will then simply be called Danwood or similar, and not Kampa. The base price for about 150 sqm turnkey is around 280 thousand euros, and as a rule of thumb you have to calculate about a factor of 1.5 to 1.75 on top to cover selection, foundation slab, ancillary costs, etc. That means the trucks will probably have to come from Poland or the Czech Republic. Alternatively: lower your expectations (even more).

Basically, with many prefab house manufacturers it is possible to do the draft planning with your own architect. The prefab house manufacturers calculate the implementation for you quite accurately (possibly for a processing fee). Then you can compare much better. However, your architect must already have some knowledge of timber frame construction & what prefab house manufacturers generally do not like or hardly ever do. You also have to live with the fact that the factory planning will then require adjustments.

At least we recently received mail from the former construction company, offering the possibility to refer interested parties and receive a bonus for it.

Tell me, approximately how much was this bonus, and was it money or another incentive?

Basically, with many prefab house manufacturers it is possible to do the design planning with your own architect. The prefab house manufacturers calculate the implementation for you relatively precisely (possibly for a processing fee). Then you can compare much better. However, your architect must have some knowledge of timber frame construction & what prefab house manufacturers generally dislike or do not do at all.

Regarding manuals or similar materials to communicate the respective building system of the manufacturer to an external architect so that his designs can be compatibly transferred into production, the providers are, however, by and large incredibly weak. There has been shockingly little change from traditionally guarded secret knowledge to today's DIN ISO 9000 processes. I therefore effectively recommend working out only a preliminary design with your own architect before contacting the providers.

We would like to do some expansion, but the is currently a real obstacle.

But it’s no witchcraft, otherwise I wouldn’t have chosen the field of activity of finding architects and construction companies :)

Tell me, approximately how much was this bonus, and was it money or another incentive?

500 euros upon signing a contract with the referred prospects.

But presumably because the construction business has boomed so much in recent years that no one needed that.

It is true that when the boom slows down, you want to be able to maintain your staff, but

Really, is that common? I've heard something like that for the first time.

although calling it "common" might be too much, customer recommendations are always welcome. All the gold-digger types who bring new customers to construction companies don’t work for free either. And if the recommendation comes from a customer, it is of assessable quality. "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree" – I survived years of terribly bad payment practices by the fact that you usually get similarly pleasant partners through pleasant business partners. No one recommends a company to their enemies (except maybe in a butcher’s general contractor situation *LOL*), and most people have a truly very comparable circle of acquaintances (similar education and income level). A company can’t survive on customers in general; they have to be pleasant customers.