Take money for free planning?

Unfortunately, the references are limited to three-line customer testimonials from Ms. Hinz and Mr. Kunz from Ortsname without pictures of the completed houses.

I’m saying, the homepage is not very informative. There are pictures on FB; judging by the photos, it seems to be a fairly young team, perhaps that’s also why they prefer FB.

I was already quoted by 11ant. Yes, that's true. We built with Specht Bisdorf Fehmarn. A very regional house builder without any homepage, completely digital-free, without a selection center, without brochures or catalogs. He still simply builds one house after another, keeps his word, doesn’t fuss, isn’t petty, as long as you’re honest too, and everything is affordable. Why shouldn't there be such guys in SW as well? Give them a chance. Such companies still know you even after everything is finished and if there is ever a complaint. And at least our Fehmarn builder also gives his client a Nordmann fir for Christmas for the living room. Quite nice too, isn’t it?

To me, this smells like someone whose work and I would be satisfied with, and thus a well-deserved second place in your favor.

I think so too. Actually, he almost shares first place with Laux at the moment. In the end, it’s also a question of price; we don’t know anything concrete from him yet, only that his pricing method seems fair. He once told us that he finds it nonsense that many general contractors always demand a price X "per m²." He said a house that is 20 m² larger doesn’t necessarily have to be proportionally more expensive. He said companies that flatly say m² times price X simply earn more on the larger houses, and he thinks that’s fooling people. I don’t disagree with him there.

If I remember correctly, these are the ones with experience with split level, which would be advantageous for your project.

Exactly. Although most companies in the region have that—there are more sloping plots than flat ones.

Take a look at HausbauSaar; they include architectural planning in their service package, alternatively you can also come with a finished architectural design. They build solid (masonry), wood, and Hebel houses, and have several large trades in-house. Their homepage is not as informative as their Facebook page. However, I cannot report from personal experience; it was recommended to us.

Thank you, I’ll take a look at them. I didn’t know them at all.

I would talk to the small company without a homepage, sounds like a family business. Get to know them, show plans, communicate time and price expectations, are the subcontractors local craftsmen (because of warranty and extending wishes). The general contractor has a reputation and will still have it in 10 years. The 1500€ for planning would be worth it to me.

We will definitely talk to them, yes. I also think we will spend the 1500€ for planning. Almost out of curiosity.

I was already quoted by 11ant. Yes, it’s true. We built with Specht Bisdorf Fehmarn. A very regional house builder without any homepage, completely undigital, without a selection center, without brochures or catalogs. He builds simply one house after another to this day, keeps his word, doesn’t complain, isn’t petty as long as you are honest too, and everything is reasonably priced. Why shouldn’t there also be such guys in southwestern Germany? Give them a chance. Such companies still know you even when everything is finished and there is a complaint. And at least our Fehmarn guy also gives his clients a Nordmann fir at Christmas for the living room. Also quite nice, isn’t it?

I don’t know if he actually gives away fir trees afterward, but he certainly has a good reputation. From what we know, he is also very present on the construction sites and stands by his work—even after the construction is completed. A “takes care” type. However, he also doesn’t have a selection center; as a general contractor customer so far, I can’t quite imagine how you get to the tiles and floor coverings, etc., there. But it must somehow work. He also offered us that we can look at finished houses of his. I find that exciting when they are inhabited. :D

He once told us that he finds it nonsense that many general contractors always demand a price X "per m²". He said that a house that becomes 20 m² larger does not necessarily become proportionally more expensive. He said companies that flatly say m² times price X would simply earn more on the bigger houses, and he thought that was fooling people. I don't entirely disagree with him.

Well, that's certainly an understandable / likable attitude, but in my opinion, his explanation is off. It's simply that there are customers like Princess who turn the stairs seventy-some times, move the partition wall between the master and children's bathroom, consider every centimeter of wardrobe depth with a counting rhyme, and keep redesigning the pantry sliding door alternately inside and behind the wall. When they want to know for the eighth time whether this variant would cost half a thousand more or less, the general contractor is simply annoyed. It’s just a matter of time before they simply give the order from the next customer onward: with the same floor tile square meters, the price would be and remain the same. The general contractor doesn’t add anything in this sense but just saves himself having to reduce his profit through fourteen price calculations for one and the same maybe-order. There really are customers you wouldn’t wish on your competitors either – so I can understand the general contractors. I wouldn’t call that “fooling people,” but rather “pragmatic self-defense” ;-).

In the end, it’s also a question of price, we don’t know anything concrete from him yet, only that his way of pricing seems fair.

Where do you get this idea from, or how does he price then?

If you have it drawn for €1,500, I would say goodbye to the idea that the new general contractor will take it over 1:1. Every general contractor has their own construction style that they try to push through.

I think so too. Actually, he almost shares 1st place with Laux, currently. In the end, it’s also a question of price, and we don’t have any concrete information from him yet, only that his way of pricing seems fair. He once told us that he finds it silly that many BU always demand a price X "per m²." He said a house that is 20 m² bigger doesn’t necessarily become proportionally more expensive. He said companies that flatly say m² times price X just earn more on the bigger houses, and he thinks that’s fooling people. I don’t think he’s wrong about that.

Exactly. Although most companies in the region have that – there are more sloping plots than flat ones.

Thank you, I will take a look at those. I didn’t know them before.

We will definitely talk to him, yes. I also think we will spend the 1500€ for the planning. Almost out of curiosity.

Whether he gives away fir trees afterwards I don’t know, but he certainly has a good reputation. From what we know, he is also very present on the construction sites and stands by his work – even after the construction work is finished. A “takes care” type. However, he doesn’t have a sample center like the others, so as a general contractor client so far, I can’t quite imagine how you get the tiles & flooring, etc. But it must work somehow. He also offered us that we can look at finished houses from him. I find that exciting if they are inhabited. :D

He simply tells you companies where you can choose tiles and everything you sample. They then give an offer to the general contractor, who passes it on to you. There is then a specific price included in the offer; for that you get, for example, the cheapest interior doors; for better ones, you have to pay extra. That was the case for us too and will surely be the case with all small general contractors. The disadvantage for us was that, for example, the cheap sanitary ceramics included in the price were not even available in the companies' showrooms, but we could see them in the warehouse. The problem is that in the markup the company, the craftsman, and the general contractor all earn. Example for our toilet: extra charge at the company 35, at the installer 60, and then at the general contractor 85 euros.