Unpredictability of construction costs - Will the project fail because of it?

I wanted to say something similar to your bank advisor. You are by no means alone in this -currently- miserable situation

Definitely! Thanks for the encouragement.

I think you have now made the right decision and taken action. Even if you were in the right and the general contractor should build the house under the agreed conditions, how is that supposed to work if there was a legal dispute that already existed before the first stone was laid? That cannot be a basis for a successful project. What motivation would the general contractor have to do the work properly?! In the end, you have a half-finished shell standing there and the general contractor goes bankrupt, you have transferred thousands of euros to your lawyer, and this whole mess drags on for several years. Who then has won?!

The general contractor is certainly not acting maliciously either, but he was simply confronted with the unpredictability of raw material prices, which could represent an absolute economic disaster for him. What if he has to serve 10 more building owners with fixed prices, all insisting on their rights? It is such a deadlocked situation, it couldn't work anymore.

For me, it has to be a partnership relationship, and at this point that is no longer possible, I repeat, even before it even started.

We once distributed a four-figure sum of tips to all trades, each before they completed their trade, hoping that the workers would be especially motivated and happy to come to our construction site. The result was perfect. The masons, for example, were very happy because they normally never get tips and were always in a good mood on our site. The tilers probably got the most in the end because you can see the result directly and a lot of tiling was done here, and what can I say, the work done here is, in our opinion, very, very good. For example, I am thrilled with how the transition of the tiles from the hallway to the living room turned out here. (I attached a picture) What are 2-3K in tips compared to the construction sum?! You have already "given away" more to the bank without receiving any real service in return.

If I were you, I would first collect myself and observe the market now. Build up equity again and when the right time comes, go for it again, and if it is not meant to be, then make yourself a nice life renting.

I think you have now made the right decision and acted accordingly. For me, it has to be a partnership-based relationship, and at this point in time, that is no longer possible, and I repeat, already before it even started.

1. The expansion joint at the room transition looks perfect. 2. 2.5 years ago, I still sealed most craftsman contracts with a handshake. Who can still imagine that nowadays... That was the 'pre-contract' back then. And people stuck to it.

So much for the topic that only professionals are here..

but the main thing is to make us look stupid..

How are you acting now? You are getting almost only helpful answers here and now you come with belittling?! Just read: “At HBF we inform you on our over 200,000 pages on all topics around house construction. Exchange ideas with our 46,000 registered members or browse our forum through over 350,000 questions and answers from our members.” No one has claimed to be a professional. We are almost all builders, past and future, and no one hides their experiences and largely respects each other.

How are you feeling now? You almost only get helpful answers here and now you come with belittlement?!
just read:

„At HBF we inform you on our over 200,000 pages about all topics related to house construction. Exchange ideas with our 46,000 registered members or browse our forum with over 350,000 questions and answers from our members.“

No one claimed to be a professional. We are almost all builders, past and future, and no one hides their experiences and mostly respects each other.

Most answers were definitely helpful and constructive. However, there were also one or two who portrayed us quite stupidly and spoke condescendingly, especially at the beginning regarding the topic of the construction company and KfW, and only those I addressed with that.
I definitely did not want to attack or belittle anyone else.

I think you have now made the right decision and acted accordingly. Even if you were right and the general contractor (GU) would have to build the house under the agreed conditions, how is that supposed to work if there is a legal dispute already existing before the first stone has even been laid? That cannot be a basis for a successful project. What motivation would the GU have to perform the work properly?! In the end, you have a half-finished shell standing there and the GU goes bankrupt, you have transferred thousands of euros to your lawyer, and the whole mess drags on for years. Who has won then?!

The GU certainly does not do this maliciously, but the unpredictability of raw materials intervened, which could represent an absolute economic disaster for him. What if he has to serve another 10 clients with fixed prices, all insisting on their rights? It is such a deadlocked situation that nothing could come of it.

For me, it has to be a partnership relationship, and at this point, that is no longer possible, and I repeat myself, even before it has really started.

Back then, we deliberately distributed a four-figure sum in tips to all trades, each time before they completed their work, hoping that the employees would be particularly motivated and like to come to our construction site. The result was perfect. The masons, for example, were very happy because they usually never get tips and were always in a good mood on our site. The tilers probably received the most in the end because the result can be seen directly, and quite a lot was tiled here, and what can I say, the work delivered here is, we think, very, very good. I am, for example, thrilled with how the transition of the tiles from the hallway to the living room turned out here. (I’ve attached a picture) What are 2-3K in tips compared to the construction sum?! You have now already "given away" more to the bank without really getting anything in return.

If I were you, I would first calm down and watch the market. Build up equity again, and when the right time comes, then you strike again, and if it’s not meant to be, you make yourself a nice life renting.

Thank you, that’s exactly how we saw it.

That was definitely no longer a good basis for further cooperation on this scale. In the end, standing there with a half-finished house and the construction company being insolvent or the money being gone — that fear was just too great.

The tipping idea was a great idea and also worked wonderfully, as one hears.