Urge to sign due to price increase normal?

Hello everyone,

we are looking for help on how the actual process of building/buying a house from prefabricated house manufacturers should be.

Our story: About 12 weeks ago, we decided to provide a home for our family with 2 children. Our initial research on the internet showed that something could actually be done within our budget, and that with a prefabricated house provider. The next step led us to a smaller model house village near us. Here, we encountered a very nice and, from our layman’s point of view, also competent salesperson at prefabricated house provider O (let’s just call him that for now). He asked about our budget (which we had roughly calculated beforehand at our house bank) and played around with his calculations. Eventually, he told us that we could just barely manage it price-wise with our wishes (which we already had from internet research and our own ideas of a house) and our intended own contributions. BUT: there would be a price increase of 3.5% this month (January 18) – of course, he calculated it for us to show how much money we would lose if we didn’t react immediately. He then presented us with a document to sign. It was a document that would secure the price according to the current price list but granted us the right to withdraw if we didn’t get the plot of land we chose (the public tender had not even started yet) or the financing did not come through. But he also had an ace up his sleeve regarding financing and wanted to tie us down to an appointment on site – with a (of course) independent financial broker who would still work for us free of charge. We felt overwhelmed – it was after all the initial consultation. Incredible, we thought – provider O was thus out. Now, what can I say, other providers (as we found out during model house visits) had this same “approach” in store. At provider F in the model house in Fellbach, we found exactly our house (layout exactly as we had imagined). The salesperson – also very commercially minded – made a good impression, but our enthusiasm quickly disappeared after the urge to sign the construction contract because of the current price increase (February 2018). To top it off, he wanted to print out the offer he had just calculated on the PC and backdate it by 14 days – his reasoning: if we fixed it by tomorrow, legally this would only be possible if the customer had at least 14 days to view the offer or start a revocation. Since the date would technically already be beyond the date of the price increase, we couldn’t wait 14 days but at most until tomorrow. HUH??? Are you serious? Thus, candidate 2 also left the list of providers seeming serious.

Our last appointment at the model house near us with provider B was the second visit there. During the first contact, the salesperson really took a lot of time, and we talked for 2 hours about the possibilities of a house according to our ideas – price-wise, he calculated based on our current income situation what we could afford. However, we did not get an actual price. The salesperson wanted to clarify this by the next appointment and also present us with first plans. To build what he called mutual basic trust (after all, we could talk a lot about what we could afford according to the house bank), it was essential that at the next appointment we first speak with the independent mortgage broker to be able to define the actual financing scope. Overall, we had the highest expectations for company B; the first conversation was without pressure, and almost exclusively positive feedback was found in internet research. A recent test comparing fair prefabricated house manufacturers also underlined the first impression – having a fair and honest contractual partner sitting in front of us. The end of today’s visit showed – this provider also wanted to secure current prices for us and thus save us 30,000 euros if we signed a construction contract. Of course, we would sign an addendum in case we didn’t find a plot or financing fell through. However, we have not yet seen an offer or house plan. He now wanted to prepare those only if we would attend the next appointment – which of course was urgent. He did not fulfill the promises of the first visit.

We now really wonder if it is usual to sign a construction contract although I have not even
A) secured a plot of land (which is apparently a significant factor of the actual costs)
B) have no concrete financing plan yet (we definitely do not want to overlook the option of the L-Bank – by the way, all financial advisors advise against it!)
C) or have seen an offer with prices and services from the provider????

For us, it just feels like a rip-off. I myself work in sales and my customers would certainly have something to say if I applied such methods. First sign and then we’ll see what service you actually get from me…

How do I find a reliable provider who enables the “normal” path of building a house? Are we maybe going about it the wrong way? Who has had similar experiences and how did it turn out?

I would of course like to mention that in general, I don’t find it objectionable to point out a potential price increase – I actually see this more as the competence of the salesperson to inform customers about such significant changes. But the way to force us to sign like this is quite off-putting.

How can we get offers to compare providers without ending up at the “contract table” with attempts to pressure us?

We would be very grateful for tips, experiences, or procedures from other home builders.

Best regards

Sounds very familiar to me, and it was one of the reasons why I ended up with the architect.
My tip: never let yourself be pressured with such tricks. They should print out the construction service description and the contract for you so that you can have them reviewed by a lawyer/expert. I would definitely do that, for example, I also did this with the architect contract. With "Stadt und Land" it was very intense here in the region, the expert threw up his hands and advised us not to sign anything without corrections. But there were also reasonable general contractors. I have seen these withdrawal clauses in case of non-fulfillment quite often back then, sometimes with rather athletic "expense allowances." I wouldn’t get involved in that nonsense about low prices. It might be true, but how do they come up with €30,000 extra costs due to price increases? Just check the average price increases in the construction sector online. They are certainly not at 10%, not even at 5%. I think I remember around 2% or so (please verify).
Otherwise: you are already asking the right questions with a) - c). Now think about whether you would buy a car under these conditions? For example, without knowing what the equipment is...
I know it too, somehow common sense likes to take a break in such situations. With a bit of distance, you see things more clearly. I think it’s already good that you are initially approaching this with due skepticism. There are many, many people who sign such things completely trusting.
No idea if it works, but if the sales rep comes to you with trust and blah blah, maybe have them hand over the construction service description and the contract text in advance and have them sign a document stating that if the contract is made, the old prices apply within 14 days. If the provider is reputable, they should do that, right? And why should trust always go only one way and to the customer’s disadvantage?
Never sign a supposed "bargain" under time pressure; it usually ends up much more expensive in the end. My personal opinion [emoji4]

Yes, unfortunately this seems to have become normal by now. I have had similar experiences, but not with all providers. In the conversations, I stated right at the beginning that we wanted to gather information and that I definitely would not sign any contract before there was a cost breakdown including our essential change requests for the "catalog house". No one ended the conversation, and the topic of signing was no longer brought up. However, only half of the providers followed through with the agreed steps for a second meeting, which then did not take place. In the end, we are now with the architect, and that step was absolutely the right one.

I can only warn against signing anything before there is a plot of land and very, very clear ideas about the house. The cancellation clauses are often not worth the paper they are written on, and then you quickly face a penalty payment.

It is probably the case that price increases are to be expected in the first months of the year. Also, that sellers use it as a pressure tool. However: if you have a problem with that, which is quite understandable and reasonable, you should not give in to the pressure. Just take a look at the regional home builders: they are not under so much pressure that they demand an immediate signature. In addition, they often offer cheaper construction, as travel and advertising etc. are kept to a minimum.

Normal: Yes
Correct: No
Good: No
Sensible: No


To make it brief... you go into a store and buy a house... contract value somewhere between 200 and 500 TEUR. You have a contract in front of you after about two to three hours.

So I don't know how it is for you, but for my 400 euro sunshade I researched longer.

So: everything done right and never ever let anyone push you into anything.

What I find much more important: If you can afford a prefab house (including all ancillary costs!!), it can also be something from GU/GÜ...

Just ask local smaller companies. We worked for a long, long time only on a handshake with our local company. No one pressured. In the end, it was more me.