We want to build a house and have basic questions

Hello,

my girlfriend and I want to build a house, but the topic is completely new to us when it comes to banks. Everyone claims to be the best, and I am a bit skeptical about financial advisors because they might have their preferred banks where they also make some extra money. That’s why I first wanted to inform myself.

A few brief details about us:

- Combined salary: 3200,- net
- Existing plot of land 550 sqm (12,000,-)
- Equity approx. 25,000,-
- Planned size of the house: 130 sqm, without basement, two floors, solid house

Now to my questions:

1. How do I find the right offer for me among the thousands of offers on the internet and at banks, what must I consider?
2. Is the amount of 130,000,- enough for such a house in shell construction?
3. What subsidies are available?
4. Should you be the builder yourself or leave it to the construction company?
5. Which insurances are sensible?
6. Is a building surveyor useful? I don’t want to find out at the end of the construction that the foundation slab is crooked.

Many questions, I know, but you always read and hear very different or even contradictory things.

Best regards & thanks

1. How do I find the right offer for me among the thousands of offers on the internet and at banks, what should be considered?
2. Is the sum of 130,000 enough for such a house in shell construction?
3. What funding options are available?
4. Should you be the builder yourself or leave it to the construction company?
5. Which insurances are useful?
6. Is a building surveyor advisable, I don’t want to find out at the end of the construction that the foundation slab is crooked?

Regarding 1. Search! An independent financing advisor can find the best offer for you. But you also have to trust them. If you generally do not trust any service providers, you have to write to the individual banks yourself and negotiate yourself.
Regarding 2. With or without ancillary construction costs? With or without foundation slab? What does shell construction mean to you? For foundation slab + bricks + roof truss it is enough -> and then? The other 50%?
Regarding 3. KfW / state banks / district offices / regional funding at municipal level,...
Regarding 4. Cannot be answered in general
Regarding 5. Fire shell insurance, builder’s liability, depending on the contract completion obligations of the provider
Regarding 6. Yes

Use the forum’s search function. There are topics for almost every question. Do not expect an all-encompassing general solution that applies to everyone. Such a thing does not exist in construction.

Hello,

my girlfriend and I want to build a house, but the topic is completely new to us, especially when it comes to banks. Everyone claims to be the best and I am a bit skeptical about financial advisors, as they may have their preferred banks where they also earn additional money, so I wanted to inform myself first.

Here are a few details about us:

- Income together: 3200,- net
- Existing plot of land 550 sqm (12,000,-)
- Equity approx. 25,000,-
- Planned size of the house: 130 sqm, without basement, two floors, solid house

Now to my questions:

1. How do I find the right offer for me among the thousands of offers on the Internet and from banks, what should I pay attention to?
2. Is the amount of 130,000,- enough for such a house in shell construction?
3. What funding is available?
4. Should one be the builder oneself or leave it to the construction company?
5. Which insurances make sense?
6. Is a building surveyor useful, I don’t want to find out at the end of the construction that the foundation slab is crooked?

Many questions I know, but you always read and hear very different or even contradictory things.

Best regards & thanks

Since I currently have little time myself, I will answer you briefly:

1. Inform yourself in advance - for example at Interhyp (that gives you a tendency). Also get several offers. From 2 - 3 banks, 1 - 2 insurance companies (they have recently had good conditions again and again) as well as 1 or 2 financial brokers. Here you should pay attention to various points such as fixed interest periods, repayment rates, etc.
2. Others can answer you better - who is supposed to do the entire interior finishing and who pays for the necessary materials? If the interior finishing is done by yourself - keep in mind that finishing in your own work usually runs alongside your job and can therefore take a very long time. During this time you will also be paying strong interest for the "shell construction loan" besides the rent.
3. Depends on your ideas? KfW 70 house; KfW 55 house; passive house; etc. - cannot be answered generally.
4. You are the builder - I can imagine you mean: contract via architects with tendering of individual trades or via a general contractor. This decision again depends on how much time and experience you have regarding preparing tenders (unless it’s done through an architect), evaluating results, awarding contracts, possibly supervising, etc. I suspect that a general contractor would be rather reluctant to just build the shell.
5. Builder’s liability insurance, supplementary insurance (if the company does not provide such), fire risk insurance for the shell construction (usually included in the preliminary contract for residential building insurance). By the way, I would never save on the tariff variants of residential building insurance. You build a house for several hundred thousand euros and want to save 10 or 20 euros on the building insurance by opting for poorer coverage for your house.
6. Hire a building surveyor - we don’t want to see you on TV someday.

Not so brief after all :-).

Thank you both, that has already helped me immensely. :)

As far as the matter of the clients is concerned, yes, we want to hire an architect who will also handle the tendering for the companies. I actually confused that with a building contractor, is it actually sensible to work together with a building contractor?

@all - please correct me if I am wrong:
A developer offers their customers a completed house on the corresponding plot of land for purchase. You buy the whole package accordingly. For this, you have to pay a property transfer tax on the entire package (house and land), for example, at the tax office.

But you already have a plot of land where you want to build. Therefore, in my opinion, cooperation with a developer should be excluded.

About the plot of land:
Your plot has a value of 12,000 euros (550 sqm). No idea where you want to build in Thuringia, but to be safe, clarify whether it is actually building land. I only know one family who paid a similar price for their building land. That is my aunt and uncle, who live there in MeckPom, where the fox and the hare say good night to each other :-).

About the targeted price of 130,000 and building with an architect:
I don’t know the HOI of the architects, but a lot of money should be planned for the architect. Just from a gut feeling, of the 130,000, not even 100,000 will remain.