What are the realistic costs for a semi-detached house / Kfw70 in Baden-Württemberg?

Hello Goblin,

if you want final certainty in this case, I would recommend that you submit a "request for the issuance of a binding ruling" according to §89 para. 2 AO to your responsible tax office.

For this ruling, the tax office is allowed to charge fees, which are determined according to the value of the matter.

With this ruling, provided the key data is submitted completely and truthfully, you will then have certainty about how your personal case is assessed.

I would definitely spend the few euros (compared to the house price) just to be safe.

Regards,

Dirk

Hello,

Of course, we have to pay for this service. It is offered to us for €38,500 including surveying, structural engineering, architecture, and construction management. One of our questions is whether this amount is okay or if this item is overpriced.

This price is – logically, since I consider the calculated costs to be set too low – also underestimated. Based on €219,000 in pure construction costs, you end up with about €35,800 for the architect's fee. The €2,700 does not even cover the costs of a surveyor for all 4 stages!

For comparison: based on my estimated price, the architect's fee – for all 9 service phases – amounts to €41,080, plus costs for the surveying engineer and fee zone III.

How do you plan your budget with a pure architect contract otherwise? You don’t have exact figures until you tender the individual trades, right?

A single-family house with an architect, or architect and individual trade contracting, is a fine thing because it allows the greatest individuality. However, from my point of view, this necessarily means that sufficient equity capital – about which you unfortunately say nothing – must be available to cover the permitted 20% overrun (according to the cost estimate by the architect), as well as to implement this or that extra wish. Because you described it correctly – you only get cost certainty once you have access to the tender documents.

For example, how do you arrive at the stated €255,000 for the house including foundation slab? Do you calculate that based on living area, volume, or on some other basis?

Experience, gut feeling, and many years in this job. Normally, I assume €1,500/sqm gross floor area for the Rhineland; in Baden-Württemberg €1,600/sqm GFA is more realistic (in the north rather €1,400/sqm living area, in Bavaria accordingly more). With these sums/sqm/GFA/region, a single-family house built according to KfW 70 should be roughly estimable by human judgment. However, in the version “turnkey,” i.e., without painting work and floor coverings beyond the owed scope of services and plus incidental construction costs and extras such as, for example, central ventilation systems or external venetian blinds instead of roller shutters, etc.

So would planning with the land price and a pure architect contract be okay for you if you planned a budget of €433,000 as you wrote above?

If you just want to be reasonably on the safe side: yes.

Regarding real estate transfer tax on land or on single-family house + land, you obviously remain naive. Take a look here:



In your configuration, the tax office responsible for you will certainly not waive its share. Lay knowledge or assumptions are always also dangerous half-knowledge.

Rhineland greetings

Hello,
please have the architect prepare a total cost breakdown according to DIN 276. Furthermore, he should guarantee you a fixed price.
For an architect-designed house, up to 20% additional costs are normal in calculations, as deviations are legally permitted for the architect without him having to assume liability. I have been working in the house building and financing industry for years, and I do not know a single construction project by an architect that did not require significant additional financing.
I am also from BW and know the region very well.

Either there is a cost estimate/planning or a fixed price. Both together are contradictory.

Either the architect acts as an architect (planning/estimate) or as a general contractor/general contractor with a fixed price.

Again about the kitchen:
It is definitely possible to get a good kitchen for 7000€. Maybe less with a freestanding island, but definitely an L or U-shaped kitchen.
For our rental townhouse, we got a Nobilia kitchen with electric appliances from Progress (factory of AEG, identical build, customer service from AEG) for 3500€ at XXL in the kitchen department (not Sparkauf!). It's only an L-shaped kitchen.
In our new build, there will be an Alno kitchen with Neff appliances with a freestanding island and larger. Cost is four times that. So kitchens definitely offer a wide range. It just depends on what you want.