What can be done with a prefabricated house on your own?

Hello everyone!

I happened to come across this informative forum and, as a complete novice in this field, I hope to get one or two suggestions. My husband and I are planning our own home for late 2018/early 2019. We are currently still looking for a plot of land.

A few data/facts:

- Region: Central Hesse
- Desired plot size: 650-800 m²
- House type: urban villa / Bauhaus (definitely 2-story)
- Living area: approx. 160-200 m² (possibly plus a granny flat)
- Basement
- With garage (if space is available, a double garage)

After a consultation with our house bank, it turned out that a total budget of €400,000 is realistic.

My husband is strongly inclined to go to one of the many solid house manufacturers and get as much as possible "from one source."

My tendency is rather to do it completely on our own in collaboration with an architect who supports us up to a maximum of service phase 4.

It should be said that both my husband and I work professionally as engineers in project management for construction projects (in my case I am about to finish my studies). Everything related to construction project planning, obtaining offers from companies, coordinating them, etc. is known to us. Furthermore, we have plenty of experience within the family. My dad is a bricklayer, my brother-in-law an electrician; among our acquaintances we have gas/water installers, roofers, scaffolders, and many hobby craftsmen. In other words, we would not be dependent on expensive companies that currently charge exorbitant prices due to huge demand (in this country sometimes with a +30% surcharge because of full order books).

We would actually only need specialist companies for the following things:
Windows/roller shutters
Underfloor heating + screed
Heating and ventilation system
Exterior plaster
Possibly flooring (quote from Dad: "If you buy expensive parquet, it has to be properly laid")

My dad says, "Child, that’s no problem, we can easily manage that!" (a duplex house has already been built this way within the family, and he actively helped with it) – but as a novice facing such a mammoth task, I do get cold feet. Rightly so?

Now to my questions:

Starting from a turnkey house costing €300,000 – how much can be saved percentage-wise through own work? Is the effort worth it? My husband tends towards a shell house – but as far as I know, the shell is exactly where we roll up our sleeves ourselves and can save the most?

We definitely want to visit solid house manufacturers and get advice (we welcome suggestions). However, for me personally, it is difficult to compare how much cheaper it would be if we did it ourselves.

On the one hand, we want a reasonable solution, on the other hand, we want to get the maximum quality out of the money available to us.

Many greetings from Central Hesse!

For a 200m² house and a 400,000 budget, you would have to get the plot for free. I would avoid handling the shell construction yourself, unless you are unemployed, can take a year off, or have many years of construction time. Interior finishing is a similar topic; you can save a lot of money there, but you also have to invest a lot of time.

My dad is a bricklayer, my brother-in-law an electrician, in our circle of acquaintances we have gas/water installers, roofers, scaffolders

Then, as an exception, I advise against self-contracting (which is not bad, but in boom times requires an enormous amount of luck if the work is to be completed quickly).

that both my husband and I professionally work as engineers in project management for construction projects

... enables you, on the one hand, to undertake self-contracting, but on the other hand also to find the parts to be changed in submitted construction service descriptions. That means you can better than other builders "rebuild" given construction service descriptions (or assess where one can also accept a proposed variant, even though one would do it a little differently starting from a blank sheet). That is worth a lot in construction if the executing party carries out their work routinely (which is why I advise against, e.g., retraining red bricklayers as white bricklayers or the like).

I find your situation appropriate for this. Especially having a mason in the family is great. Brick cladding would be an option here. Savings can also help bear the double burden for longer, meaning the construction does not have to be finished so quickly. But planning is everything here. This can and will be very time-consuming. Everything also has to be coordinated. You only pay the material price for many things. Bricks, roof tiles, and electrical cables cost almost nothing. The labor is expensive.

With a 200m² house and a 400,000 budget, you’d have to get the land for free.
I would avoid touching the shell construction yourself, unless you’re unemployed, can take a year off, or have many years to build.
Interior finishing is a similar topic, you can save a lot of money there, but you also need a lot of time.

These are figures that came out of the consultation with the bank.
Does a shell construction take years? It would be a mix of helpers who can work full-time (because currently unemployed) and those who can work after hours and on weekends or take 2-3 weeks off.
Our rough estimate was rather 3-4 months for the shell construction.

Then I exceptionally advise against not doingSelf-contracting (which is not bad, but in boom times needs a lot of luck if the work is to be completed quickly).

… on the one hand, it enables you for self-contracting, but on the other hand, also for finding the parts to be changed in submitted performance descriptions of construction services. This means you can “remodel” preset construction service descriptions better than other builders (or assess where you can also go for a proposed variant, although you might have done it a bit differently starting from scratch). That’s worth a lot in construction when the executor carries out his work routinely (which is why I advise against, e.g., retraining red bricklayers to white bricklayers or the like).

That is certainly true! My goal with this thread is not to decide on a variant. But precisely such suggestions are very valuable. Thank you for that.

I find your situation appropriate for this. Especially having a bricklayer in the family is great. Brick cladding would be a good option here.
By saving, you can also bear the double burden longer, meaning the construction does not have to be finished so quickly.
But planning is everything here. That can and will be very time-consuming. Everything also needs to be coordinated.
You simply pay material prices for many things. Bricks, roof tiles, and electrical cables cost almost nothing. The labor is expensive.

Regarding material costs, it should be said that my dad has been working in construction in the local area for 25 years and maintains good contacts with all building material suppliers and heavy equipment rental companies and gets very good conditions – after so many years you know each other, so he also gets prices privately like the small construction company he works for.
Thank you for your answer!

These are figures that resulted from the consultation with the bank. Does a shell construction take years? It would be a mix of helpers who can work full-time (because currently unemployed) and those who can work after hours and on weekends or take 2-3 weeks off. Our rough estimate was rather 3-4 months for the shell construction.

The biggest skill here is to assess yourself correctly. We have such experts 8 houses down the road. They bought an existing house, wanted to renovate and extend it and planned to do practically everything themselves. They started last spring and wanted to move in this summer. Currently, they are still laying bricks on the upper floor walls... and the shell construction is still the smaller part. We also took on quite a lot of the interior work ourselves. On paper that didn’t sound like much, yet I have been spending every free minute on the house construction for a year now. I am also a professional, have carpenters and electricians in the circle of friends/family... So just my advice, assess yourselves very critically and then multiply the time by 3.