The dream of owning your own home: who wouldn’t want to realize it once in their life? There are some avoidable mistakes lurking along the way that can quickly turn building a home from a dream into a nightmare. Below we will show you how to avoid these pitfalls when building a house so that your dream of owning your own home leads to the perfect outcome:
OVERESTIMATE OF FINANCIAL POSSIBILITIES
Too many builders do not, or do so insufficiently, take into account the limitations of their budget when building their home. You should therefore first clarify with your bank or savings bank how many houses and properties you can afford.
To determine your home construction budget, you need to deduct all personal expenses for living, cars, hobbies and vacations from your regular monthly income. But be honest with yourself at this point. Don’t calculate your expenses too rigidly and set only a permanent income. The resulting surplus is available monthly for interest and construction loan repayment.
The resulting financial picture increases by the available equity capital. Both together determine the possible budget for the house and property. However, only rely on the capital you are sure you have available. You wouldn’t be the first to find that the announced financial contribution from relatives ends up being less than initially announced or that the payment of an inheritance is delayed due to family disputes.
Plan a contingency reserve into your construction budget and think about how to take countermeasures if, contrary to expectations, your economic situation worsens. If you explore your financial options in this way and translate them into a realistic budget, you will definitely avoid future financial bottlenecks.
LOADING FROM THE PROPERTY
The absolute desire to own your own home can be blinding. The following applies especially when buying a property: If you let yourself be guided only by first impressions, you could soon find yourself shipwrecked. So before buying a property make sure you know the conditions of the land and the contractual conditions.
Rocky or unstable soil can quickly increase your planned home’s foundation costs by a five-figure amount. The only way to be sure is to get a land report before purchasing the property.
An essential part of the purchasing decision is also a look at the development plan to determine whether your dream home can actually be built on the land. If the property has not yet been developed, clarify before purchasing whether the development has actually been approved by the municipality and who paid for the development. You should also ask the seller to confirm that it is free of contaminated sites. This also protects against unpleasant surprises.
UNTHOUGHTFUL SPACE PLANNING
Many obstacles that families fall into when building a home stem from planning errors. This starts with the age of the children. If they are still infants or toddlers when they move, the family will likely stay together like this for another two decades. But what about teenage children who will likely leave home soon? Flexibility in the design is needed here, for example if the children’s room is to later become a study or an area for the grandparents.
Do you want to continue living in your property as you get older? Then you should already plan for barrier-free living on one level when designing your dream home.
Basically, the following advice applies to successful cohabitation: provide sufficient space for socializing, but also private retreat places for all future tenants of the house.
Short distances are a must for a well-thought-out floor plan. When arranging the rooms of the house, also consider the position of the sun during the day. Make sure the windows you design let in enough light into rooms used during the day.
So take your time to design your home and build your dream home now with a construction partner in your area. With his expertise and experience, he will work with you to plan and design your dream home according to your wishes and needs.
NO CONSIDERATION OF THE TOTAL COST
Of course, most builders are aware that in addition to home construction and land costs there are additional costs. However, not everyone knows that these can represent up to 20% of the actual price of the house. Starting from the real estate transfer tax, from the notary and cadastral expenses for the purchase of a property, through the costs for measuring the property and for the building permit, up to the costs of development and connection of sewerage, water and energy.
A reliable cost calculation also includes the costs of external installations after completion of the house, moving costs and the costs of furnishing the new house, possibly including a new kitchen, in the overall calculation.
On the other hand, far-sighted builders can save costs if they are clear before construction begins how to set up their future home in detail. Subsequent extensions are significantly more expensive than the same services would have been if the details had been specified before the tender for the craftsmen’s services.
In contrast, ongoing modifications during the construction period are not only expensive and, in extreme cases, can explode your housing budget. There is also a risk of construction delays and errors if, for example, when the floor covering is subsequently changed from carpet to parquet, one forgets that this also changes the floor height and suddenly there is a danger of a threshold under the living room door.
PERFORMANCE TOO OPTIMISTIC
To save costs when building a house, doing your own homework is an effective way. Basically, there are opportunities for builders to use craftsmanship at every stage of construction. However, it should be borne in mind that carrying out the work yourself usually takes more time than having it carried out by experienced craftsmen with optimal equipment. Furthermore, quite a few builders overestimate their craftsmanship skills. As a result, you risk defects and jeopardize construction progress. In the worst case scenario, it creates a backlog that not only eliminates all your savings but also costs you additional money.
Anyone who estimates more than 10-15% of the construction cost for their project is deceiving themselves. In addition to painting and wallpapering work and laying floor coverings shortly before the move, builders without special specialist knowledge can install the thermal insulation of the external basement walls themselves during rough construction and, in the case of plasterboard construction, take care of the construction of plasterboard walls as well as the sanding and plastering of ceilings and walls. The non-professional builder prefers to leave all other services to qualified tradesmen.
Builders who see savings potential in their work, not just in wages but also in materials, are often proven wrong. For example, cheap wall paint from the hardware store usually has such low coverage that it must be applied multiple times and ends up costing more than a quality product that can be easily applied.
CONSTRUCTION DESCRIPTION NOT CLEAR
According to the Association of Private Builders, nine out of ten builders opt for a turnkey home. In turnkey construction, however, the contracting parties enjoy wide contractual freedom in terms of content. This means that builders often subsequently incur costs that they had not anticipated due to unclear terms in the construction and service description. Therefore make sure that the agreed construction work is described exactly in ‘s 40+ page construction description. It should also be clear what is not included in the fixed price and how imponderables are handled, for example in relation to ground conditions.
‘ building description lists exactly which (property) requirements the flat rate price is based on, so builders know what else they can expect. You will also find a complete overview of those services that are not included in the fixed price and which are usually supplied or commissioned by the builder himself. In the offer of your construction partner , these services are listed separately with realistic estimated costs, so that each customer receives full transparency on the additional costs of the house construction project before the contract is concluded.
You should also pay close attention to special requests. In the MYMASSIV® system individual equipment requests are taken into account in the form of a separate additional building description, which becomes part of the contract and in which all special requests included in the fixed price are described. Potential builders may not be careful enough at this point to avoid later problems or unplanned additional costs.
MANUFACTURE PARTNERS WITHOUT REFERENCES
Mistakes in building a house can best be avoided through the expertise and experience of those participating in the construction. Because what good is a better design adapted to your budget on the right property if the craftsmen on site do not respect the specifications? In this regard, you will generally have less stress if you have your home built turnkey, like most private builders. Choosing the right construction partner is critical to success.
Follow the advice of friends and acquaintances and be sure to talk to other builders before signing a contract. Don’t be fooled by simple reference lists or anonymous reviews on the Internet. Only if a construction partner has references that you are personally convinced of can you be sure that, like the construction partners of , they will also bring your dream house project to success.
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