The Architect’s House as the Royal Road?
In an architect’s house, an architect creates the building design according to the wishes, needs and specifications of the client. In addition, they ensure that the construction project is implemented within the specified period of time and at the agreed costs. According to the “haus.de” portal, architect-designed houses are often considered expensive. But this disrepute contradicts Renate Schulz, consultant at the Bauherren-Schutzverbund eV to “haus.de”: “Extraordinary living ideas in particular go into the money”. However, according to Renate Schulz, the cost calculation proves to be extremely complicated, since the price is not fixed until all orders have been placed. In addition, the price can change during the construction phase. Despite this contradiction, according to the “Wohnglück” portal, an architect’s house is statistically more expensive than a turnkey prefabricated house.
That’s what experts advise
There are ways and means to reduce the cost of an architect’s house. The first lever that can be applied is the personal contribution, which can save a lot of construction costs. The higher the share of personal contribution, the lower the costs for craftsmen and construction work and the lower the overall costs. Another saving point is the size. According to “financescout24.de”, even a slight reduction in living space is already clearly noticeable in the overall bill. In addition, by doing without a basement or a converted attic, the costs can be reduced by several thousand euros, according to “financescout24.de”. Basically, the following applies: the more unusual and special the wishes and the larger the house, the higher the price. Anyone who is aware of this principle can, under the right circumstances, make their dream of an architect-designed house come true, even with a limited budget.
Prefab – the more wallet-friendly solution?
If you want to accept far less design freedom in favor of a cheaper alternative, you have the option of buying a prefabricated house. This is a model house that consists of prefabricated components and only has to be assembled on the construction site. According to the R+V insurance company, the plans for a prefabricated house also come from the pen of an architect, but instead of those interested in building, the instructions usually come from the provider, which is why the houses are mostly standardized. In so-called model house settlements, interested parties can examine a selection of different house types and floor plans and make a decision on this basis.
Compared to an architect’s house, there is less design freedom, but also a much less complex and shorter construction period with often lower costs. Here, too, considerable costs can be saved through a higher proportion of personal work, a smaller size and the omission of a cellar or a converted attic. The principle that the more specific the wishes and plans and the larger the house, the more expensive the overall costs can also be applied here.
Property developer as an “all-round carefree package”
According to “Immobilienscout24”, developers are companies that commercially acquire, plan, develop and develop large areas of land in order to sell the objects as residential units to private house buyers at fixed prices during the planning phase. Buyers get everything they need at this fixed price in a kind of “all-in-one package”. “In large cities and sought-after locations, this is often the only possible way to build a new home, because property developers can often secure the most attractive properties,” as Gabriele Heinrich, executive board member of the consumer protection association Wohnen im property eV, explains to “haus.de”. Especially since the bundled purchase of house and land means that the property developer bears all the responsibility, while buyers enjoy the right to a property free of defects. But here, too, the scope for design for the buying parties is extremely limited and, according to the portal, often only amounts to the color of the tiles and the selection of the floor covering. In addition, Gabrielle Heinrich warns: “The purchase in the planning stage is also associated with risks, such as overpayment or insolvency of the entrepreneur”. The location is the main factor in determining the price, as are the factors of size and equipment.
Case-by-case consideration remains the key
As already mentioned, each of the models presented has its individual advantages and disadvantages. As a rule, there are various cost advantages, especially in the case of prefabricated houses, but considerable costs can also be saved with the right tricks and the right methods in the case of individually manufactured architect houses or property developer objects purchased as a complete package. Nevertheless, in case of doubt, a case-by-case analysis is always necessary in order to make the best possible decision.
Philipp Beißwanger / Editor finanzen.net
Image sources: Alexander Raths / Shutterstock.com, Andrey_Popov / Shutterstock.com