Thinking of building a house - are we crazy?

[chloechloe]

So we bought our current house 5 years ago and really love it. But since then, we’ve gone from 2 to 5 - the kids are now 5, 4 and 2. The house will be fine for the next few years but thinking longer term, we’d like a bedroom for each of the kids, another bathroom, a bigger garden, a home office. First world problems I know.

We’ve viewed quite a few houses and plots of land and have a good idea of the market at the moment - we’re not in the UK and it’s very much a sellers’ market with not much on offer and crazy prices.

We’ve seen a plot of land today on which we could build exactly what we want - there’s planning permission in place. I think I love it. Lovely quiet area, arguably the best in town, 5 min from where we live now, so friends nearby, corner plot with just one immediate neighbour, 5 minute drive / 15 min cycle into town, on the edge of a forest, views of the mountains from the ground floor.

But building a house will be so stressful and expensive and no doubt put a strain on the family - it’s pretty tough as it is with work and 3 kids. But then again this would be it for the next 20 years until the kids leave home - and with the current house prices who knows when that will be.

We need to make a quick decision as it’s likely going to be snapped up otherwise. Anybody want to hold my hand while I jump off the cliff?

Do it! :)

I’d do it without hesitation. Yes, it would be a hard couple of years - where would you live while it was being built? But then you’d get to live in a great area, in a house you’d designed to suit your family - it sounds ideal!
But then maybe I’m crazy too...

Sorry, I didn't elaborate. I would definitely take the risk. Life is no fun if you always stick to what you know. But yes, I agree with Cletter, where would you live while you built it?

It sounds amazing and will be an adventure! Best of luck to you all.

I was expecting risk averse replies, so am pleasantly surprised! We would stay in our current house whilst it’s being built and then put this on the market when we have an idea of completion. We’ve already met with the bank and it’s doable.

Can you definitely get a self build mortgage?

I did this with a toddler and a baby, I'd recommend getting someone in to project manage!

Go for it. It sounds perfect (can you build in a tower, a secret tunnel and a swimming pool?)

Building always costs more than you think! Is there ever an episode of Grand Designs that doesn’t go over budget? Or any other renovation/new build programme? There are hidden pitfalls everywhere.

People who I know that have done this have put in a big mobile home on site. They have them sold the house because a deposit plus working capital is needed. If you have deep pockets anyway, you might not need capital from your house but many people do. I would consider this but you often need permission to instal a mobile home.

anon yes we’ve discussed a self build mortgage with the bank and also have a decent deposit which we could use towards the plot of land. I think a project manager is definitely the way to go, although it’s hard to find a good one from what I’ve heard. We know an architect who built our current house. So one option would be to get him to design and project manage it for an agreed price. It would likely be more expensive that way but it would be reassuring to have a final sum in mind and to leave the risk of it going over with him.

percy I love Grand Designs and have seen many families spending the winter in a caravan on the building site. The wife then invariably falls pregnant and has the baby before they’ve moved in!

Ha! Yes. But having at least 10% and probably 20% as a contingency fund is the important bit. Costs can really escalate.

Sounds like you have thought it over and crunched the numbers so I vote do it!

Are you in France?

@LesLavandes

Are you in France?

No, in Germany.

Go for it. I’d do it if it was compatible with our jobs/lives. Good luck 👍🏻

Where I come from for a lot of people up until a few years back it was standard practice to build your own home rather than buy as it was so much cheaper and a lot of people did a lot of DIY too and were quite handy. Especially where I lived (rural not sought after village) lots of families owned land / were farmers and would then give building plots/ land to their adult DCs to build on. From what I've heard it's a lot harder to do now.

I sometimes reminisce about how my DGPs (who are back in my home country) told me they would happily give me land and I could build/ do what I want with it and how it would've been nice to design and make my own space.
My whole life is in the UK (DH and DCs included) and I would never move back but struggle with the sizes of British houses and plots and the "it's a 3 bedroomed house" when in reality it's more like 2 bedrooms and a cupboard.

I'd jump at the chance to be able to build.

Yes, go for it if you can live at home while home is being built!

I spent a number of years working for a building contracting company, so some tips from seeing this from the other side:

Might not apply so much in Germany, but prepare for an extra 50% on the duration. It's a big project, and big project estimates are always optimistic even if you try and build in slack to allow for issues. It's often nobody's fault, just circumstance and missed efficiencies. Plus COVID of course.

The architect -> builders back and forth communication needs to be continously managed (architects unwittingly design impossible things; unsupervised builders fix them by making inappropriate shortcuts or switching materials with/without knowing it'll break things, stuff like that needs to go back to the architect), either get an architect who will work directly with them or (better) have a project manager person (might be you or DP if you're able to put in the time to learn the ropes before bad things happen) who is able to force that communication for things.

Keep everything contractual in writing, any decisions made about going off the architect's original plans need to be annotated too.

Make friends with everyone involved if you can, you'll get better results, but don't let that stop you getting things fixed out of embarrassment at upsetting them. You can't afford that when you're on a big job like this.

If your project manager/builder lead is saying "everything's going fine, no issues to worry about" for two weeks in a row they're 99% lying.

Thanks badacorn!

It’s a shame that you’re not able to take up the offer pumpkin. Often the cost of the land is the most expensive element. But I guess it’s no use when life has taken you to a different country! Having left the UK a decade ago it makes me laugh how people determine house size and value by the number of bedrooms and bathrooms. Here everybody talks in square metres which took a while to understand. I grew up in a 4 bed, 3 bathroom house which sounds great, but it was tiny!

We’ve done a lot of soul searching and number crunching and might be making an offer tomorrow!

Thanks for the tips sardine, sounds like an interesting job!

Project managing it ourselves is just too much to take on I think. I’m minded to go with an architect / PM combo to avoid precisely the problems you have mentioned. We know an architect who would do this for us. We also have the option of getting him to design it and somebody else to PM / construct - even he admits this is not the best option though as it invariably causes problems.

We bought our current house off plan (from said architect) and know a lot of contractors - some good and bad! Hopefully that will help in knowing who to use.

@chloechloe did you go for it? What stage are you up to now? Considering a build here, would love to hear your experiences, esp the work/children balance!