Building his own house with little money, without going into debt - that was Tobias' big goal. With his DIY house made from vacation home kits, he has fulfilled this dream.
Not having to pay rent anymore was the reason why Tobias fulfilled his dream of owning his own home ten years ago. He didn't want to take out a loan and be in debt for 30 years. A small building savings contract and his savings should be enough. Debt-free, with a small budget and a lot of personal contribution.
Tobias found a suitable plot of land in the countryside of Lower Bavaria. Then, while on vacation, he had the idea to look around for vacation home construction kits. So it came that he ordered his first house in Estonia: a kit for a 70 square meter wooden holiday home. The house was delivered in individual parts on pallets by an articulated lorry. Assembly by helpers was included in the price. Tobias only needed a normal building permit to build the house.
The construction of his first wooden house cost Tobias a total of about 140,000 euros. Of this, he paid about 55,000 euros for the land, and only 35,000 euros for the house itself. In addition, there were about 11,000 euros for the foundation, 8,000 euros for the installation of water and electricity, and 15,000 euros for a garage. He invested the remaining sum in a furnace, heaters, flooring and roofing.
With no previous craftsmanship or experience, but with a lot of creativity, Tobias set about finishing the interior of the house. "Learning by doing" was his motto. Finding craftsmen was not possible and would probably have been too expensive. When he got stuck, he looked for instructions and KZfaq tutorials on the Internet. Everything didn't always look totally perfect afterwards, but that's perfectly okay with Tobias. It took around a year before Tobias was able to move into his self-built DIY house. Tobias is an IT specialist by profession and works for an automotive supplier in the region.
Tobias also did everything himself when it came to the furnishings, reusing a lot of existing material. For example, he simply built most of the furniture from the leftover packaging from the vacation home. From the pallets on which the kit was delivered, he built his dining table, his bedside cabinets and also his entire kitchen. He made a living room lamp out of old cardboard boxes.
A few years later, Tobias added another kit house for just under 20,000 euros. The houses are connected by a winter garden, for which Tobias had to invest another 20,000 euros.
While the foundation was still being poured for the first house, he used earth boring foundations for the second. The house is therefore virtually on stilts. This meant that the garden, which Tobias had laid out in the meantime, was spared excavators and other large equipment. After all, the 1,800 square meters are Tobias' pride and joy. With the purchase of the land and with the construction of his house came his interest in gardening.
He has divided his garden into three different areas: Right by the house, he has built a terrace, a pergola and a hot tub. There is also an area where he grows fruit, berries and herbs. The third garden area is home to his bees and he has built a barbecue area there. Tobias built the pond in the middle of the garden himself. In the meantime, ducks also live there.
Looking back, Tobias is very proud of his self-built DIY house. He feels very comfortable in his wooden house and the large garden paradise. Above all, he is glad that there are no debts weighing on his shoulders. That simply gives him a good feeling.
A film by Julius Schmitt (editor), Enno Endlicher (camera), Cécilia Marchat (sound) and Oleg Kauz (camera). Production: EIKON Media GmbH, on behalf of SWR.
00:00 Building a house without much money
00:31 Dining area
03:45 Kitchen
05:21 Living room
07:24 Bathroom
09:07 Study
09:29 Workshop
09:55 Bedroom
10:32 Garden