After running for a year and a half in the “building my sweet home” marathon, I would like to share my experiences.
 
Law 1

Never think that spending 30 000,- Kč in a lawyer is a waste of money. The time spent to review the contract in details with the lawyer is worth twice the money you spend.

My recommended lawyer:

Stella Holesova, Cabinet d’avocats Onisko & Holesova, Anny Letenske 7, 120 00 Prague 2 / T : +420 222 512 727 / F : +420 222 514 292 (CZ, SK, FR maybe EN)

Law 2

Never be too enthusiastic when seeing the unexpected “best offer of the world“. I have true beliefs in the human kindness… until we reach the business area.

As far as I know if you are the buyer there is no good deal, you can just buy a land or a house at the market price or more; but if somebody shows you the stars it probably means that he does not want you to see the fraud. Then you have to refer twice more to the Law 1 above.

With those two simple rules you should avoid the traps that sellers like to setup on your way.

Lets talk now about the firms that I dealt with:

OPTREAL: Selling land

They are preparing lands in several areas around Prague. This is not the worst company I saw, but they are hiding some details in the contract like: all the houses have the central canalization but this canalization is going nowhere because they did not create the water recycling unit needed. So they mention it during an informal chat and when you contact the city office about this “detail” (Optreal point of view) the officer replies that the city may request 200 000,- Kč to build this unit… RUN AWAY!!!!

OXES: Selling land

They are preparing lands in several areas around Prague too! I bought my plot from this company. They produced some documents a bit slowly but we finally got everything. Not a bad experience.

CANABA: Building houses

They have a catalogue of houses from which you can work out something and make changes if you prefer. They have a concrete panel technology so the houses are very fast to build. But be very careful! The salesman is really a salesman, he knows nothing about the product. That would be a fridge he would argue the same way!!!! Every time we asked for a detail he replied that he will contact a colleague… They have a terrible standard contract that they are not wishing to modify. After two months of meetings, chats negotiations, we gave up, seeing that we were wasting our time.

WELFAST: Building houses

They have a catalogue of houses from which you can work out something and make changes if you prefer. They are using a classic brick wall system. Technically speaking the salesman knows his products. They are enjoying modifying the house as much as you want. They are really flexible in this but when it is about the contract the things turn bad. We had a very few requests about the contract, some security for us. We met up with the owner of the firm and the chat was good. Every time we asked for some changes they said YES. But when they really had to modify the contract, they refused. Face to face a big smile but no action following this verbal agreement.

Most of the companies refuse to negotiate about the contracts. It is a known fact that you can bring your own contract version and submit it… But they will not accept it.

ECOMODULA: Building houses

They have a catalogue of houses from which you can work out something and make changes if you prefer. Those houses are wooden structured with an isolation technology that respect at least the European rules (which means that you have option to get over isolation). They are very fast to build and the house includes really ALL. You can setup up your complete house and the day they deliver you can live inside. That is a really pleasant point. When it is about negotiating, you may fall from you chair! They are open minded to the customer needs and they are trying to arrange the maximum for you. This is the level of service that you can expect from a company but that you don’t easily get. But Ecomodula does support you. No surprise then if I tell you that I am going to sign with them for the building of my “sweet home”.