Analysis of our financial situation

A civil engineer/architect cost us just under €1000. On the one hand, they inspected for damages and, on the other hand, provided us with a cost breakdown according to our renovation wishes, so that we can be reasonably sure that our budget is sufficient. I think that is well-invested money.

We were in a very similar situation as you! Brief summary. We also looked at houses up to max. 1 million and initially already considered buying something in the 700-800k price range and then doing cosmetic repairs. But then we bought something under 500k and renovated a bit! Over the course of viewings and with time, we came to the conclusion that less is clearly more relaxed! In retrospect, the best decision for us! Why: for example, we had generously planned 120-130k for renovation, but it ended up being over 200k! and that did not include heating, roof, and exterior insulation like in your case.

Briefly on your cost estimates, just one general point:
The electrical system might be tight; I guess you have to redo everything (because for the construction year, mostly still flat cables are used).
Do you want the window blinds to be electric as well? LAN connections in the rooms, etc.? Even if you make the slots and install the boxes yourself, 15k just for materials could already be tight. But I don’t know the house and the circumstances or what you want to do regarding the electrical system.

Therefore, my advice to you:
Take an architect with you for the second viewing and have them make an estimate, being really honest about the standard you want!! (For example, terrace door with a 15cm step or rather the floor-to-ceiling slide and lift door).

Otherwise, don’t let yourself be driven crazy by realtors/sellers, etc. For them, it’s always exactly the perfect time now and everything will be expensive and so on.

You could manage it financially. Whether it’s the right property, your gut feeling will tell you!

Thank you for your information. May I ask how high you set the monthly burden of the loan and how high or how the incomes are distributed?

I will take the advice about the architect to be able to put the cost estimate on a stable footing.

Whether architect or building expert, it doesn’t matter. The person only has to be able to do two things at the same time:

[*]Assess the condition, where there is work to be done. For example, damp walls
[*]Estimate renovation costs and prepare/endorse them for the banks

If one person cannot do both, you pay twice, if you’re unlucky.

If necessary, we would aim for an efficiency house standard, maybe I can also get that into the one person after all.
Or is there something speaking against that?

A civil engineer/architect cost us just under 1000€. He checked for damages on the one hand and, on the other, made us a cost breakdown according to our renovation wishes so that we can be reasonably sure our budget is sufficient.
I think that is well-invested money.

Can you already say how accurate the architect’s estimate turned out? Of course, we have a small contingency reserve (so far left out in the thread), should difficulties arise. But 25k+ or more would, if at all, only be feasible through the ongoing monthly surpluses.

Thank you for your information. May I ask how high you have set the monthly loan burden and how high or how the incomes are distributed?

I will take the advice with the architect in order to put the cost estimate on a stable footing.

If necessary, we would aim for an energy-efficient house standard, maybe I can still get that in the one person under [ ]. Or is there any reason against it?

Can you already say how exactly the architect's estimate turned out? Of course, we also still have a small emergency reserve (excluded in the thread so far), should difficulties arise. But 25k+ or more would, if at all, only be manageable through the ongoing monthly surpluses.

Salaries are without bonuses/Christmas bonuses 4700€ and 3600€ + 1100€ from renting out two apartments. The installment is 2300€ + 5% optional special repayment. Equity was 240k.

For subsidies, we had an energy advisor. For the windows, there was a 10% grant from the KFW. For heating, there are also programs, but this only applies/has to apply to us from 2026. For your bathrooms: check out “age-appropriate remodeling” at the KFW, in case you want a walk-in shower; I got onto that too late, but I think with a clever sanitation specialist you can also prepare the bathroom very well for later times.

Our architect was a distant acquaintance. He spontaneously came along to the second viewing and looked through for 1 hour, we told him what we wanted to do and he gave a rough estimate of 200-250k. We found that estimate way too high. As mentioned, we had estimated around 120-130k. For floors, bathroom, electricity, windows, doors (+ raising door lintels to 2.13m), terrace, kitchen, suspended ceiling. We did preliminary work ourselves (tearing out floors, bathroom and ceilings), as well as electrical preparations (chasing and boxing in sockets).

After a year of renovating, we realized: we had underestimated. The architect hit the mark. We landed at 210-220k. It must be noted, however, that during the renovation this and that is still added, which you didn’t even think of at the beginning. Or nice-to-haves (e.g. water softening). But we also still have some small things open, which we have now postponed (e.g. front door) and we also didn’t install the simple standard.

A buffer is definitely advisable; it can never be big enough.

One more piece of advice: look at many properties!! The agents should definitely do something for their money.