Assistance due to renovation needs when buying a house

Hello everyone,

my wife and I are looking for a house and have currently set our sights on a great property.

We are very interested in a detached single-family house in a good location; the facts about it are:

- Year of construction 1957
- 160 sqm living space, fully basemented, two stories,
- new roof including insulation from 2010
- air heat pump with solar support, additionally an oil central heating system from 2004 if needed
- the windows are double-glazed but still from the year of construction – only a few were replaced around 2004 (plastic, double-glazed)
- electrical system mostly still from the year of construction – will probably need to be completely renewed
- there were damp spots on three exterior walls at one time; the causes were apparently all fixed back then (you can still see the stains on the wallpaper, a professional probably needs to check whether everything is dry again)

We have already spoken to the seller about the purchase price; however, how much we can and want to pay ultimately depends on the scope of renovation, which we as laymen cannot assess at all.

Now my question to you:

How can I get a professional assessment that on the one hand shows me what absolutely needs to be renovated before renovation unbedingt (you know how it is: for cost reasons, we want/can only do as much as necessary) and on the other hand, what that will roughly cost?

Is there someone who can really assess everything in a house, that is both the electrical system, damp walls, mold risk, water pipes, heating as well as windows and any necessary insulation/ventilation measures?

Or do I first need an architect for half of it and then an energy consultant for the rest? Or are there specialized experts for something like this?

I am aware that afterward I will have to obtain precise cost estimates from the respective craftsmen, but it would be very helpful if I could already get an approximate figure to know whether we can afford the whole package at all.

I look forward to all tips and answers.

Best regards NFA

Wouldn't a good expert be helpful here? Talk to him in advance to see if he can also make a rough cost estimate.

Otherwise, you can find cost overviews for similar projects from other users here in the forum. I am also remodeling myself, but I do everything myself. So my prices don’t apply. Basically, you should maybe take a look at the prices in the hardware store or specialty store. For example, if it’s about bathroom renovation.
I once received a cost breakdown for another house. I believe it was around 100,000 euros for everything including heating. Two bathrooms were just estimated at 10,000 euros. That will hardly be enough. Because that almost only covers the material for two bathrooms.

Just make a clear list, one below the other. Maybe someone can comment on individual items. Or you call local craftsmen without obligation. That’s what I did. Just call, explain that you need a rough price for a cost estimate. Almost all craftsmen were able to help me.

Good morning,

thank you very much for the assessment. I'm just wondering whether you need such an expert in addition to an architect and energy consultant? What can an expert do that the others cannot? And who is (probably) more expensive? Objectively, all three should be similar, right?

So far, I have only googled prices on the internet, which of course is not reliable and can be totally off.

Our first rough calculation looks as follows:

- 50,000 EUR facade and roof terrace insulation (there are living spaces under the roof terrace)
- 45,000 EUR new windows
- 15,000 EUR electrical work
- 5,000 EUR new railing on the roof terrace (the old one is made of wood and completely worn out)
- 50,000 EUR two new bathrooms (in one, a wall between the bathroom and separate toilet is to be removed)
- 15,000 EUR floors
- 10,000 EUR painting and wallpapering
- 10,000 EUR kitchen (very small room)

total approx. 200,000 EUR for renovation and refurbishment

As I said, all just amateurishly googled. Do these items sound roughly realistic?

Best regards
NFA

Hello! It always depends on the scope. Overall, I would consider it realistic though. Pay attention to and especially do things that might not be absolutely necessary but definitely make sense as long as you are renovating. I personally gutted and renovated, mostly doing the work myself. A "I'll do it when I get the chance" is a bad idea. The chance never comes. But important things like the roof are already done. Also consider a perimeter insulation or the insulation of the basement ceiling under certain circumstances.

Expert real estate purchase advice is definitely recommended. Ideally, the appraiser should combine the competencies of an architect and a building energy consultant and be able to assess the building in its entirety including the building services. The already completed renovation work should also be critically examined, as it is often not carried out professionally. The condition of maintenance, any building damage—mostly moisture damage—the renovation effort including the energy renovation, and the options for conversion/reuse/expansion etc. should be comprehensively assessed by the appraiser.

What does not fit at first glance is the heat pump in an energetically unrenovated old building from the 1950s, which can only be operated efficiently via surface heating (underfloor or wall heating), not via radiators. The areas of moisture damage on the exterior walls should be checked to see whether sustainable renovation and building sealing have been carried out. If the roof has been insulated, it is possible that an attic conversion for residential purposes has been carried out at the same time. This must then either have already been approved with the old building permit from 1957 or a new building permit must be available. Otherwise, a possible conversion of the attic must still be applied for retroactively, but in principle must be approvable. This too must be checked.

In addition, there are a number of documents and records relating to the property that should be seen by the appraiser so that the property can possibly be transferred into your ownership free of encumbrances.

The cost framework for the renovation is not unrealistic. However, statements about it can only be made in connection with the inspection of the property and when planning documents are available that allow a preliminary quantity survey.

For the renovation and energy renovation, a planning concept should be created by an architect in connection. Direct requests for quotes to the executing companies and direct awarding by you are not recommended. The executing companies do not take on planning tasks and then work uncoordinated alongside each other, resulting in the usual coordination difficulties and construction errors. An independent site management should also qualitatively and quantitatively check and approve the work carried out.

Hello!

The heat pump in a house like that immediately made me suspicious as well; definitely have an expert take a look before buying to see which one or whether it even makes sense at all.

Apart from the €45K for new windows, everything else sounds plausible to me. If there are no sliding windows involved, you can estimate about €500 per window; that would mean the house has 90 windows. Even if you calculate €1000 per window, that would still be 45 windows, and the house probably doesn’t have that many.

A rough estimate of €150-200K should be planned for a renovation/refurbishment of this magnitude, and even if some savings are possible on the windows, with a renovation of this scale things will come up that you don’t see or consider from the start, even with an expert or architect. So you might want to set €150K as a firmly calculated budget goal and then add more for special cases if necessary.

Otherwise, I would proceed as wpic described. I renovated an old house myself; we didn’t have an inspector but did have an architect—with no guidance it’s impossible if you’re a complete layperson. And as I said, the buffer should be larger than for a new build. We ended up spending about €50K more or using it differently than originally planned in our renovation.

Best regards
Dirk Grafe