Building a house or buying

Hello everyone,

I have been reading along for a while and really like the forum. There is a very positive and helpful atmosphere here that I miss in other forums.
Now to my concern. My wife, the two girls (1 and 7), and I bought a small mid-terrace house in 2011. As you can tell from the age of the youngest, we were still three then and the 70m² of the house were enough for us. Now we are four and need to expand.
The real estate prices for existing properties in the areas we are looking in Kiel are so high that after a long search we have decided to be able to build for a bit more money.
We have since found a great plot in a new development area in a neighboring community and had initial talks with the developer to whom the plot is tied.
We have mentally prepared ourselves for building the house, and over the weekend our neighbor came to us and told us that they (as tenants) would be moving out of the adjacent house.
We then spontaneously called the owners and asked if they could imagine selling the house. Long story short: We are now faced with the decision to combine our terrace house with the neighboring house or continue with our building plans.
Of course, no one can help us or make the decision for us, but I would be interested in opinions.
The choice is between:
- Connected mid-terrace house, 350m² plot, 140m² living space, 80m² basement from 1957 in a well-known and very nice location
- New single-family house on a 560m² plot, 125m² living space, no basement in a nice suburban community.

The new build would be about 50,000 EUR more expensive, but the burden would remain about the same due to the more expensive loans (we would probably have to maintain the old financing).
Is it ‘economically sensible’ to keep the old house? We feel very comfortable there. Or would it perhaps be more future-proof to take the new build, especially since we have already decided to move to the neighboring community.

As I said, the decision depends on many factors and no one here should or will make it for us, but I am particularly interested from a future perspective whether you consider the old house or new house, but outside the current area, to be more sensible.

If the question is stupid, it can of course be deleted. :)

Thanks and best regards,
Chrischan

Since I have already avoided new construction once and preferred to buy a house, I also find the offer of the two RHMs better here. Location and space are everything...

I would just take a close look at what renovation or even refurbishment is due today or in the short term; given the age, I can think of quite a few things unless they have already been done.

Hello Chrischan,

as you already say, no one can make the decision for you.

My first thoughts on this would be:

- Major renovation effort when merging two terraced houses (stairs, bathrooms, kitchens, heating, utility connections...)

- Approval for merging possible by the city (breaking through firewalls...)?

- Heating technology and insulation up to date (costs in the future)

- Upcoming renovations (roof, heating, sanitary, electrical...)

- New house on significantly more land ([Space for the children, pets,...])

- Naturally many children in the new development ([Playmates for the children...])

Personally, I would rather tend to the new build (if the higher costs are affordable), but of course I cannot judge how rooted you are in the current residential area...

Regards,

Dirk

Thanks already for the quick answers. :) As an addition, both houses have already been extensively renovated. We have renewed the roof, windows, electrical system, heating, and carried out core insulation. The neighboring house has also received all of this, but a little earlier than us. Dirk's point about the conversion effort also scares me a bit. Since the houses are exactly mirrored, the stairs are ideally located on the outer sides at least. The points of plot size and social contacts for the children are also important and definitely a plus for the new building. Would you think about the inheritance? I would like to leave my children something material as well, and a 40-year-old house is certainly better than a 100-year-old one. Or should something like that not play a role? Regards. Chrischan

Hello Chrischan,

I would leave the topic of inheritance aside for now.

I think that a house built today probably won’t suit the taste of your children in 40 years, just like a building that will be 100 years old at that time...

The land will probably be more valuable then, and 560 sqm clearly beats 350 sqm. Especially since a detached house can be built on the larger plot, which can then be much easier to demolish or renovate.

Last year, we were also faced with the question of whether to renovate and extend a 60-year-old house or to demolish and build anew.

We then decided on the complete new build, even though it was my grandparents' house.

Regards,

Dirk

We are currently doing exactly the opposite and renovating a house from 1962 :)

And 350 sqm in the right location can be worth significantly more than 560 sqm in the wrong location ;-)