Buy a house, renovate or build new?

185sqm living space + basement is quite large. What do you think of the cost breakdown?

Basement: 35,000
Roof: 25,000
Windows: 20,000
Shell construction: 60,000
Sanitary (heating, pipes): 40,000
Electrical: 13,000
Exterior plaster: 20,000
Bathrooms: 25,000
Additional construction costs: 20,000€
Interior finishing: 35,000
Total: 293,000

House dimensions: approx. 10x10m

Is that unrealistic? Because then I should be able to manage with the new build, right?

Hi,

I think that is calculated too tight / optimistically. You probably won’t get by with that amount of money and will have to finance more later.

Additional construction costs: More like 35k - 40k (there are so many points). Delta 20k
Basement: More like 50k or more (depends strongly on soil conditions / building circumstances). Delta >=15k. Please also consider, a proper basement also has an outside staircase and of course an expensive apartment door (energy saving ordinance). In addition, there is still a staircase inside the house (also 8-10k). And so on. Basement is expensive.
Bathrooms: Also tight.....let’s leave it that way, balances out.
Exterior plaster: Seems rather high to me at 20k, the price.....

Please keep this in mind:
Compared to the mentioned existing property you have:
- No garages: approx. 15-20k, rather 20k, since foundations are necessary
- Driveways / house entrance / house perimeter / fence: depending on size, easily 10-15k
- No garden landscaping: between 10 and 30k, I don’t know what was done with the existing property to make it comparable
- The mentioned 80k conversion costs are a big gulp, but the kitchen was included, which is missing above as well.
- No risk regarding soil conditions and additional construction costs with existing property, if condition is okay.
- No stress, no nerves lost (priceless).

Delta money: 20k + 15k + 15k + 15k (garden averaged, that’s definitely gone): 65k

293k + 65k = 358k + new kitchen.

So far the attempt to compare not quite 100% apples with oranges (new / existing property).

Building expert calculates with 340k and that doesn’t include all those garden things and garages...... So both approaches go in the same direction.

My tip: Don’t sugarcoat it. New builds always get more expensive than you could ever imagine in your wildest dreams. The existing property already includes the finished plot for the price of 380k including the conversion. That is an incredible amount of difference compared to a new build.

Best regards
Thorsten

That's insane! I never thought a new building would cost so much! What can you roughly estimate if you leave out the basement and instead plan for more living space?

Hi,

this is what we are trying to tell you. It is expensive. As the construction expert already said at the very end of your post!

Regarding the question: Roughly;
Calculate like the construction expert, 1500 euros/sqm.

Subtract the 50K (+x) from the basement. Slightly reduce the incidental construction costs by about 5%.
Then add the desired extra sqm at 1,500 each.

Then add a floor slab, which costs around 15-20K in total.

Small note: By eliminating the basement stairs inside, space is gained again.

Best regards
Thorsten

This is unbelievable! I never thought that a new building would cost so much! What can one roughly calculate if you leave out the basement and instead plan for more living space?

You’re a joker – what does "more" living space mean to you? A basement, as a utility basement, would cost about TEUR 50 and is *not* included in *my* TEUR 340 from post #7. TEUR 340 is already your maximum – so what good does the hypothetical question about the costs of "more" above-ground living space do you; whatever that is supposed to mean. I am increasingly getting the impression that you are not currently looking for a discussion about the topic of new construction vs. existing property. Your desire to build new overrides all good arguments to think about the existing building in a factual way. Rhine greetings

Yes, that's why I came here to the forum. I am just a little surprised because I spoke with a civil engineer yesterday and he gave me completely different figures. According to your calculation, however, I come out easily €150,000 more compared to the existing property. If I take this assessment as a basis for my factual consideration, then it is of course reasonable to choose the existing property. However, if I take the cost estimate of the civil and structural engineer as a basis, then the new building would be the better alternative for us.