Complete renovation of a 150 sqm semi-detached house built in 1925

So first of all, you should exclude the kitchen and outdoor facilities. Those are counted separately. Besides that, there is a lot of potential for savings in the area of own work, especially gutting. Anyone who is physically healthy can do that. Otherwise, it really reads more like very high-end wishes: floor-to-ceiling windows, shading, expensive floors, and maybe even new stairs? Just have the stairs sanded and painted, and you’ll save €10,000. Put a cheap floor in the children's rooms. I can’t really imagine much under floor plan work yet. The difference between the current state and the target state would be interesting there. Even breakthroughs in load-bearing walls plus steel beams are many times cheaper.

We do not know how deep the pockets of the OP are and what was communicated to the architect. If the interest in the property is based on the fact that otherwise building in a sought-after, exquisite location would not be possible, but in terms of quality everything is possible and desired upwards, then such a calculation can fit and be exceeded. However, if a typical middle-class family simply wants an affordable home suitable for families, then this might not be the right architect.

I wouldn't know how one could spend so much money on this house. You don't always have to totally renovate everything. The house still looks good. Sure, bathrooms and electrical systems, I agree with that. Interior plaster depending on the age, too. If you have too much money, of course you can do that, but I never understand the point of buying a nice old building if it is supposed to look completely different afterwards. The floors, for example, are absolutely worth preserving; just have them sanded and that's it.

So: we know the neighborhood quite well. A childhood friend of my girlfriend grew up a few houses down the street, so we also have some insider info. And really everyone (said friend, savings bank broker, architect) says that almost everything on the house needs to be done. The location is a dream, unfortunately not the prices. Just the plot alone costs: standard land value 300€ on 1250sqm of land. But we could afford that. Just like 300K€ renovation costs on top. And that’s currently the only thing that matters to me, even though I haven’t seen the house from the inside yet: that it’s doable and according to unanimous opinion it apparently is – that’s nice and then we can base a possible offer on that :)

Whether we buy the house, for what price, and how and with whom we renovate is still completely up in the air. We don’t have a contract with the architect yet, but she offered to come along for free at the initial meeting, and we’d be foolish to go to that appointment alone without any renovation knowledge. If we do decide to buy, we might get a second opinion.

We have – I would say – somewhat higher standards, but certainly don’t need luxury like colored windows or anything like that. It should just be nice and energetically renovated. There are already quite a few successful (at least from the outside) renovations on the street – plenty of inspiration to draw from and I’m not too worried that we’d completely overshoot the mark.

A quick question (don’t want to open a separate topic for this): We have about 40% of the total price including incidental costs and including 300K€ (hypothetical!) renovation costs as equity. Is it possible to buy the house first without a detailed renovation plan, and hold back a large part of the equity for the renovation and handle that without the bank? Or does the bank usually want the entire project in detail? If you could do that independently from the financing, that would relax the schedule a bit.

So: we know the neighborhood quite well. An elementary school friend of my girlfriend grew up a few houses down the street, so we also have some insider information. And really everyone (the mentioned friend, savings bank broker, architect) says that practically everything needs to be done to the house.

If all insiders say that it would be too expensive even as a gift, then my outsider advice is: keep looking!

These statements surely come from people who also had the spare change for it. Those who don’t, only do what is really necessary and then get by with under €100,000 - my opinion. Many would have surely completed our house fully as well and spent four times as much for it ;).