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

We have - I would say - somewhat higher standards, but certainly do not need luxury like colored windows or similar.

The prices quoted for the renovation, however, imply luxury.

A question (I don’t want to start a new topic for this): We have about 40% of the total price including ancillary costs including 300,000€ (hypothetical!) renovation costs as equity. Is it possible to first buy the house without a detailed renovation plan, and hold back a large part of the equity for the renovation and then carry it out without the bank? Or does the bank usually want the entire project in detail? If this could be done independently of the financing, it would relax the schedule somewhat.

Sure, that’s possible. But then it becomes a matter of conditions, as the bank then only focuses on the current state. You could maybe also finance with a 2-year fixed interest period, carry out the renovation with equity during this time, and then finance the "new" house long-term. It’s all a calculation and a bet on interest rate developments. If the boom continues and interest rates stay low, maybe in 2 years the bank says the renovated house is worth 1.5 million and you can very well get a long-term financing on that. But it can also go the other way.

Again: I was only concerned with an upwards estimate for the renovation costs. Whether we keep the wooden floorboards or not hasn’t even been decided yet! After 15 years of wooden floorboards in the old apartment, I could well imagine putting something else in. And that’s why I want a “what-if” for each item, so I know I’m not taking on too much, even *if* I have everything done professionally.

I only have the statement from the real estate agent that everything except the roof should be done, and for now I can only accept that as it is. What exactly that means (remove the floor vs. sand the floor, new stairs vs. spruce up the stairs, which windows to change and how) can’t really be said yet, and that’s why I also find it a bit pointless to argue against it. Tomorrow we’ll be a bit wiser.

The same goes for the question of what one can and wants to do oneself. We have a small child and another one planned, and honestly, I don’t want to take on too much and find that completely legitimate. I saw it at my parents’, the conflict potential it has – my father did everything, including kitchen construction, without experience himself. The results were always top in the end, but the way there was often difficult (for example, when my mother had to cook for 5 people for 2 months on 2 hotplates in the bathroom :eek:).

As a reference for the purchase price: unfortunately, everything here is insanely expensive. You can check the postal code 37083 on the usual portals. Two weeks ago, we “applied” for a house in a significantly worse location with less yard space and similar condition – they wanted 560K € for it and there was a bidding war we couldn’t even participate in. Göttingen unfortunately has the “problem” that as a relatively small university town with Sartorius, it has an upcoming DAX corporation that hires many well-paid people every year and profited greatly from the pandemic. Good for the city, bad for the housing market. Just last year, Sartorius got about 1600 new employees – not all with us – but that’s simply a lot for a city with 130K inhabitants and has been going on for a few years now. Additionally, there are quite good rental yields due to the students, so it’s interesting for investors as well. It’s a bit cheaper in the directly adjacent villages (although now an awful lot is being offered for 600, 700K €, the current highlight is a 200 sqm house on 600 sqm plot for 900K €), but it really only gets much cheaper if you go 10–15 km out (and thus have significantly worse infrastructure because it’s no longer city area -> only a bus every 1–2 hours).

And one more addition, because I also find this rather unfair: we have the equity because my girlfriend’s father took care of a lonely neighbor for a long time, while her family conveniently stayed out of it. In return, he was given her house as a gift, and when he passed away two years ago, he then bequeathed it to my girlfriend. So chill out here with "not the typical little DIY floor layer Click Parquet builder" :)

We can discuss the prices at length now, but it initially reads as if you can afford it. I find it very positive that you estimated the costs too high rather than too low. So go ahead, buy the house! Good location and a dead end is already a lucky find. If there are also other families with children of the same age, then it's a jackpot.

And one more addition, because I also find this rather unfair: we have the equity because my girlfriend's father took care of a single neighbor for a long time, while her family conveniently stayed out of it. In return, he received their house as a gift and when he passed away two years ago, it was bequeathed to my girlfriend. So chill out here with "not the typical small DIY floor layer Click parquet builder" :)

It wasn't meant that way at all - but when the architect knows about high equity, you often get maximum calculations. It all sounds good and reasonable, whatever you want. She said, I'm keeping my fingers crossed - such houses are wonderful for families.

If I were allowed to choose, I would choose exactly something like that. However, here it would cost closer to 2 million when it comes on the market.