Cost savings for demolition and new construction?

Thank you for your answer, 11ant. Unfortunately, I don’t quite understand it. Why shouldn’t we buy the property? We are really grateful to have found something in the area. In Hamburg, properties are not exactly thrown at you...

What 11ant means is that a major renovation can be a bottomless pit. You have to rebuild everything from scratch. If money is no issue, you can certainly do it without problems. Property or no property... I believe you that it is really difficult to get properties.

Also keep in mind that with the current interest rate situation, more properties and existing buildings are coming back on the market.

Would you coordinate the trades yourselves, or do you have some kind of general contractor who does that for you?

What 11ant means is that a full renovation can be a bottomless pit. You have to rebuild everything from scratch. If money is no object, you can certainly do that without any problems. Plot of land aside... I believe you that it is really difficult to get plots of land.

Also consider that with the current interest rate situation, more plots of land and existing properties are coming onto the market again.

Would you coordinate the trades yourselves or do you have some kind of general contractor who does that for you?

Yes, that is why we now also calculate with new construction costs. At the moment we are calculating with €3200 per square meter excluding the plot of land and ancillary purchase costs. It is very difficult to estimate construction costs. We have an architect who is currently filing the preliminary building application and would also take on all further service phases. She roughly estimates €3500 per square meter. However, we would carry out some trades ourselves (we have real professionals in the family who would take care of the trades of electrical work, drywall, and sanitary installation).

Otherwise, we plan to reduce costs somewhat by designing without smart home, without garage, and only the absolute essentials for outdoor facilities. No floor-to-ceiling windows (but one large patio door), no fireplace, a metal roof is sufficient and will do. Instead, [Raffstores], photovoltaic systems, and a utility basement, which unfortunately is a cost driver... And as mentioned, some trades will be carried out by professionals (real professionals with training in the field) from the family. Then we would only have the material costs (electrical, drywall, sanitary installation). It is really very difficult to estimate the whole thing in terms of price.

Thank you for your reply, 11ant. Unfortunately, I don’t quite understand it. Why shouldn’t we buy the property? We are very grateful to have found anything in the area. In Hamburg, properties are not exactly being thrown at you...

A used—and here I would even say “very old”—semi-detached house is not a “property.”

Yes, that’s why we are now also calculating with new construction costs. At the moment we are estimating 3200€ per square meter.

I do not share the hope that this will be enough.

It is very difficult to estimate construction costs. We have an architect who is currently submitting the preliminary building inquiry and would also take on all further phases of performance. She roughly estimates 3500€ per square meter.

Is she only willing in the sense of fearlessness/courage, or also in the sense of relevant experience?
You need a captain on a great voyage here, a barge skipper will not be enough:
For a semi-detached house from this era, one must assume a common party wall of both halves. Additionally, you mentioned the house has “no concrete slab” (which would also have surprised me extremely). She actually has to be a mining and tunnel construction engineer to carry out such a “partial demolition on an open heart” without endangering the structure. Even the evidence preservation procedure to document the previous condition of the other half is no child’s play for a klabauter. You would rather “play it safe” than gamble with luck. I do not see this capped anywhere near new-build level. That is why I say, if a renovation is not reliably sufficient here, then forget it. A new build would involve considerable additional costs here—note that these would not be offset by any increase in lending value. So the money becomes more expensive. A de facto volume-faithful reconstruction is hardly achievable for noticeably less than at the "listed building compliant" level—excluding the securing measures for the other half!
Calculate a factor between (without guarantee!) 2.2 and 2.8 times the cost of a new build of the same size and then you have an approximate figure. Can you/want to spend that? – honestly: even Chuck Norris would put on his helmet and belt here!

I consider it dangerously naive to believe the worst-case cost level here would be at new-build height.

A metal roof is sufficient and will do.

Is that another example of wishful thinking that a metal roof would be Schmalhans’ favorite?

A used - and here I would even say "very old" - semi-detached house is not a "property".

Oops, it seems a significant part of the emphasis got lost, I'll gladly fix it: