Costs of inheritance, demolition, new construction

Preserving the basement and building anew on top certainly has its charm – you can save costs that way.

On the other hand, you also have to consider the potential risks:

- You cannot see inside the structure – hidden defects/damages are possible here
- In the event of moisture damage in the new part of the house, there is always the risk that the construction company will blame the damage on the existing basement.
- The sewage and possibly also the water supply pipes under the "old" basement are still old and therefore potentially more prone to issues.

For these reasons, we have decided to completely tear down, even though it is really a pity about the old vaulted basement.

Regards,

Dirk

My mother and my brother would give me their shares as a gift. The 100k from my mother should be tax-free, I would have to pay taxes on 30k from my brother's share (20k are exempt), is that correct?

Yes, that is correct. For your brother's share (25%), you would have to tax EUR 30k; the amount depends on your tax bracket. The tax office can provide information on this. To my knowledge, this is not correct. If it is a community of heirs, it is tax-free because it originates from your father and then there is an allowance, etc. You should definitely ask a specialist here.

On the topic of transfer / notary:
The issue with the right of residence naturally only works with my grandpa’s consent.
So we would have to go together to a notary, have everything transferred (right of residence removed, shares from my mother and my brother transferred to me) and there would be costs for the notary and possibly partial gift tax. Or if the case with the community of heirs applies, these would not be due. That is how I have understood it so far and I will have it clarified by a professional.

On the topic of demolition costs:
So I have to get various cost estimates and it varies between 10 and 30k, assuming there are no harmful substances involved.

On the condition of the house:
Above all, the basement is what bothers me. It is really musty and not very high. It would be purely a utility basement where I currently wouldn’t even hang laundry or store food. And if the basement ceiling had to be insulated, I would almost have to walk bent over.
So if demolition, then definitely with the basement too.

It still has the original kitchen, carpet, and wallpaper as well. Windows, roof, etc. The whole house just smells musty. My grandpa thinks everything is fine like that, he doesn’t know it any other way. The toilet on the ground floor is 2 sqm and the bathroom on the upper floor is 5 sqm. Everything is not at all up to date.
Of course, it can be remodeled, but maybe in the end there would still be too many compromises in the floor plan.

An acquaintance of mine is a civil engineer and is currently calculating what a complete renovation plus conversions etc. would cost approximately.

By the way, the house has district heating and is located in Wolfsburg (Lower Saxony), the pipes to the house were newly installed two years ago.
So I have to clarify what it would cost to “disconnect” and then “reconnect” the pipes in that respect.

I can also upload the floor plans. (I would do that after training)
If necessary, I will list my ideas & wishes for a house tonight. Maybe then you can better understand why I don’t like the floor plan as it is.

Thanks already for the answers so far.

Regards
Norman

I am attaching the floor plans. Then you might better see that quite a few things would have to be done to obtain a floor plan "corresponding to my ideas."

I have the following ideas / concepts:

Ground floor: Living and dining area as one room, separated by a sliding door to the kitchen, WC (larger than 2 sqm!) and a small storage room (vacuum cleaner, ...)

Upper floor: Bedroom, bathroom (shower, bathtub, 2 sinks), 2 children's rooms (about the same size)

Basement: Hobby room, guest / study room, laundry room / utility room (washing machine, dryer, space to hang laundry, water crates, ...), tool room / boiler room

The basement should also be usable to some extent and not just for storage.
Underfloor heating everywhere. Possibly a fireplace in the living / dining room.

I would first have an expert inspect the house and see what can be done and how much it is still worth. I would think carefully about the new construction, because I believe the floor plan definitely has potential. Interior walls, as long as they are not load-bearing, can always be torn out and replaced with new ones.

I would definitely also consult a tax advisor; possibly the tax can be avoided or reduced through a certain sequence (transfer/delete residential right/demolition).

There is definitely a difference whether I
- transfer a property, a house with a residential right
- transfer a property with a house without a residential right
- transfer a property without a house.

The residential right definitely reduces the value. To what extent the house reduces or increases the value depends on the condition.

Regarding the real estate transfer tax, I don’t think the statement from the construction expert is entirely correct.
If I have read it correctly, real estate transfer tax only does not apply to a direct line of kinship (i.e., a brother would be excluded), unless it is a gift. So if the brother would be paid out, real estate transfer tax would also apply to the amount of consideration. Here too, it might be possible to use allowances through clever constructions, provided that it would not already be tax-free under the gift tax law, as b0012sm claims.