Desirable property affordable? Experiences?

Exactly. You are right. The price difference makes the difference. If it is that big, then the old house is more worthwhile. But if there is only 50,000 in between, I don’t have to think long. And with a high land value, the house price of a house from the 50s and the 80s is almost the same. Then you might as well buy the house from the 80s for a little more.

I find it very interesting anyway that all supporters of the terraced house live or have lived in an end house ;)

The house I was talking about and where I lived for 19 years is a mid-terrace house

We had actually first reserved a mid-terrace house and then switched to an end-terrace house. In our case, this makes practically no difference regarding the lighting situation (two windows have moved from the roof to the facade, otherwise the windows on the upper and ground floors are identical to the mid-terrace house). (We do find this a bit of a shame, but that’s another discussion). The thought of having two direct neighbors didn’t immediately deter us either, even though our personal environment did say "are you SURE?!" so maybe that influenced us in the end... otherwise we found the accessibility of the parking space and garden better that way, but that really depends on the situation on site. And the extra cost was low enough (I think it was 17-18k less for the mid-terrace house with the same plot size, I don’t see the prices now... the mid-terrace house with a 20sqm smaller plot is 20k cheaper than what we are paying), so that we ended up thinking "I believe we can afford the extra cost, let’s just take the end-terrace house."

Just to say: at least it was never ruled out from the beginning :)

And I can tell you from experience one thing. Living in an end-terrace house is like living in a semi-detached house. And I know some who are very happy living there. It doesn’t always have to be a detached house. A [REH] has its advantages too. Especially the usually central location and the low building stress. Because building with a developer (a good one) is usually much more relaxed than shouldering the responsibility yourself. Wishing you lots of joy in your soon-to-be new home. In my opinion, the additional cost was definitely worth it.

Every house is a downgrade compared to a new build. But at least in our experience, the price difference between houses from 1950 and 1980 is rather small (+-50k). And of course, I would rather choose the younger house. I know some people who live in such a house from the 80s with their young family and were able to fulfill the dream of owning a house at the lowest price. As you describe, nothing was done after moving in, and then over the first 5 years the living spaces inside were gradually renovated and new windows were installed outside. That’s a good option if you want to live in a house on a small budget. You do it step by step as you can afford it financially. Especially in the commuter belt of metropolitan areas, new builds have become unaffordable.

I think it always depends on what the new build is supposed to look like. My wife and I lived for years in a semi-detached house, new build first occupancy. 120 m² on 400 m² plot, underfloor heating, triple glazing. We could have bought the house as well. But our dream was always to live in a house/farmstead. Timber framing or sandstone is a must-have, and the plot should not be less than 1000 m². The whole thing should look great and be pleasant to live in. We have definitely considered new builds in that area as well.

The fully renovated old building is definitely cheaper. That can be different with standard houses from the 80s, but in existing stock, in my opinion, there are often simply the prettier houses, nicer plots, etc.

the nicer plots etc.

In my opinion, this is generally so underestimated (by me as well). What a beautiful, already finished garden costs in time, money, blood, sweat, and tears, many existing properties should actually be valued at an extra 100,000 EUR. The classic 10-20,000 EUR in EL for new construction projects is at best enough for lawn, terrace, and welded wire mesh fence, if at all. Because terrain modeling and planting often cost more than you think, regardless of EL or not.