Finance another house...

Maybe you do need (just) three weeks of vacation after all. Afterwards, a priority list and the subsequent "renovation" should be something you can pay to some extent out of the current net income.

Has an expert already been there? Could the damp roof also be a case for the building insurance? Is it really that expensive? For 25,000 euros you can build a completely new garage.

Maybe you just need three weeks off. After that, a priority list and the subsequent "renovation" should be able to be paid to some extent out of the current net income.

That may well be the case, but unfortunately it is not in sight at the moment.

Has an expert been there already? Could the damp roof possibly be a case for the building insurance? Is it really that expensive? For 25,000 euros you can build a completely new garage.

The garage and shed are attached to the house and used to have a terrace on top, which was probably not sealed even back then, and everything on the terrace slabs was glued over with roofing felt. Nevertheless, the walls are damp and the plaster is falling off. The whole thing was probably postponed for later renovation, but the previous owner passed away, hence the unfinished state when we bought it. So rather not a case for insurance.

To be honest, I can't imagine that you will be able to resell this house even close to that price. Although I also think all the technical gimmicks are great, they scare off potential buyers, especially since the passive house concept apparently is not yet 100% implemented. I also find it very hard to imagine living in a house like that without controlled residential ventilation at the moment. The fact that the bank is currently not giving you a loan also shows a bit that they have some doubts whether the money you invest will actually create a corresponding value for the house. After deducting the land, approximately €300,000 remains for the house, for which you could already build a new one (albeit possibly somewhat smaller). Since you still have a fairly high outstanding debt and a half-finished house, the risk for the bank is high. However, I still can't quite understand your thought processes. You have little time to do something, but want to build new, which involves a considerable burden (both mentally and time-wise). Besides, you are taking on quite a financial strain and would probably be under great time pressure. Then you still have to make sure to somehow sell your renovation-needing house on the side. Whether a bank will agree to that is another matter. No matter how things look at your place, the next 2-3 years will certainly not be more pleasant/convenient. On the other hand, you actually have a very, very decent income. On the one hand, you say you don't have to save and therefore treat yourselves (which is completely legitimate), on the other hand, you do nothing about your house because you lack money. That doesn't add up. Roughly estimated, you can still live quite decently if you put away €2,000 every month. That's €25,000 per year, so you would have the loan amount together in 4 years. If you now take your €35,000 (building savings contract + cash) + your €10,000 reserve + possibly another €10,000–15,000 that you can save up in half a year, then you will very likely finish the house yourself with some extras. And next year, you save up for the outdoor facilities. If necessary, you can also take out a consumer loan to bridge half a year. And in addition, I would check whether it's possible to get something from KFW (controlled residential ventilation via an energy individual measure), the bathroom can be relatively easily made barrier-free to qualify again for KFW support, etc. By the time you have built a house, it will be at least the end of next year, the outdoor facilities will come then in 2018. Until then, in my opinion, you can implement a lot at your place with significantly less effort and risk. However, if you say that you would never be happy even with the finished house, then of course it's difficult. However, 3.5 years ago you had different thoughts. Think carefully where the change of heart comes from or whether it only stems from dissatisfaction with the current situation and that new would also be quite nice. I can understand what it means to live on a construction site. I have personally witnessed 3 major renovations and through my former work in the construction industry have seen what kinds of construction sites families moved into. One extreme case had just screed in every room after 3 years. In case there really is no alternative for you to a new build and you want to get rid of your house, then for me there is only one approach: - sell your house first (which will probably not be easy without investments) - then move temporarily somewhere to rent (something that does not burden you too much and is just enough to feel comfortable, you can store unnecessary furniture) - calmly make the house plan, starting from the right location, the right plot, etc., that can easily take a whole year or longer, but then you are not under time pressure and have the big loan off your back and can save properly on the side - take a vacation as well, since you probably haven't had one for a while and won't have time for one soon with the new task "house building" - take a good construction supervisor during the build who organizes and oversees the process - Nevertheless, you will not avoid having to spend a lot of time on decisions and viewings, most builders are on site every evening to check that everything is okay. And they usually don't do this for fun, but because something always goes wrong.

So, the way I read it, you're calculating everything to be expensive just to have a reason to build new.

Two years ago, I had a double garage newly sheeted (base dimensions 5*7m) with titanium zinc. That cost 6,500€. I don't know how big the garage is, but for 25k it must be huge.

And you don't have to spend 50k on the garden. Having the 3 rooms finished can't be the big chunk either.

And selling it in that condition will be a losing deal. Every potential buyer will calculate what they still have to invest!

and others: Thanks for the answers, I am not ignoring them, I just need to think calmly about some of them before I can say anything. Just to mention, so no wrong impression arises because I respond to other posts.

Two years ago I had a double garage newly sheeted (basic dimensions 5*7m) with titanium zinc. That cost €6,500. I don’t know how big the garage is but for €25k it must be huge.

The "building" is 7*8 meters and is divided into a single garage and a garden shed. The ceiling is probably a concrete ceiling.
It is located directly in front of the living room terrace doors and should serve as a terrace again, otherwise I would have a roof right in front of the door. All that stuff needs to be removed, roofing felt, old stone tiles, roofing felt again, and disposed of. Then everything has to dry first and then screed put on, another plastic layer, and then stone tiles. Then the plaster has to be knocked off, the wall has to dry and be replastered both inside and outside, and some kind of sealing also needs to be applied.

As an estimate for the whole effort, I was given €20k, for me, I entered €25k into my Excel sheet.
It’s not even primarily about the garage but about the terrace. I can’t really use the garage for what it’s intended for.
Only one car fits either in the driveway or the garage behind, and since we come home or leave the house at different times, I have to find a parking spot nearby as a street parker. Which, by the way, is one of the points that also annoy me about the house; in the quaint little cul-de-sac there is permanent parking shortage.

Concrete ceiling is perfect. Around it, sheet metal with a gutter attached, waterproofing membrane on top, gravel edge strip, gravel, terrace slabs, done.

You don’t need to chip off the plaster from the walls either. If nothing more runs down from above, it will dry by itself. Outside, the walls are plastered with cement anyway, so nothing molds.

And if you want to fix something quickly, get a pond liner, it doesn’t cost much and makes sure that nothing runs in from above for now.

Then you’ll see pretty quickly if it dries out.