First house purchase, year of construction 1962, how much will a renovation cost?

...and here is the rest, I hope there aren't too many photos!

Hello Elina,

the insulation of the basement ceiling/ground floor is not present (thin styrofoam panels), the external insulation is from the year of construction, no renovations have been carried out except for the heating system, electrical wiring on the upper floor, and windows on the upper floor. We also do not want facade insulation, we don't have the budget for it. Insulation against the soil is probably only bitumen coating, but that is not certain.

Best regards
Patrick

So 40,000€ is ambitious even if you do everything yourself, I would say. These are large windows downstairs, they are not free. Tiles, sanitary fixtures, floors, electrical materials all cost money.

The wall is a 24 cm hollow block stone with brick cladding in front, right? You could blow some insulation into the 2 cm gap, that is cheap and still helps a bit.

The heating pipes are the least of the problems. Since there is 'dead' water in the heating circuit, there is much less sediment / corrosion here than in fresh water pipes. But what about those? They are usually done with the bathrooms. Since they are still original, fresh and waste water probably need to be redone, another big chunk.

Are the sloping ceilings on the 1st floor insulated? If not, the drywall here has to come down again, otherwise the insulation of the ceiling above is enough.

So I would increase the budget by at least a factor of 1.5, anything less seems unrealistic to me. Otherwise, I would only buy the house if the location really exactly matches your expectations and everything else fits too. In rural Lower Saxony, single-family houses are not exactly scarce.

I wouldn't worry too much about heating costs right now. If a house is reasonably insulated upwards and it is not drafty, it is already heatable. Upgrading an old house to modern insulation standards is both economically and in terms of living climate nonsense.

I agree with the opinion that €40,000 with own work and handyman friends will hardly be enough. If it is, then you have no buffer!

Please post your list of planned measures again, but this time with estimated prices.

Hello apokolok,

thank you very much for your contribution! Yes, the wall is built as you describe. I have read that these 2 cm wouldn’t be worth it to blow in insulation, that would probably be too little performance for the money. But of course, this info could also be wrong!

I have to check the fresh and wastewater, but probably unsanitary, thanks for the tip!

The roof slopes are insulated, however it is difficult to determine the exact quality, but you can see from the attic that insulation is present.

I have also already been told that the budget will not be enough to realize everything at once. However, our plan is also to first renovate the basement together with the insulation, and then do the upper floor room by room so that we don’t have to manage too much at once, I work full time and my wife will start again next month, first 450€ and next year then 30 hours.

You are right, there is quite a bit on the market, but here in the area people try to make gold out of scrap. We were offered a 70s prefab house unsanitary on a leasehold property for 260,000 euros.

We just want to be finished with the financing when I retire, so in about 27 years, according to today’s status. At least that is my wish. And this house would fit exactly. With 42,000€ equity for the bank we would be finished with an affordable monthly payment when I am 67, then I would only have 40,000€ savings left. And if we lower the equity share at the bank, the interest rates go up.

We have been looking for well over 2 years now and have almost given up. And the house fits really well in terms of location, the infrastructure of the town, and the space it offers (okay, 40m² less would also be okay).

It reassures me a bit that you see heating as less critical. I have absolutely no idea how much gas we will be burning through...

Best regards Patrick

With €42,000 equity for the bank, we would be done with affordably monthly repayments when I am 67, then I would only have €40,000 savings left. And if we lower the equity share with the bank, the interest rates go up.

That sounds strange. Are you planning the renovation without involving the bank?

Why don’t you bring in €80k equity and increase the loan amount by €40k? That should get you a better interest rate. Or you get a bit more money for the renovation.