Great house with some limitations. Access / insulation

That is only half the truth, because if the property was owner-occupied, you pay nothing - maybe also interesting for Computersylvia. ;-) Besides, only the difference is taxed anyway. I wouldn't suspect betrayal everywhere anyway. Ask an expert, then you'll know more - and don't let them spoil the place for you beforehand. :)
Best regards
K1300S

If you lived in the property yourself at the time of sale and for at least 2 years prior,...

Hello,

It was a man with three children, the woman was not there at the moment. Whether it was a divorce or not, I don't know.

That was meant ironically.

Why the house is being sold can be, in my opinion, completely irrelevant to you as long as an expert does not find extensive renovation work necessary. And, as "K1300S" correctly pointed out, you don’t have to assume the worst first. Sometimes it’s simply personal changes that also lead to changes in living arrangements.

The architect determines the value for properties that have to be foreclosed, so he knows his stuff. We will not buy without him having evaluated the house.

However, I would doubt whether your architect friend is the right contact person for this. There are – not without good reason – experts who specialize in these cases and also undergo continuous training. To explain: I can also appraise real estate based on my many years of experience in this job; this simply results from experience and consideration of certain key data as well as deducting "X" for the necessary renovation expenses. I also recognize most defects – but: if you asked me, for example, whether you can dry a damp basement in a house built in year "X" using resin injections or not, I would have to pass (maybe not today anymore, because I had this case just last week). There are countless examples like this which can tip the scales when buying an existing property. That is why – spend €5/600.00 and inspect the property with an expert whose focus is, among other things, valuation of existing properties. Incidentally, his report will also help you with the upcoming financing; the statements of your architect rather will not.

Rhenish greetings

Hello everyone,

we were at the house once again and looked at it closely. Besides some cosmetic repairs that you probably have to do with any purchased house, we especially noticed the many cracks on the upper floor. According to the realtor, these are supposed to be settlement cracks. There are apparently no load-bearing walls on the upper floor; it seems to consist of solid gypsum walls with a thickness of 10 cm (presumably prefabricated elements). Is this material known for crack formation?

On the ground floor, there are no such cracks, but Ytong blocks have been used everywhere there.

I will definitely take your advice and have the house inspected by an expert.
If the cracks can be fixed with cosmetic repairs, that’s no big deal. But if they are cracks affecting the structural stability, that would of course be a different matter.

In general, we noticed that the builder really tried to save everywhere, probably to achieve the large living space. But that would actually suit us well, since we also hadn’t really thought about considering such a large house. For example, the huge dormers on both sides are nice. Because of this, the house is almost two stories tall, except for a half meter of sloping roof on each side.

By the way, the owner is moving because of his long commute. He had the opportunity to start with a large employer in the area and had bought the house beforehand. But the job never materialized, so now he’s moving away. Since he bought the house back then from an insolvency, he’s probably making a good profit at my expense now....