House purchase upcoming - built in '62, full renovation necessary! Price?

Hello dear community,

my wife and I, with our 2 children, are currently considering buying a settlement house (built in 1962). Since it has been offered to us so far without a real estate agent and the sellers have not been able to give us a fixed price yet, I wanted to ask here what you think of the house and maybe also estimate in which price range it might be. We had originally planned to build new, but unfortunately no building plots will be offered in our municipality in the near future and we do not want to move away either.

So, now about the house:
The house is located in postcode 277XX in the district of Oldenburg on a plot of about 740m2 in a cul-de-sac. The living area currently amounts to 79.65m2 with an extension from the 80s with 20m2 (+ cellar approx. 20m2). As far as we can tell, basically everything needs to be renewed. Since its construction in 1962, nothing has been done except the extension and a new heating system (together with the extension in 1980). In addition, there is a masonry shed with a gable roof of about 20m2, unheated. Attached you will find a few photos...

We understand that an assessment or estimate from a distance is always difficult, but what do you think? Realistic purchase price?

An expert (appraiser or architect) will of course still be brought in (before purchase) to look in detail and assess...

Thanks and have a nice Sunday!

What I unfortunately do not see is a representation of the partial basement and the extension in the floor plan.

I won’t even attempt a numerical estimate of the value; others can provide a more accurate assessment. But what I dare to evaluate qualitatively gives the impression that the apparently flawless original condition is due to excellent workmanship. For a skilled craftsman who places little value on current trends, this is a very good property – conversely, for fashion maniacs, it’s a pity about the good substance of all the stuff that will then be removed. For this target group, I would even say “hands off,” because the replacement will not be equally solid.

Am I right in suspecting that the wall construction is single-layer?

30 cm bricks would no longer be up to date. If the clinker bricks are unimportant to you – but that would be a pity, see above – then external insulation would probably be advisable. The undersides of the roof would also need insulation, as in 1962 there probably wasn’t even glass wool in there; I could imagine an uninsulated state with sauerkraut boards under the rafters as the current condition.

I would recommend taking an expert with you who was already alive in the year of construction (and/or has already seen plenty of buildings from this era).

I can’t quite make out the windows in the pictures – if it is painted wood, then hats off to what the owners understand by maintenance.

What I unfortunately don't see is a representation of the partial basement and the extension in the floor plan.

I will gladly provide the representation of the partial basement afterward. Can you actually tell from the drawing and the pictures whether it is a masonry or concrete basement?

Unfortunately, the extension is not on the drawing. It extends from the kitchen door with a width of 6.43m and a depth of 3.23m.

The appointment with the building savings contract is scheduled for next week. Let's see what they say.. hope for no big surprises.

What do the plots cost in the location? At 500 €/m2 the house rather has a negative value, at 20 €/m2 an ideal one.

Plots from the municipality to private individuals approx. 120€/m2. Private from hearsay I think ~140€/m2. Of course, it strongly depends on the location again.

So I think the plot is worth approx. 90k€...

Hm difficult, well I can only report from our experience. The description of the house and plot was similar, but the plot was worth about three times as much. We paid about 20k less than the value of the plot.

Since you also want to build new, I would pay what you would be willing to pay for a plot minus demolition. If you like the house and only want to renovate, then your planned total investment minus the modernization costs.

Of course it could be that the house sells for 200 on the market, then I would leave it, unless money is no object.