House too expensive, please share your opinions

Hello dear forum helpers, I would like to hear your opinions.

My partner and I would like to buy a house, now there is a house for sale (in a village) nearby where we have been living in a rented apartment so far.

The owners have moved into a retirement home, the house was built in the 1950s, about 100 sqm living space, 2000 sqm plot, basement, attic, 2 garages (are okay), 2 sheds (dilapidated) 1 garden house (okay)

A busy road runs past the house. From the outside the house looked quite okay. Now we were there for a viewing with the realtor plus owner.

The interior condition of the house shocked us somewhat. It is obvious that little has been done here since the 1950s and it does not meet today’s standards in the slightest.

The issues are:
- a completely new heating system would have to be installed, since there is no heating in 4 rooms (mold and mildew have formed here), 2 rooms have old tile stoves and in 4 rooms older, never maintained night storage heaters
- the electrical installation would have to be almost completely renewed, as there are old, open surface-mounted cables, many unsafe sockets and switches still from the 1950s, in some rooms only one socket
- the bathroom (very small and cramped) and the guest WC (more like a junk room) would have to be almost completely renewed, the toilet, sink and bathtub must be replaced, the tiles are cracked and broken
- the large garden is overgrown and very maintenance-intensive
- all doors, front door and 2 windows need to be replaced / shutters are defective
- the rooms smell strange (mold? old people?), everything also seems very neglected, not clean and somewhat run down
- new flooring in all rooms
- renovate all rooms (ancient, stained wallpaper everywhere)
- plaster in the basement needs renewal
- there are leaks in several places
- no thermal insulation present
- no telephone connection present

The purchase price is 79,000 euros, this seems too expensive to me due to the many defects. What would you say? Am I mistaken or what price would be appropriate here?

Hi,

I guess the purchase price here is based on the land and not on the house. €79,000 is not a bad price for 2,000m2 depending on the location. However, demolition costs will probably be added here :)

Regards

Hello,

estimating the value of the house here in the forum will be almost impossible.

Based on your description, I would rather recommend a demolition and complete redevelopment.

What are the land prices per square meter in the village?

EUR 79,000.00 for a plot of 2000 sqm means a price of only EUR 39.50 per sqm...

Regards,

Dirk

Hello Annemarie,
that really sounds like a tear-down house.

How expensive is the land per sqm at your place? Does €40/sqm sound about right?

Regards, Yvonne

Even though it’s a silly saying, something is always worth as much as the buyer is willing to pay for it. So if there is another interested party who would also spend 85,000 Eur, then the property is just worth that much and you have bad odds.

As already mentioned, the key here is probably the land rather than the house itself. It might be more expensive to renovate the house than to build a new one, since you didn’t mention anything about insulation.

You can call the land registry office (or whatever the institution is called where you are) and ask about the standard land value. Based on that, you can assess whether it is a good offer or not and keep in mind that you will have demolition costs.

Hello,

My partner and I would like to buy a house, now there is a house for sale (in a village) nearby where we currently live in a rental apartment.

[...]

The purchase price is 79,000 euros, which seems too expensive to me due to the many defects. What would you say? Am I mistaken or what price would be appropriate here?

I don’t know what you consider a realistic sales price?

At first glance – although I unfortunately do not know where the property is located – it reads like cheap building land. Like my predecessors, I assume that almost exclusively the land value was set as the sales price; €39.50/sqm here in the Rhineland in an ad and the same would be taken down within minutes ;)

Even if you invest €100,000 in renovating the property, you will hardly be able to build something comparable new. So it is a calculation as to where your journey should go. Existing property and therefore a significant portion of land included or new build and smaller plot. Since you already live nearby, the proximity of the property will probably also play a role.

I personally would recommend – if your decision falls in favor of the existing property – to inspect the property with an expert who has sound knowledge of existing buildings. He will be able to tell you quite precisely what renovation costs you will face. However, in my opinion, you should already now say goodbye to a significantly reduced asking price.


Rhineland regards