How do you assess this house? How much budget will be necessary?

In my opinion, you can't make an old toilet look nice again with just a bit of paint. Sorry, I'd put the 8 to 10 grand on the investment list.

You can sink 10,000 into a 4 sqm bathroom that is only used by visitors, yes.

But you don't have to. There is special paint that doesn't peel off either. Three coats over three days, then you're done. Cost: a fraction. You can still buy a new toilet and washbasin.

There is special paint that does not peel off either. Three coats over three days, then you are done. Cost: a fraction.

Well, maybe you are right. If it’s really tight, you can postpone it and solve it this way for now. Personally, I am happy every time my guests can use our beautiful, brand-new guest toilet without having to squeeze in anywhere or turn away in horror.

You just have to weigh everything up. We renovated all the bathrooms right away, even though at least the old guest toilet wasn’t a complete disaster and could probably have been left as it was for the time being. But we already had the craftsmen in the house anyway, so since we were there once, doing something like that when you already live in the house is always a matter of a lot of dirt, noise, and work. Otherwise, I also believe that, for example, with new silicone seals and a new toilet as well as fittings, you can already achieve a lot.

First of all, many thanks for the numerous tips. I have noted quite a few on my "checklist"!

If the price has already fallen so much, you could cheekily show up with under 200k and cite the backlog of renovations as the reason.

I know that it is a community of heirs selling the house and of course they want to see money. But asking costs nothing

Report back when you have more info. And educate yourselves about what you want. Can you live with standard laminate, a simple gas heating system and basic radiators, etc., or not. It is really difficult to calculate this. We don’t know you and everyone thinks differently about it. For example, we have laminate, gas heating, normal radiators, simple bathrooms, etc. We can live well with that and our house still looks neat and almost everything has been redone. With other demands, we could have easily sunk 50,000 to 100,000 more. But many things were not important to us. Simple standards were enough. And our house is much smaller, which also makes quite a difference.

I am still waiting for the seller’s feedback. The house is not occupied and has been empty for a while.

A bit about us: we are quite tidy and sometimes very picky people.
That means we would definitely renovate what was used by the previous owners (long-term). For example, bathrooms and kitchen. Although I see myself in the mid-range here. So kitchen between 10-15k, bathrooms modern but no expensive mirrors and bathroom furniture, for example I would take the high-gloss G-series from Ikea.

I would also definitely redo the floor coverings because we don’t like them and we would do "everything" you do ideally as long as the house is not occupied.

Only painting work I might be able to postpone for a while.

No, seriously: I read from the OP that he would prefer to build himself. The house would be a "well, it’s ok too – emergency solution" because of the lack of building plots. Will you be happy long term with an emergency solution or will you always be annoyed?

We like the house itself very much in terms of location and plot.

We are just "afraid" that we’re running into a bottomless pit because we have never renovated a house before. Unfortunately, both of us are truly gifted with two left hands when it comes to DIY.

We would prefer to build ourselves, that’s true. But we have been looking for plots forever – also in the surrounding area – but unfortunately no luck. And the wish for a detached house is indeed quite big.. (of course not at any cost in the world..)

Well, the house doesn’t make a bad impression on me at first glance either. Obviously, some work has been done from time to time, you can’t really talk about a complete backlog of renovations. The roof is indeed very unusual, but it looks like new. The windows have been replaced once, but might be due again soon.

What I would do in your place before moving in:
- New electrical wiring (about 10-15k)

- New water supply and drainage (7k)

- New bathrooms (15-20k)

- New floors (very individual)

- You’ll of course have to paint everything afterward, that should be around 5-10k.

- If the roof or the top floor ceiling is not insulated, that needs to be done, that would be a massive energy weakness. Costs are hard to say, you would also have to redo the interior finishing upstairs for sure. Certainly 15k. If it’s not insulated, you have to do this within 12 months.

- Heating depends on the kind of boiler. If it’s already low temperature (or condensing, but it definitely doesn’t look like it), it can stay, otherwise you even have to replace it. I would convert to gas if possible. If the radiators are new, you should make niches, of course. The old ones heat at least as well as newer ones, the appearance is a matter of taste.

You can also replace windows and heating later, that doesn’t cause much dirt nor take long. I wouldn’t even do an external thermal insulation composite system if it were free. It looks terrible, darkens the windows, and doesn’t pay off in 50 years. Also, you would definitely have to replace windows and doors.

The fact that the place seems so hard to sell would make me suspicious. Definitely go through the house and basement with an expert. Is it dry? Of course, there’s never 100% certainty, but the biggest mistakes should be able to be excluded by them.

I really don’t understand why you always make the heating systems so expensive?
A neighbor paid 2.5k for his completely new heating system (gas Vaillant). I looked online once. These things aren’t that expensive.
Sure, if you want all the pipes completely renewed and also INSIDE the walls (which I wouldn’t do!), then it can get pricey.
But the radiators themselves aren’t that expensive either (of course they vary).
All in all, I think the heating topic with you guys definitely wouldn’t exceed 22k. But then everything completely! Only you must not always just ask the craftsmen in your own village... Also try MyHammer, newspaper ads, Ebay classifieds (looking for craftsmen). That saves quite a bit.

- Windows double glazed (or more if it’s too loud at your place)
- Interior doors in the house should be there
- Insulate the attic if you find an affordable one (definitely not an impossible task!)
Then the energy situation will be fine.

No matter what, as soon as it’s bought, I would always spend 2-3 weeks there first. Especially now in winter. Then you see what, how, why, when things would need to be done.

Maybe the old heating system can stay?! Maybe the windows are ok and just need some work?

Remember: People have lived there for years. It doesn’t have to be EVERYTHING NEW and DIFFERENT right away!

Don’t forget that if you were to build new for some reason, you would somehow ALWAYS end up at/above 500k!

Then 300-320k ALL-IN sounds completely different.

So, buy (if you like the location), freshen up and relax.