Is purchasing a house and complete renovation affordable?

Now I haven’t felt like doing anything for a week at all, but of course there are still 60, 70 boxes here, lamps need to be put up, etc.

I can really relate to that. At the end of last year, I also had no motivation and no energy left; after getting the old apartment ready for rent, I fell into a real slump. Winter would have been perfect for unpacking boxes, but I really couldn’t bring myself to do it. Instead, I logged heating consumption. Stay strong, you’ve got this!

I can understand the fears or warnings of the forum members and also believe that it really is a huge project. But which house construction isn’t like that if you don’t have the financial means? Nowadays, with today’s building prices and interest rates, it is not easy or even feasible for many. We just think that we won’t get the offer from grandma or such a house at such a price again and want to take advantage of it. We both see our current situation. We don’t have children yet, are still relatively young, have saved up quite a bit of equity, and still have the time now to realize a lot ourselves. The house price in our area is unbeatable for such a house and we simply believe that such an opportunity won’t come again so quickly. We will visit the house with a friend who is an architect and structural engineer and listen to his opinion. A friend of my parents is an energy consultant. Maybe he can also give a few tips or hopefully provide a rough overview of subsidies.

I’ll just throw out there that houses from that construction year often have poor building fabric. Maybe demolition and rebuilding a prefabricated house is the smarter option.

I would also consider taking the offer and then possibly building a new house on top. You have saved quite a bit. The loan would be substantial for your income anyway. You get the land and the structure for 350k. Let's assume you could manage the renovation with 300k. Then you are at 650k, minus 180k that you have saved -> 470k loan amount. I think 180k is already a stretch, you probably still need some money for incidental costs and the kitchen, etc. 470k financed over 20 years at around 4% with 2% repayment = a monthly rate of €2350. That means you haven't repaid anything special yet and still have over 180k outstanding after 20 years. 2350 with your household net income is already a very tight rate. About 43%. If you have children, it will get even tighter.

The house price is unbeatable in our area for such a house and we simply believe that such an opportunity will not come again so quickly.

We will visit the house with a friend who is an architect and structural engineer and listen to their opinion. A friend of my parents is an energy consultant. Maybe he can also give a few tips or I hope to get a rough overview of funding opportunities.

That already sounds good – the house is in the family, which means there should be enough time for planning. So go through it with your two experts and consider a rough renovation roadmap. You need an approximate figure for the bank. Have you already been to a financing advisor in parallel and worked out what the banks would currently offer you?

On the topic of new construction – I think that buying, demolition, and rebuilding is no longer financially feasible.

I just want to throw out there that houses from that construction year often have poor building fabric. Maybe demolition and rebuilding a prefab house is the smarter option.

Yes, I agree with you that houses from that time have poor building fabric. My grandpa built it back then by hand without much technical help.

A demolition (I am assuming costs of around 50,000 euros) plus a new build (450,000 euros) would definitely exceed our budget.

If it were financially feasible, I would tear it down (even though it hurts) and rebuild.
But that is a project that can't be realized for less than 850,000 euros and is therefore unfortunately not feasible for us.