Preserving and increasing the value of existing real estate, what is important?

Heat pumps without additional insulation will not make you happy. They can’t perform magic either. How high is your heating demand?

According to the energy certificate, 75.6 final energy consumption (kWh/m2-a). Do you mean this figure?
We currently consume about 12,000 kWh/year of gas. However, something was apparently misadjusted last year according to the heating technician; before that, it was about 10,000 kWh, so this year is probably somewhere in between.

I’m just wondering whether it’s worth investing several tens of thousands in heating and insulation if we say we’ll probably sell about ten years later anyway. Or whether it’s better to accept that potential buyers will have to renovate energetically. Will you recoup the investment then?

Many buyers will not even glance at uninsulated houses in 10 years if energy prices continue to rise. Instead of spending your money on NiceToHaves, I would focus on the heating (and possibly insulation). It is also subsidized and required.

You already live in the single-family house – or are there other families in the house? *Smarty mode off*

Of course, it’s about the own detached single-family house, where you can do whatever you like, no neighbor behind the wall, preferably a wall around it. :D
But we are lucky with the neighbors and a meadow at the back, so it ended up being the semi-detached house.

It is a misjudgment that it will be easier in the future with a paid-off house. Why? Because you
- now still have a modern property that can also be sold at prices beyond all reason
- can simply carry over the remaining debt to the new property and therefore there is no advantage if the property is paid off
- a semi-detached house is currently more in demand than the detached single-family house, as it is cheaper due to a smaller plot

After selling we would have more equity (since the value has already increased a lot – although the house of course gets older on the other side) and no other liabilities, so less to pay off than with remaining debt. Possibly also an inheritance, and one could then pay a house in cash from both, if lucky.
With 550 sqm, our plot is rather large for a semi-detached house and the central location was one of the reasons for buying, since we have more garden than just a green strip and the neighbors are not so close.

Maintenance or modernization? Renewing floors, doors, ceramics is not modernization. Nor is the renewal of the heating system – unless it becomes a heat pump, possibly combined with ETICS and underfloor heating.
Modernization would be: renewing electrical systems, installing a more modern heating system (heat pump etc.), roof insulation, cellar ceiling insulation, etc.
The other measures serve to maintain the value (maintenance/renovation), not to increase the value (modernization).

Thank you (and the others) for the explanations; that helps me classify the measures.

The problem in the future (when exactly is that? I haven’t read a year) will be the uncertainty and depending on the time, the age of the property. If energy prices continue to rise and/or politics impose a mandatory retrofit (which you maybe haven’t done yet) and at the same time prices for new properties and land rise, this could backfire.
But this is all crystal ball gazing.

In about 15 years, possibly earlier if we increase the rate and finish sooner. We wanted to do that a year ago, but then the war and crisis started, so we preferred to wait – we only have two repayment changes included.

I would simply keep the property well maintained and always modern (timeless floors like oak planks, bathrooms not tiled in orange etc.). The 2007 Energy Saving Ordinance requirements were already good so that heating costs should still be moderate. This is not an energy hog and in my opinion, already in the current condition with little effort (changing radiators) capable of a heat pump.

Yes, heating costs are reasonable, but I have my doubts about the heat pump. We will have to get some advice, but currently seems to be the worst time to install a heat pump.

Lastly on this. That is of course a significant increase in value. Formally, I assume it will not become living space. The expansion can still be done without approval – just must not officially be used as living space. But that doesn’t matter to a potential buyer either. He has a well-usable area that he will also pay for. Even if it is just a playroom for a child or something.

We would use the room as a study (thanks to Corona, we both partly work from home now, which was previously unthinkable in my job), or later for our son as a teenager to hang out with friends, or whatever... we have quite a few rooms despite 108 sqm, upstairs there is one large and two small bedrooms. With the room under the roof, it would probably also be interesting for families with two children and home office.

We sold our house after about 14 years; everything we changed/modernized visually had no real impact on the sale price. Of course, you can replace the [Buche-Treppe] with something you like better, but only because you like it better and not with the intention of increasing value. What you change and modernize now could be outdated and/or not liked by the buyer in 15 years. Therefore, I would only replace the heating if necessary or if it makes financial sense for you. Maintain the property and preserve its value—yes, but modernizing now for a sale in X years does not make sense to me.

According to the energy certificate, 75.6 final energy consumption (kWh/m2-a).

And with that, the house is suitable for a heat pump. No additional insulation is needed (at best the basement ceiling, if there is one. And if you go to the roof, you can add insulation there as well).

I just wonder if it's worth investing tens of thousands in heating and insulation when we say, well, we might sell about ten years later anyway.

You need a new heating system if the old one breaks down. So it's an inevitable investment. And since from next year on you MUST install renewable energy anyway, you can safely go for a heat pump (gas alone will no longer be allowed).

Or whether you'd rather accept that potential buyers will then have to renovate energetically.

The buyer then tells you, "Oh shit, I have to renovate everything to be able to operate a heat pump. Without insulation and new windows, that will never work. I'll just reduce the purchase price by €75k." If the heat pump is installed in five years and the property is sold in 10 years without having renewed the windows or insulated, there will be no discussion. It works well.

Many buyers in 10 years won’t even look at uninsulated houses with a glance if energy prices keep rising. Instead of spending your money on NiceToHaves, I would focus on the heating (and possibly insulation). It is also subsidized and required.

We don’t really have to heat much here (at least it feels that way) to be warm, so it’s hard for me to invest tens of thousands just so it becomes slightly cheaper per month :confused: But at the same time, of course, I don’t want the effect you described, that the house then becomes less attractive. However, there is so much old stock here and in more central locations, only a few new housing developments (with tiny plots, in part half the size of ours, hardly any new single-family homes), so maybe we’re actually not doing so badly by comparison?