Procedure for purchasing a property in need of renovation

Hello everyone,

I hope I am in the right place with my question.

We (36/36) are looking for a single-family house and have so far mostly only looked at houses where only cosmetic corrections would have been necessary (floor coverings, painting walls, etc.).

We now also want to look at houses in need of renovation, but we are unsure how to proceed best, as we lack the expert knowledge to estimate the costs for our ideas.

Therefore, our questions:
- Who is best to bring along to a viewing in order to roughly estimate the costs of renovation measures? Architect, contractor, some experts or individual craftsmen?
- Do you usually bring such experts already to the first viewing?
- Where can I find such experts?

If I have forgotten anything, I ask for your understanding.

Thank you in advance

Tim

It is always a question of cost and how the seller reacts. If you have a craftsman friend who has time, bring him along to the first appointment. Otherwise, one appointment alone and ask critical questions. At the second appointment, bring along a professional.

It's always a question of cost and how the seller reacts. If you have a handy friend who has time, take them along to the first appointment. Otherwise, go alone to the first appointment and ask critical questions. For the second appointment, bring a professional along.

Many thanks! Unfortunately, I don't have anyone in my circle of friends who is a craftsman here in the area. That's why I'm asking who is best suited for this and how I can find someone like that :-(

Thank you very much!
Unfortunately, I don't have anyone in my circle of friends in the area who is a craftsman. Hence the question of who is best suited for that and how I can find someone like that :-(

Our approach back then: we first visited the houses on our own; if we liked them and could imagine that the house was an option for us, we made a commitment to the seller and arranged a follow-up visit. At this appointment, you can take a building surveyor along who inspects everything and also tells you which things need immediate attention or can be done later and what something like that might cost approximately.

We took the building surveyor with us once (2015), we paid just under 400 euros for that. Taking one every time for a first viewing would be a fortune. We found him back then via Google search.

In our case, it was such that during the first visit, it was already quite quickly possible to determine whether it was even an option for us.

The independent expert should preferably be an architect with experience in the field of old buildings and their renovation. The property must be assessed as a whole; tradespeople are generally very experienced in their own trade, but they lack the reference and constructive connection to the other trades. The condition of preservation and the renovation effort must be realistically estimated for you as a rough cost framework during the on-site appointment, in order to make the total financial effort including the purchase price and additional purchase costs calculable for you. For any planned construction and conversion/expansion measures, the expert should check the structural shell of the property for its fundamental suitability.

In addition, within the framework of a real estate purchase consultation, building law, planning law, and property law aspects of the property that may affect any planned change of use, expansion, or development measures must also be assessed. The legality of the building substance offered for sale must also be examined. Often, unauthorized expansions for residential purposes are found here (attic conversion, basement, barn, stable), which you may need to have retroactively approved if they are potentially approvable. Illegal constructions are also not uncommon. Only an (old-build-experienced) architect can carry out this examination.

Ideally, the expert should accompany you during the second viewing appointment, after you have decided on the suitability of the property according to your criteria (location, size, orientation, connectivity, neighborhood, price, etc.) during the first appointment.

Independent and professionally qualified experts who meet the above criteria can possibly be found on the Internet under the search terms "Immobilienkaufberatung" or "Hauskaufberatung" with a regional addition. In my opinion, it is advisable to avoid the supraregional Internet providers that offer their services as a franchise product through associated members. The expert should be able to provide verifiable references in their field and demonstrate comprehensive professional suitability through their education or professional experience. Further information on this topic is gladly available upon request.

Incidentally, based on experience, I recommend purchasing an unsanitized house (from the 50s/60s) with a planned and documented renovation by a specialist planner. "(Core) renovations" by the owner that cannot be substantiated in detail – which is usually the case – are mostly not value-retaining and often have to be partially or completely dismantled during one’s own renovation planning.

Thank you very much for the detailed feedback. I will start the search then. This year, it should finally work out with the property.