Purchase advice / Financial evaluation - 1950s house with attractive plot

congratulations on the purchase! You really negotiated well. Was it easy and were you the only serious interested parties? With the current purchase price, you have good financial room for renovations. The heating costs are high, but initially the tenants still pay along and in the medium term a renovation will be worthwhile.

Yes, we clearly said about the price that if it was too expensive, we would have too little leeway for living/designing. Therefore, we went down from 850k to 720k. That was our first and last offer. We argued it accordingly objectively (honestly) because we still have to put money into it.

In addition, there were other circumstances that one owner wanted to sell quickly, and we got along excellently with the others and gave them the opportunity to continue living there.

There were other interested parties who offered 700k, but probably were not further considered also for sympathy reasons.

In the price range, I believe a) there are not many who can or want to afford it anymore, b) many find the plot, which we especially appreciate, too large, and c) if they have a lot of money, they would directly tear down the house (which was not possible because of the tenants).

And yes, even with children, there is enough space, although the room layout is not optimal. In the basement, there are also 2 rooms furnished for living. One will be a home office, the other could also become a children's room. Moreover, Ki

Hello everyone,
to plan renovations, we have now already gained access to the house.

I have attached the current room layout. There are still quite a few questions about the optimal furnishings. Suggestions on how you would plan the rooms are welcome. We plan to discuss everything with an architect in the coming weeks.

Specifically, the following activities have already come to our mind, which I have started to number in the plan (1-4).

1) Renovate kitchen + break through the wall to the living room
- Unfortunately, there is a chimney in the middle at that spot, which we would then try to integrate into the kitchen area or similar.

2) Enlarge bathroom
- We are considering replacing the large living area with the big window in the hallway and extending the bathroom to the guest toilet. This would make it 2 meters longer but the absolute width would unfortunately remain at 2 meters.
- An alternative would be to also enlarge the bathroom in width further into the hallway (where the door to the kitchen is today).
- In both cases, it must be ensured that the hallway still appears airy and bright enough.

3) Enlarge living room (remove library corner)
- Remove the bookshelves to create more space to possibly place the dining table there.

4) Install fireplace
- To save heating costs and have a cozy warmth, we plan to install a fireplace.
- The question is whether directly in the living room or preferably in the hallway, so that the house can be heated more overall.
- That now partly depends on how large the bathroom actually is after enlargement.

Best regards

What is supposed to happen with the rooms [Schlafzimmer] and [Esszimmer]? Is there a basement underneath?

Closing off the hallway in the entrance area would be less dramatic if the staircase could be opened for it. For that, it would have to be a single-family house, which it is not yet. If that option is off the table, the entrance would lose a lot of its flair. Therefore, my next thought would be to turn the kitchen into the bathroom and the living room into the open-plan kitchen. Without information about possible sewer pipes, however, this discussion is not very meaningful.

Or you could divide the window?

Maybe the mason can also widen the lintel a bit?

What is supposed to happen with the rooms bedroom and dining room? Is there a basement underneath?

Yes, the house is completely basemented. Exactly under the bedroom and dining area are the 2 domestic rooms that we use for home office and possibly as a laundry room. There is also a ground-level exit down to the garden.

Or you could split the window? Maybe the mason can also widen the lintel a bit?

Both interesting thoughts, thanks! Maybe something can actually be done with the stairwell as you say. I have also thought about bringing more light in through the stairwell. It is comparatively dark today because there is only a small window and the front door also does not let in much light.

I’ll also discuss with the architect whether we should radically rearrange the rooms wherever possible, but that will probably strain the budget. We would then have to wait another year after moving in to save additional capital. At the same time, you would already be living in it.

PS: I was mistaken with the word chimney in the kitchen. It is only a flue for the gas heating, but no chimney is connected.

Best regards