Purchase decision small semi-detached house 100 sqm from 1930

I definitely recommend buying! Little cleaning, lots of space thanks to the basement, garden done, fix up the place as you like. I gather that no child is there yet. Let the first one come, or it doesn’t work out. Maybe one is enough if it’s already there. There are always solutions and 100sqm is not as little as you might think.

If you can buy and renovate this for 300k, definitely do it. That's just 3000€ per square meter and roughly the price you would only have to calculate for the house in a new build. Due to the low purchase price, the additional costs are also manageable, which often are a money pit with existing properties.

Thank you for your answers.

I think we can manage quite well with €200,000.
We don’t want to renovate to KfW standards or anything like that. Of course - just because of the price developments alone, there is an incentive to save energy, and there are certain requirements anyway.
As I said, new windows, insulating the basement ceiling, the roof needs to be redone anyway, so we’ll add insulation on top of the roof. But we will probably get an energy consultant involved here to get some recommendations.
Then electrical work, wastewater / fresh water – basically the things you do anyway when you gut everything – I don’t want to tear open the walls again in 5 years. It’s quite a bit, but gutting, for example, is mostly busy work, which we’ll do ourselves.
And we also have some trades in the family (electrical and carpentry, for example) and none of us have two left hands. That’s why I’m actually optimistic that it can work.

Things like photovoltaics and a domestic hot water heat pump are also planned. But I really don’t know much about these areas and will need to get advice.

I think €200,000 will be quite sufficient.

With the house size, you should be able to reach KfW 55-70 with the luxury budget. So there is also substantial funding and a modern house - even if you have to sell it one day due to family growth. My suggestion: €50,000 house bank loan €150,000 KfW loan with a term of 10 years (and therefore repayment in 10 years as well). Interest rate 0.01% effective and 10-20% repayment grant.

That sounds good! 300sqm with a good usable floor area ratio. If you can do some of the work yourselves.. Do you possibly have the development plan at hand? Then, if the floor area ratio is good, a (later) extension, e.g. a conservatory or dormer, might be possible. Show some photos or a construction/floor plan drawing. is familiar with the subject and has experience. Keep in mind that architect or structural engineering costs may still arise.

Hello Finch,

I first join the others and also have a strong tendency to say: "Buy it." The main reason is that when selling within the family, you could assume that you will not only get an attractive / fair price, but above all, you won't be misled regarding the condition, technical / legal / neighborhood issues, etc. However, as long as you don’t provide us with photos and plans, we can only comment on all this based on rough (and apparently consistently positive) assumptions.

One thing upfront: In a comprehensive renovation of a semi-detached house, the character of both halves must remain similar afterward. This criterion is interpreted very differently by building authorities. Sometimes not even an insulation above the rafters (let alone dormers) is allowed, while sometimes one half ends up looking completely different from the other.

Regarding the living area: It has already been mentioned that you might gain some space with dormers, possibly also with a small extension. But in my opinion, you can live well with 4 people in 100 sqm if you adapt the floor plan accordingly. You have to say goodbye to the trendy "open living" concept, which, in my perception and post-Corona, is on the decline anyway. What is important is that each family member has a retreat space. To put it simply: 2 children’s rooms of 10 sqm each are much more valuable than only one with 20 sqm. This also applies to other rooms (home office, etc.). Here in the forum, you will surely get valuable tips on how to make the best use of the space once you upload a first draft of your intended floor plan.

I will summarize what construction problems I have encountered with houses from the 30s and organize them according to "fixability":

EASILY fixable within the scope of a core renovation:
1) inappropriate floor plan
2) pipes (electricity, water) do not run through installation corridors
3) asbestos was hardly used in the 30s but often found in later renovations.
4) damp basement (often built directly against the earth without waterproofing)
5) roof in poor condition
6) poor energy efficiency values
7) roots of old trees growing into masonry or sewage pipes
8) house poorly documented, especially (but not only) due to subsequent modifications

DIFFICULT / NOT fixable:
a) weak sound insulation to the neighbor, probably a 24 cm partition wall (possibly even thinner). Furring strips help a bit (especially if the neighbor cooperates and installs them on their side as well), but against continuous structural elements such as beams, there is little you can do.
b) wooden beam ceilings with their typical problems (poor protection against noise from the upper floor to the ground floor, vibrations, partially creaking)

And finally something positive: Such a house has a soul. You can never achieve this with a new building.