Purchase opportunity single-family house from the 80s - risk?!

So first take a deep breath and then consider which of the two options you want to choose:

1. Wait for the price "valued" by the broker and then accept or decline.
2. Bid yourself and adjust if necessary.

I would say wait for now. There is some personal, emotional unrest at play... It is just a house. ;)

I would simply turn the tables. If you don't like the price from the broker, you offer what suits you. Along with the note that the offer, for example, remains valid for 3 weeks. After that, no longer. Since you were in contact with the broker beforehand, a broker's commission is basically not due. However, they will move heaven and earth to still get their money if you buy it.

I find that quite charming, but since we really want the property, I don't want to put the buyer under pressure... Moreover, I think that although we have a verbal priority to purchase, there are still other interests. Regarding the broker: No, they make a free non-binding offer to assess the property. I certainly won't pay any commission there.

So one way to determine a purchase price based on real purchase prices would be to contact the responsible [Gutachterausschuss für Grundstückswerte]. There you can obtain information from the purchase price collection (subject to a fee, at least for written inquiries). Alternatively, you can refer to the real estate reference values, if available. However, you should then check whether the corresponding zone is fairly homogeneous in terms of the houses and the quality of the location.

At least based on actual sales prices, you can get an indication of a possible price for the house. At least in the first and also the second quarter, there was not yet a real downturn in prices. What can essentially be seen by now is that houses sometimes remain longer on the portals and the asking prices then decrease. But until the second quarter, the price trend was still rising, although these are also sales that were based on the "conditions of the past" (interest rates, political situation, etc.).

Does anyone have experience with how much buffer should be calculated for "gas"? If we purchase the house, we will have to sign a new contract. And does the gas heating system actually have to be replaced when the ownership changes? Does the seller have to have an energy certificate prepared before the sale?

A colleague of mine is currently trying to sell the house of his deceased parents. At the beginning of the year, he had several offers (without a real estate agent). Then a real estate agent came along who promised to sell the house for more. He didn't manage to do so (probably due to the current interest rate situation) and the agent contract has now expired. My colleague then contacted the people from the beginning of the year again. Unfortunately, none of them were interested anymore. Something like that could also happen to the OP: The house goes to the agent, who cannot fulfill his promises, and half a year later the seller contacts the OP again.

A colleague of mine is currently trying to sell the house of his deceased parents.
At the beginning of the year, he had several offers (without a real estate agent). Then a real estate agent showed up who promised to sell the house for more. He didn’t manage to do so (probably due to the current interest rate situation) and the agent’s contract has meanwhile expired.
My colleague then contacted the people from the beginning of the year again. Unfortunately, in the meantime, none of them were interested anymore.
Something like that could also happen to the OP: the house goes to the agent, who can’t realize his promises, and half a year later the seller contacts the OP again.

Yes, that would be nice. Unfortunately, the situation and the house are "too" good. Of course, many interests currently fall through the cracks, but in certain popular locations, there is always someone who "can buy" (regardless of the economic situation). We’re not talking here about the high-end luxury house, where many think longer... and wait.