Questions before buying and viewing a house

We have looked at a property and would like to know what to pay attention to before doing an interior inspection.

The property on immobilenscout has the Scout-ID: 98383983

I have already looked at the property from the outside, the location is also top, quietly situated, the garden is huge, and behind the garden there is a park with a lot of green lawn.

I don’t know if the house has insulation, I did knock on the facade, it sounds solid, but it is plastered.

Now I saw that the terrace shown in the pictures is not approved according to building regulations, what exactly does that mean, do you have to tear it down or only remove the railing, or can you leave it as it is even if it is not approved according to building regulations?

And what about the final energy demand of 183.2 kWh/(m²*a) with energy efficiency class F, can this class F be improved, for example by replacing the boiler, or even made better?

And the construction year of 1928 is quite old, does that mean anything, wasn’t it built solidly and sturdily back then? Or which construction year is better?

I would be very happy to receive more tips and tricks.

1928: assume brick exterior walls with a thickness of 25 cm. Based on the energy class, I would suspect not insulated. It was built solidly. Water pipes inlet lead and outlet cast iron, gas heating is probably newer. Electrical wiring either still fabric insulated or renewed at some point in the 70s. The condition looks good. I would say continuously modernized, last in the 90s. Possibly also extensively. It does not look like a proper investment backlog. More like nicely done and measures forgotten to be registered.

"Not approved" means illegal construction, but not necessarily also "not approvable." With some luck, only the building application was missed. For approvability, one will have to orient to current regulations. It is possible that it can be legalized and a penalty paid for the past omission. The other extreme means dismantling.

But it’s funny that it’s only mentioned in one photo caption at all. Regarding the rooms in the attic floor, it simply says "residentially developed usable space." That also means illegal construction and possibly (ceiling height, creative staircase to I’d say one and a half attic floors) no approvability. So dismantling, permitted use is storage room.

Both illegal constructions may involve back payments related to property taxes or wastewater fees. These fall on the property owner, later take recourse against the previous owner for that.

Immoscout is internet – so it would not be a secret just between the broker and you :-(

What would you think if, for example, pipes, electrical wiring, and windows have been renewed—can you take the opportunity then?

Do you also need a building permit for the attic? Is the property tax based on that as well? Not on the size of the land?

I need to ask more specifically about the terrace because apparently the living room is an extension, I think, and the terrace above was then built, not that the living room might have to be removed in the worst case.

The house next to it is built smaller than the one I want to buy; I think the garage and living room would be extensions.

The property tax takes into account the value of the property. More living space, more value.

Since you are so interested in the property tax, it would be very obvious to ask the current owner about the amount of the property tax, just as you ask about other additional costs.

Yes, I will do all that as soon as a viewing appointment is set. However, it is a real estate agent and the address of the house was not in the ad, I searched for it myself to get a first impression.

Is the attic counted as living space or usable space? Because the sqm of living space does not include the attic, is it counted as usable space there or is it not counted as living space?

An expert should participate in the viewing appointment who inspects the property from a constructive, building, planning, and ownership law perspective as part of a real estate purchase consultation. Some points have already been mentioned and belong to the standard repertoire of a real estate purchase consultation: verification of extensions, additions, or conversions for building law approval or, in the absence of approval, for fundamental permit eligibility.

The classics are always: unauthorized converted attic, the terrace on the garage in the area of setback distances to the neighbor’s boundary, and the potentially unauthorized extension on the ground floor.

The energy demand is likely to be much higher than stated in the certificate. Have the complete certificate including the calculation shown to you. An energy performance certificate based on demand requires a building survey and a more complex calculation process, which realistically no owner wants to pay for.

The poor building insulation will be an issue, especially that of the roof constructions above the nice profile slats. Otherwise, in the 1920s, buildings were constructed solidly, probably with 49 cm brickwork.

Soundproofing can be an issue with the semi-detached house, with a common 24 cm party wall.

If the property has not been verifiably/documented renovated, you can assume a full renovation including the building services. Renovations carried out by oneself do not increase value and usually have to be reversed.