Renovation costs mid-terrace house built in 1995 - and consultation

Hello everyone,

since it has been repeatedly criticized that my thread is confusing and it is currently mainly about the terraced house, I have decided to open a new thread again. Brief summary so that you have the main key data: the terraced house was built in 1995, has been rented since the beginning (1996) and therefore nothing was done in the entire 25 years. The house is therefore in the "original condition."

Damages/defects according to the expert:

[*]Tile and carpet floors should be replaced. Estimated costs for 160 sqm: 25,000 euros
[*]There is water damage in the bathroom. Assumption: silicone joints and/or drain leaking. Estimated costs: 500 euros
[*]Complete painting inside the house 10,000 euros

...so here we go because unfortunately I clicked on save:

Additionally:

[*]Kitchen (we are bringing our Ikea Metod kitchen with us and would like to expand it (we are budgeting a maximum of 10,000 euros here, but it could also be significantly less).
[*]When repairing the bathroom, the question arises whether to completely renovate it at once. According to the expert, the bathroom is okay. But to be sure that the bathroom was properly waterproofed. Here the question is how much money you would have to budget for a "normal" bathroom of 10 sqm.

The house is currently listed at just under 600,000, but the expert says that is at least 50,000 too expensive. I will try to negotiate on this.

So now actually to my question about the tiles I hope my post is a bit clearer now.

The tiles on the ground floor (living room) and in the basement (hobby room) need to be replaced according to the expert, as the floor in the middle has slightly sunk (cracking in the tiles (see photo)). I would like to have parquet flooring laid on the ground floor and either tiles or vinyl in the hobby room (not decided yet). My question therefore: Do the tiles need to be completely knocked out? And is a total price of 100 euros/sqm (old tiles removed/material/new covering installed) realistic?

Many thanks in advance. Best regards!

Hi HubiTrubi, I am facing the same question as you. I had a thread directly below yours=). Our semi-detached house was offered for 550k and we are close to buying it. Of course, the valuation is also too high here, but what can you do about it in the Rhine-Main area...

The pictures from you exactly reflect the style of the 90s, so I am facing the same problem with those tiles as you.

So chipping out the tiles and leveling the floor again etc. will be really expensive. Therefore, I am considering simply sticking something over it with high-quality vinyl, which is not that thick, and hopefully that way there won’t be such a high step at the transitions.

In the bathroom, I will definitely not have all the tiles knocked off either; covering over them would also be my first choice.

If you want to lay parquet, you will probably have to remove the tiles, otherwise the floor will be too high, I’m not a professional but that’s what I was told :D. Parquet would also be too sensitive for me; if kids scrape something over it or you pull a table etc., you immediately get a mark in it.

Check out videos on Youtube (Vinyl on tiles), there is really good stuff and it looks great.

For renovating a bathroom you can expect 900€-2500€ per m2. But, if I look at your bathroom above, if you don’t like the color, I would cover it over, paint the ceiling new, install a new toilet, new sink and completely new fixtures and then it looks great.

I don’t know what your budget is, but the bathroom can always be done later, it really still looks completely okay.

Just my opinion :D

When renovating the bathroom, only fix what the appraiser deems necessary. Otherwise, I would only do three things: leave it as is, leave it as is, and leave it as is. A ten percent deviation from current taste is a good value for used properties. Here, I see a lot of money could simply be sunk without gaining significant added value.
My (non-professional private) opinion on the cracked tiles is: if they do not pose a tripping hazard in the walkway, I would not underpin them but only repair them superficially. Replacement pieces will never blend in so unobtrusively that the replacement is less noticeable than the hairline cracks now. And for aesthetic reasons, I would not do a full replacement here for economic reasons. Considering your entire thread history, I see you moving out again in about four to twelve years because finding the desired property and a phase of your child's life will then mark the most suitable time slot for a change. Then your next owner will carry out the fancy fine-tuning. Create the pareto-optimal interim home "Camp Eigenheim" for your family, where you enjoy living and later fondly remember, and rather spend the money saved from unnecessary expenses on nicer vacations.

Welcome to the forum and thank you for your reply. The vinyl idea actually sounds quite good and is definitely worth considering again. If somehow it would work to cover it up, then at least that would be a somewhat "affordable" option. I have always been a bit skeptical about these plastic floors, but a lot has changed here regarding toxic emissions and appearance. A semi-detached house for 550 in the Rhine-Main area doesn't sound so bad to me. I thought the region was more expensive than here in the tri-border area D/FR/CH. Here you would rather pay 650 for a semi-detached house, depending on the condition.

Thanks to you too for your opinion. I am actually chasing my ideal vision. That is certainly not the best way at the moment. Unfortunately, the choice here is too small. What is definitely not ideal for me is the commute to work (about 45 minutes each way by train or car), but I might be able to manage that. On the other hand, all schools are in town and the place itself offers a lot. What scares me a bit with a plan like the in-between house, is whether in a few years you will still get the same value for the house, meaning whether prices will rather drop. Against that speaks that the town will be better connected in the next few years and more jobs will be created on the opposite side, which will probably further increase the attractiveness of the place. As for the floors, I still have to replace the carpets at least. They are completely worn out (see photo).

What do you actually think about how much one can negotiate? The appraiser made me a traffic light from green=500k through yellow (520) to red=550, which he would see as an absolute upper limit. However, the house is listed at just under 600. I once offered the agent 560k and he said he would include that in the negotiation. According to the appraisal, I would try it at 540k though. There will be commission and additional costs on top anyway. That will still be a chunk.

Hi,
so I could only negotiate down €9000, no more was possible, after me there are still 20 other interested parties waiting.
I can only give you the tip to really think about whether the house you are moving into now is worth it.
Prices won’t go down again that quickly, there is simply too little living space in the good areas.
But if you can negotiate down €60k, then you have my respect :D.

And about the vinyl, I don’t see a difference to parquet or laminate, just watch the videos once and you will see that overgluing can make a lot of sense.
Knocking out all the tiles is a really tough undertaking that will cost a lot of money.

You can easily remove the carpet and then iron the floor of your choice over it.
I am also thinking about which investment will make the most sense at the beginning.

I think you can’t go wrong by renovating the bathrooms, possibly modernizing the heating and possibly insulating if necessary.
So the value-increasing measures.