ᐅ Bought a house but have absolutely no knowledge about the subject.

Hello everyone,

In May 2018, I bought my parents’ house because they were getting divorced, and the house was the only point of dispute. My father wanted to continue living there, and my mother wanted to be paid out. In the end, I agreed to buy the house.

The house has a market value of 250,000 and I paid my mother 115,000. My father retained a right of residence.

I took out a loan of 115,000 for the house and another loan of 50,000 to refinance old debts (15,000 — my lifestyle was quite extravagant), for renovations (30,000), and other costs (5,000).

My net monthly income is about 2,000. I repay both loans together with a total monthly payment of 710€.

After the purchase was finalized, I felt pretty much left on my own. I tried to inform myself about the essentials and, of course, studied all the contracts, which I understood for the most part.

However, after refinancing my old debts, I more or less just let things run without thinking much about it. Recently, the bank “kindly” reminded me (penalty interest) that I really should start using the renovation loan.

But I have no idea how to best coordinate a renovation. Last year, I contacted the general contractor who built the house. He came, took notes, but then stopped responding (that was in September 2018).

Whenever I ask my parents questions, I get nowhere. My mother doesn’t want anything to do with it, and my father always says, “No idea, you’ll have to wait.”

I also have no understanding of the utility bill accounting—when, how, and how often payments are deducted. I only know that payments are deducted and roughly how much, as this has already happened.

I am at a loss and don’t know how to proceed or what to do. I hope this post is not too confusing.

Thank you all.

Julian