ᐅ Bought a house at a good price. What now?

11ant schrieb:

Buying a contaminated property with an existing building at the price of just the raw land is already a real joke, but then to have it include a vacant restaurant space takes it even further. Cheers to that, I guess I should probably head to bed now—this day can hardly get any better. Thanks for this little treat to brighten my evening!
All that’s left is to quote the late Uli Wickert: the weather.

Your humor is a bit too sophisticated for me. Could you explain why it’s a bad idea to purchase a property that already has a building on it at a very low price? Is the potential demolition—which in this case is apparently unnecessary for the person asking—so expensive that it makes such a deal not worthwhile?

Joedreck schrieb:

Let's take it slow. There’s no rush at all. The first step has to be an honest assessment of the current situation. What was done and when, what still needs to be done?
What are the local land prices?
Do you want to live there or not?
Think about how to proceed. If the house was purchased with equity, you have more time.

I’m also just an amateur. But I have bought and renovated two older houses. A lot in energy efficiency.
So, give it some thought.
Take photos and share them here. Photos of the heating system, plumbing, drainage, roof, windows. Often the glass panes have a date stamped indicating the manufacturing date.
Was it a pub before? Inquire at the local authority about the cost of a change of use/occupancy permit (building permit/planning permission).
Draw and share floor plans.

This is probably the most constructive thing I’ve read in this thread so far. I completely agree. Don’t let yourselves be unsettled, post photos and more information, and ignore the naysayers. There are plenty of people here willing to seriously help you without discussing your private life.

moHouse schrieb:

But if so, they are usually old houses with an abandoned pub inside. Even here, those are hard to sell.

Could you explain that in more detail? As I mentioned earlier, I can really imagine an old pub or inn with large rooms, high ceilings, almost windows all around, a professional kitchen, and maybe even a real vaulted cellar as a unique living space. At least it would be original.

Pinkiponk schrieb:

Your humor is a bit too sophisticated for me. Could you explain why it is a bad idea to buy an already developed plot of land at a very low price? Is demolition, which in the questioner’s case won’t be necessary, so expensive that it doesn’t make sense?

If you buy a property with a house (without value) at the market value of the land alone (without the house), you have to consider the demolition, which will probably cost around ±50,000€ (±$54,000). Therefore, by definition, it is a bad deal if you take the market value as the “real value.”

However, pricing in real estate works completely differently and isn’t comparable to well-functioning markets with more transparency, etc. Still, it would only be a bargain if the purchase price plus demolition costs are less than or equal to the market value of the land. That’s why “contaminated” is a good term here.

Pinkiponk schrieb:

Could you explain that in more detail? As I mentioned earlier, I can really imagine an old pub or inn with large rooms, high ceilings, windows almost all around, a professional kitchen, and perhaps even a real vaulted cellar as a great living space. At least it’s original.

It has already been mentioned that this involves permits/planning permissions, procedures, and in some cases considerable costs. Fire protection, parking space, energy upgrades, etc. You are showing the “rose-tinted glasses” side, while others here are the pessimists. The fact that no one is interested in the project nowadays, in my opinion, already suggests how the situation really is.

Pinkiponk schrieb:

It may be that some forum members, for whatever reason, currently have a lot of money to spare. This is likely a very small minority, but they do exist.

Nevertheless, it takes quite a vivid imagination to believe that there could be any overlap greater than zero between "people who must already have managed money well enough to be wealthy" and "people who handle money carelessly." A billionaire might be more relaxed about spending but generally does not intentionally look for ways to burn money.

Pinkiponk schrieb:

Why is it a bad idea to buy a property that is already built on at a very low price?

I never claimed that buying a property with an existing building is a bad idea. Two things are being confused here: 1. buying a property with a building is not a "bad idea." 2. buying such a property at the raw land price is not necessarily cheap. The mistake is to see the price as the sum of "land" plus "building with a value of at worst zero." This overlooks the fact that demolition costs can even exceed the building’s value. In the case of a commercial property without a tenant, its current use value is already zero, and after subtracting maintenance costs, it may be negative; and even for a residential owner-occupier, there would be time pressure after the ownership transfer to bring the property up to current technical standards. All of this clearly points to inexperience, and as someone who also volunteers at a debt counseling service, I would advise the original poster not to turn a "friend" into a "spouse"—at least not under community property arrangements.

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