ᐅ Practical Living Concept for a Basement Apartment

goldfisch138 schrieb:

If we are honest, people tend to expand their homes over a period of 15-20 years, and then the living spaces become too large again.

There is some truth to that. That’s why we built once with very young children and once with nearly grown-up children.

wiltshire schrieb:

There’s some truth to that. That’s why we’ve built once with toddlers and once with nearly grown-up children.

Those who can, do 🙂 I wanted to invest my money wisely, so I decided on a multi-family house with external dimensions of 12 × 10 m (39 × 33 ft). It sounds big at first, but with a large bathroom, bedroom, and office, most of the space is already taken ^^ I’m curious how it will be when I finally get to live in it. I’m especially excited about the living room with the light cove. What it will be like in 10 years is uncertain. However, currently, there are only two of us, and a floor area of 200 m² (2,150 sq ft) plus a basement would simply be oversized. This way, we might still have a ground-floor apartment for my parents and a basement apartment for a potential caregiver. There are plenty of use cases for living space!

goldfisch138 schrieb:

Whoever can, can 🙂 I just wanted to invest my money wisely and decided on a multifamily house with exterior dimensions of 12 x 10m (39 x 33 feet).

Building or buying twice is not a question of "whoever can, can." The first property is eventually paid off, usually appreciates significantly in value, and then finances the second house or a smaller apartment. Depending on how you do it, this is essentially a reshuffling of your investment assets. A new investment is possible but not necessary.

Starting immediately with a multifamily house is more of a "whoever can, can" approach. You are investing early in infrastructure that you won’t be able to use optimally for about two decades, resulting in infrastructure that remains significantly compromised for many years to come. From my point of view, a functional multifamily house is considerably larger than what you are planning and also requires a different kind of building plot.
Your house resembles a compact SUV that tries to be spacious, sporty, and off-road capable all at once. Spacious: think compact. Sporty: as sporty as something overweight can be. Off-road capable: if it has all-wheel drive at all, it has big tires that won’t manage even a wet meadow. Well, such vehicles exist, and some people love the "jack of all trades, master of none" concept. It’s just not for me.

We have recently supported our parents until the end of their lives and experienced firsthand how overwhelming life becomes when dementia gradually takes hold. Therefore, one of our guiding principles is to minimize complexity structurally in old age as much as possible. Based on our experience as landlords, we have decided that this is a structural challenge we do not want to face in our later years. Another guiding principle, shared by many, is maintaining one’s autonomy for as long as possible. Here, too, keeping the structural complexity of life low is a huge advantage.

[QUOTE="wiltshire, post: 688797, member: 71779"]
Building two homes or buying a second property is not just a matter of "if you can, you can." The first house is eventually paid off, usually has gained significant value, and then finances the second house or an apartment, which can be somewhat smaller. Depending on how you approach it, this is essentially a reshuffling of investment assets. A new investment is possible but not necessary.

Building a multi-family house right away is more of a "if you can, you can" approach. You invest early in an infrastructure that you won’t be able to use optimally for about two decades, resulting in an infrastructure that remains quite compromised for many years after. From my perspective, a functional multi-family house is much larger than what you are planning and also requires a different building site.
Your house feels like a small SUV trying to be roomy, sporty, and off-road capable at the same time. Roomy: think small. Sporty: as much as it can with some extra weight. Off-road capable: if it even has all-wheel drive, it probably has big tires that give up on a wet meadow. Well, such vehicles do exist, and some people appreciate being "good at everything but not expert at anything." It’s just not my preference.

We have recently supported our parents until the end of their lives and experienced firsthand how overwhelming life becomes when dementia gradually sets in. Therefore, one of our guiding principles is to minimize complexity in old age structurally. Based on our experiences as landlords, we have decided that this is a structural challenge we do not want to face when we are older. Another principle we share with many others is to maintain as much personal autonomy as possible for as long as possible. Keeping the structural complexity of one’s living situation low greatly helps with this.

You have to excuse me; my statement was not intended to be negative. For us, it was more a decision made at the right time. The developer offered us discounts due to favorable family circumstances. Owning a house of this size without additional rental income wouldn’t have been possible in this form. I finance the apartment without my girlfriend; she contributes by covering household expenses—that’s how we manage it. It’s not out of the question that we might decide to build again when we have children. In that case, the apartment wouldn’t be lost but could be rented out sensibly. I believe owning property is rarely a mistake, not trying to justify my planning too much—it simply wouldn’t have worked differently in our situation.

goldfisch138 schrieb:

Are you generally an advocate of laminate flooring in rental apartments? We could also consider tile. In the basement, we will definitely go with laminate, but for the upper floor apartment, we are still unsure whether to choose tiles (wood-look – a matter of taste) or just lay laminate. We have several industrial companies in the area that are often looking for worker accommodation. During summer, there is plenty of daylight in the apartment until midday, so I don’t worry about it being too dark.

Well, I don’t think there are such absolute rules or truly decisive reasons for or against it. Of course, you can install laminate in the basement as well as in the attic, although personally I wouldn’t want that. At least it feels colder in the basement, and in my opinion, tiles add to that effect. I really don’t like wood-look tiles or any kind of artificial imitation building materials.

goldfisch138 schrieb:

Our children are also welcome to live above us later and move into the apartment via the stairwell. Otherwise, it will be rented out again.

Oh, another all-in-one solution just like in a parallel thread.

goldfisch138 schrieb:

Wet rooms excluded, here tiles are unavoidable.

That’s your fair opinion, but from a purely objective point of view, I don’t share it. There are bathrooms with solid wood flooring as well as with carpet – it’s all a matter of design and individual use. It’s not true as a blanket statement.

goldfisch138 schrieb:

@wiltshire thanks for your feedback. I am actually new to the rental game, so I’m very grateful for such tips. Are you generally in favor of laminate in rental apartments? We could also consider tile. In the basement, we will definitely go with laminate, but for the upper floor apartment, we are still unsure whether to choose tiles (wood-look – a matter of taste) or just lay laminate – wet rooms excluded, here tiles are unavoidable. We have several industrial companies in the region that are often looking for accommodation for workers. There is really enough light in the apartment until midday in summer, so I don’t worry about it being too dark. We don’t have a separate entrance – access would be via the stairwell (visible staircase in the picture). We didn’t want a separate entrance precisely because of possible water intrusion issues.

Still, that has its advantages which I would carefully consider both for personal use and especially when used by others; then you inevitably have to adapt the layout to the possible housemate in the basement since the stairwell/entrance area becomes a common area, which might be missed for private use.

goldfisch138 schrieb:

A single-family house is not an option for me due to cost reasons.

I don’t quite understand that?

goldfisch138 schrieb:

We currently have 100 m² (1,076 sq ft), and the only thing I miss is a decent walk-in closet and a storage room.

And you’re building the house just for that? I’m a bit confused.

goldfisch138 schrieb:

Who can, can.

I read that quote yesterday already. Everyone here can do it; it’s just a matter of personal flexibility. Constantly adapting to your life situation is more sensible than living with impractical things all your life. Building now for old age or the future seen through a crystal ball is probably much more expensive and less comfortable than changing to the right living arrangement when the time comes. So I would rather place the quote “who can, can” where people already commission rooms or details today for the day after tomorrow.

goldfisch138 schrieb:

Yes, I wanted to invest my money wisely and decided on a multifamily house with exterior dimensions of 12 x 10 m (39 x 33 feet).

That alone doesn’t make it a wise decision, and there are many kinds and perspectives of what is reasonable. I often hear “I want to do it properly,” which to me implies everything else would be unreasonable or nonsense. I would regularly question myself whether I’m just using that to justify my already fixed intentions. If it suits you like this, that’s great.

goldfisch138 schrieb:

That way, we might also have a ground-floor apartment for my parents and a basement apartment for a potential caregiver.

Exactly what I read in a parallel thread, and I can’t help but say this for such a generously sized space: “Who has, has.”

goldfisch138 schrieb:

Use cases for living space are plenty!

Sure, so you could have also built bigger and with even more apartments. Not that you’re building according to your ideas and that’s great, but as general statements, these comments don’t really hold up, as you can see from the respective responses.

Arauki11 schrieb:

....and you’re building the house just for that reason? I’m a bit confused.

First of all, I want to praise the exchange here, even though it doesn’t always match what one might want. But that’s not what I’m looking for! I’m looking for an exchange on equal footing and meaningful conversations. The house is already built; compared to a detached house, these two rooms don’t have the full floor plan area, so I have to find alternatives. I built on parental land, so I didn’t have to buy the plot, and I’m also lucky that many relatives can currently provide support, which saves costs. This would not have been possible in 10 years! Additionally, financially it wouldn’t have been feasible without rental income. Sure, I could have used the equity more wisely or held on to it longer and started the project later, but I live in the here and now. Planning always includes preparing for future eventualities; otherwise, it wouldn’t be far-reaching enough. Saying, “Okay, it no longer fits our needs, we’ll build a new one” might seem sensible at first glance, but it also brings its own challenges. Later, it’s better to terminate tenants for personal use if necessary and possibly adjust the floor plan here and there.

Arauki11 schrieb:

That’s exactly what I’m reading in a parallel thread, and with such a large amount of space, I can’t help but think: “Those who have, have”…

You can only build wide if the building plot allows it. We still have a second plot adjacent to ours, but combining them was never an option.