Hello everyone,
I’m not sure if this is the right place for my question, but I’ll give it a try
We have been struggling for several months with the question of what is “better”: building a new house or buying an existing property. We currently have an existing property in sight and could also purchase a plot of land (small new development). Both options have a good location for us.
The existing property:
Detached single-family house with a granny flat (secondary dwelling),
Garage,
Small but more than sufficient garden
140 sqm (1500 sq ft) living space (+40 sqm (430 sq ft) granny flat)
800 sqm (8600 sq ft) plot
Built in 1991
Very well maintained, but nothing modernized. So still the old gas heating system, bathroom, etc. (However, the bathroom is white and in very good condition)
Purchase price around 370,000 euros, including all additional costs.
A few thousand euros would still be needed for new wallpaper and some paint. After that, our budget would be exhausted for further (not necessary) renovation work, such as a modern bathroom, nicer tiles, a new heating system (current heating costs about 2000 euros per year – roughly three times as much as for a new build), and so on. (Of course, reserves for any urgent repairs are still available.)
New build:
The plot (600 sqm (6500 sq ft)) would cost about 80,000 euros.
The new build, without a granny flat (so roughly the same living area of 140 sqm (1500 sq ft)), amounts to about 280,000 euros.
+ additional building costs
+ garage
+ landscaping
+ who knows what else...
So, roughly calculated, it’s more expensive.
However, we would have everything just the way we want it – the tiles, doors, windows, electrical outlets, bathroom, etc.
Also, the new build would be more energy-efficient (supposedly about 600 euros heating costs per year with gas heating due to better insulation, modern windows, modern heating system, etc.)
We are skilled DIYers, but both of us work full time and have a small child. So, there really isn’t much time to do a lot of work ourselves on a new build. With the existing property, we could theoretically move in immediately.
Do you have any tips or experiences that could help us with our decision?
Of course, I understand that we need to make the decision ourselves, but maybe there are things we haven’t considered.
Thanks in advance,
Best regards, Peter
I’m not sure if this is the right place for my question, but I’ll give it a try
We have been struggling for several months with the question of what is “better”: building a new house or buying an existing property. We currently have an existing property in sight and could also purchase a plot of land (small new development). Both options have a good location for us.
The existing property:
Detached single-family house with a granny flat (secondary dwelling),
Garage,
Small but more than sufficient garden
140 sqm (1500 sq ft) living space (+40 sqm (430 sq ft) granny flat)
800 sqm (8600 sq ft) plot
Built in 1991
Very well maintained, but nothing modernized. So still the old gas heating system, bathroom, etc. (However, the bathroom is white and in very good condition)
Purchase price around 370,000 euros, including all additional costs.
A few thousand euros would still be needed for new wallpaper and some paint. After that, our budget would be exhausted for further (not necessary) renovation work, such as a modern bathroom, nicer tiles, a new heating system (current heating costs about 2000 euros per year – roughly three times as much as for a new build), and so on. (Of course, reserves for any urgent repairs are still available.)
New build:
The plot (600 sqm (6500 sq ft)) would cost about 80,000 euros.
The new build, without a granny flat (so roughly the same living area of 140 sqm (1500 sq ft)), amounts to about 280,000 euros.
+ additional building costs
+ garage
+ landscaping
+ who knows what else...
So, roughly calculated, it’s more expensive.
However, we would have everything just the way we want it – the tiles, doors, windows, electrical outlets, bathroom, etc.
Also, the new build would be more energy-efficient (supposedly about 600 euros heating costs per year with gas heating due to better insulation, modern windows, modern heating system, etc.)
We are skilled DIYers, but both of us work full time and have a small child. So, there really isn’t much time to do a lot of work ourselves on a new build. With the existing property, we could theoretically move in immediately.
Do you have any tips or experiences that could help us with our decision?
Of course, I understand that we need to make the decision ourselves, but maybe there are things we haven’t considered.
Thanks in advance,
Best regards, Peter
B
Bieber081516 Apr 2015 20:42Dirk Grafe schrieb:
Nonsense. There are several solutions for that, and they can be explained in five minutes. I'm not completely clueless either, although it still needs to be checked if a building permit / planning permission would be granted for the rear part. And the price (or value) would of course be affected by this.
Dirk Grafe schrieb:
Negotiate down Anyone who negotiates a lower price for me can keep half of the savings. But to me, it just means: Here’s the door, please leave, we’ll sell to someone else (or not at all).
Thank you very much for all the advice here, and please excuse me for not getting back to you all week.
I also suspect that I shouldn’t base my decision on the official land value but rather on supply and demand.
The more we think about it, the more we realize that the plot is not suitable. The slope towards the back has a height difference of more than 3 meters (10 feet). The property width is about 18 square meters (195 square feet) — quite narrow, isn’t it? — and the total size is around 650 square meters (7,000 square feet), so it’s a long, narrow lot. The height difference of about 3 meters (10 feet) means we can’t access the garden directly, which would bother us. We would actually prefer to have ground-level access to the garden.
The parquet floor in the existing building still looks good as far as I can tell. I haven’t checked under the wardrobe, but that’s where ours will be placed later anyway. Parquet is only in the bedrooms/children’s rooms. The living/dining area, hallway, kitchen, stairs, and bathroom are all tiled.
Maybe I should try to arrange financing so that we can renovate the bathroom and heating system now. However, this would likely mean a higher interest rate; I need to calculate what this would mean in euros.
Best regards
Peter
I also suspect that I shouldn’t base my decision on the official land value but rather on supply and demand.
The more we think about it, the more we realize that the plot is not suitable. The slope towards the back has a height difference of more than 3 meters (10 feet). The property width is about 18 square meters (195 square feet) — quite narrow, isn’t it? — and the total size is around 650 square meters (7,000 square feet), so it’s a long, narrow lot. The height difference of about 3 meters (10 feet) means we can’t access the garden directly, which would bother us. We would actually prefer to have ground-level access to the garden.
The parquet floor in the existing building still looks good as far as I can tell. I haven’t checked under the wardrobe, but that’s where ours will be placed later anyway. Parquet is only in the bedrooms/children’s rooms. The living/dining area, hallway, kitchen, stairs, and bathroom are all tiled.
Maybe I should try to arrange financing so that we can renovate the bathroom and heating system now. However, this would likely mean a higher interest rate; I need to calculate what this would mean in euros.
Best regards
Peter
Bieber0815 schrieb:
I'm not completely ignorant, although it would still need to be checked if a building permit/planning permission would be granted for the rear part. And the price (or value) would definitely be affected by that.This also needs to be checked/clarified at short notice. If the plot layout does not allow for two houses side by side and one behind the other cannot be built because the remainder lies outside the building envelope, then the rest is garden land and the pricing of around 80€/m² (about 7.50 $/ft²) for the entire 1200m² (about 13,000 ft²) is in question. In other words, you pay the building land price for the front and the garden land price for the back, which means significantly less than the 100,000 € you estimated. If the seller does not accept that, you walk away and that’s that—unless the 80€ is already a blended price. Then you’d have to decide what you can do with over 600m² (about 6,460 ft²) of extra garden area and whether the plot is worth that to you. If you can’t use the additional garden land, then this simply isn’t your property—end of story.
Whoever negotiates a lower price for me can keep half of the savings. To me, it’s just: Here is the door, please leave, we’re selling to someone else (or not at all). Negotiating a lower price is quite simple: arrange another viewing with an expert (such as a surveyor), discuss the property with them, and then together determine how much you can pay for the house without causing financial strain. If the house still seems viable after the expert’s assessment, you make a written (!!) offer and wait to see what happens. If you have negotiation skills, you can also do this verbally, but that requires experience.
If the seller’s asking price is unrealistic for you, you just have to wait until the price decreases—in other words, let time work for you—while still submitting your offer, always in writing. If someone else pays 50,000 € more, so be it—it doesn’t make sense to pay a price you find unacceptable. The seller may be happy, but you’d only be hurting yourself. If that’s the case, then this just isn’t your house; no worries—there are others.
Best regards,
Dirk Grafe
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