ᐅ Building a New Home, Buying a House, or Renovating the Family Home – How to Make the Right Decision!
Created on: 5 Jun 2018 11:24
M
Merymery
Hello forum members,
We have been considering what the best decision for us would be for about two and a half years now.
Maybe you can help us a bit with your opinions.
I will try to briefly explain the facts:
Currently, the three of us (soon to be four in July) are living on the upper floor of my parents’ house.
Option 1:
We build in a new development area.
Costs will be around 400,000 euros (there have already been talks with the property developer).
We would then have a plot of land that is ideally sized for us. The house would be “a bit small” for the price, but acceptable.
Advantages here: we would live in town, where there are daycare/preschool/school facilities. The infrastructure is somewhat better than at our current place (which is only 3km (2 miles) away).
There are currently several young families living there (nice for children).
Disadvantages from our point of view:
We would be “leaving behind” my parents.
They can still manage the house at the moment, but this won’t work forever.
We would also like our children to grow up with their grandparents.
Another “disadvantage”: we would have more neighbors. Currently, there is only one — which we actually like.
Option 2:
Buying a house. Unfortunately, the market here is currently quite limited.
In the last two and a half years, only one house was interesting for us. Ultimately, however, it was not the “right” one.
The only advantages we see here:
It is already finished. Everything is established and potentially cheaper than building new.
Disadvantages:
We cannot predict what will come on the market.
Regarding size, plot size, location, etc…
Option 3:
We stay in my parents’ house and do some “improvements”.
The house was built in 1960. In 1980 an extension was added, along with a new heating system, windows, and doors...
Advantages:
A clear advantage here is the lower costs and thus a “more relaxed life”.
We would invest at most 200,000 euros to make it more comfortable.
We wouldn’t have to worry about money as much as we would if we built.
We would have my parents here and could support them, and the children would grow up with their grandparents.
Disadvantages:
It is located on a main road/entrance to the town (so traffic is often faster than allowed) — a current study reports around 2,000 cars passing daily.
There are almost no children of the same age in the village.
Daycare/preschool/school are 3km (2 miles) away — transportation is necessary.
Currently, we would need another room. We could get one on the ground floor, which would be used as the master bedroom.
All other rooms would be on the upper floor. We would have to live with this until my parents eventually pass away and the whole house is for us.
The plot is unfortunately very large.
This worries me a bit. So far, we are all maintaining it. When my parents are no longer here or able to do so, it may be different...
Whether we want to stay here for life (especially because of the size of the house and plot) is also a question. But of course, you can always sell a house 🙂
Now I also wonder:
Is it “worth it” to invest so much money in an “old house”?
Of course, we can make the upper floor nice and stylish, but unfortunately the house is also somewhat “complicated” in its layout.
But do you have everything exactly as you want in a new build?
Probably you will never be 100% satisfied with any option.
There are pros and cons everywhere.
What would you recommend to us, and especially why?
I hope I was able to give at least a small impression of our situation and I look forward to helpful answers.
Regards, Mery
We have been considering what the best decision for us would be for about two and a half years now.
Maybe you can help us a bit with your opinions.
I will try to briefly explain the facts:
Currently, the three of us (soon to be four in July) are living on the upper floor of my parents’ house.
Option 1:
We build in a new development area.
Costs will be around 400,000 euros (there have already been talks with the property developer).
We would then have a plot of land that is ideally sized for us. The house would be “a bit small” for the price, but acceptable.
Advantages here: we would live in town, where there are daycare/preschool/school facilities. The infrastructure is somewhat better than at our current place (which is only 3km (2 miles) away).
There are currently several young families living there (nice for children).
Disadvantages from our point of view:
We would be “leaving behind” my parents.
They can still manage the house at the moment, but this won’t work forever.
We would also like our children to grow up with their grandparents.
Another “disadvantage”: we would have more neighbors. Currently, there is only one — which we actually like.
Option 2:
Buying a house. Unfortunately, the market here is currently quite limited.
In the last two and a half years, only one house was interesting for us. Ultimately, however, it was not the “right” one.
The only advantages we see here:
It is already finished. Everything is established and potentially cheaper than building new.
Disadvantages:
We cannot predict what will come on the market.
Regarding size, plot size, location, etc…
Option 3:
We stay in my parents’ house and do some “improvements”.
The house was built in 1960. In 1980 an extension was added, along with a new heating system, windows, and doors...
Advantages:
A clear advantage here is the lower costs and thus a “more relaxed life”.
We would invest at most 200,000 euros to make it more comfortable.
We wouldn’t have to worry about money as much as we would if we built.
We would have my parents here and could support them, and the children would grow up with their grandparents.
Disadvantages:
It is located on a main road/entrance to the town (so traffic is often faster than allowed) — a current study reports around 2,000 cars passing daily.
There are almost no children of the same age in the village.
Daycare/preschool/school are 3km (2 miles) away — transportation is necessary.
Currently, we would need another room. We could get one on the ground floor, which would be used as the master bedroom.
All other rooms would be on the upper floor. We would have to live with this until my parents eventually pass away and the whole house is for us.
The plot is unfortunately very large.
This worries me a bit. So far, we are all maintaining it. When my parents are no longer here or able to do so, it may be different...
Whether we want to stay here for life (especially because of the size of the house and plot) is also a question. But of course, you can always sell a house 🙂
Now I also wonder:
Is it “worth it” to invest so much money in an “old house”?
Of course, we can make the upper floor nice and stylish, but unfortunately the house is also somewhat “complicated” in its layout.
But do you have everything exactly as you want in a new build?
Probably you will never be 100% satisfied with any option.
There are pros and cons everywhere.
What would you recommend to us, and especially why?
I hope I was able to give at least a small impression of our situation and I look forward to helpful answers.
Regards, Mery
@haydee
Did I understand that correctly? Have you decided on your grandfather’s yard?
It’s great that you found the right choice for yourselves! That’s really valuable.
Of course, we want to weigh everything as much as possible. But in life, that’s not really feasible.
We could certainly live well with either option. One has these advantages, the other those... And the same goes for the disadvantages.
It would just be nice to finally make a decision. We are expecting a child in July, and during parental leave it would be ideal to get everything started.
We will just have to calculate again everything we want/need to invest in the family home and then probably weigh whether it’s worthwhile for us.
Unfortunately, the local authority here is not very accommodating. Although we haven’t tried everything yet. Maybe it’s still an option to follow up with them.
Did I understand that correctly? Have you decided on your grandfather’s yard?
It’s great that you found the right choice for yourselves! That’s really valuable.
Of course, we want to weigh everything as much as possible. But in life, that’s not really feasible.
We could certainly live well with either option. One has these advantages, the other those... And the same goes for the disadvantages.
It would just be nice to finally make a decision. We are expecting a child in July, and during parental leave it would be ideal to get everything started.
We will just have to calculate again everything we want/need to invest in the family home and then probably weigh whether it’s worthwhile for us.
Unfortunately, the local authority here is not very accommodating. Although we haven’t tried everything yet. Maybe it’s still an option to follow up with them.
haydee schrieb:
That’s the magic word: we move away, and suddenly many things become possible By the way, I’m still not entirely clear on how the existing building and the 1980 extension integrate with the “outdoor area” – was it only allowed to build on one side (the “interior” side) even back then?
Merymery schrieb:
If we had a secondary agricultural business, it might look a bit better... *LOL* Manure-to-energy conversion (which is possible even without your own dairy herd) is also considered agricultural activity ;-)
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
@11ant
The building authority told us that it is probably possible to add an extension to the house. That was likely allowed 40 years ago as well.
We could probably also convert a shed into a residential building, PROVIDED the foundation walls remain intact.
However, this probably isn't worthwhile in our case.
They also made it clear that if the old house were demolished, building a new one here would not be permitted.
Only if the foundation walls remain...
The building authority told us that it is probably possible to add an extension to the house. That was likely allowed 40 years ago as well.
We could probably also convert a shed into a residential building, PROVIDED the foundation walls remain intact.
However, this probably isn't worthwhile in our case.
They also made it clear that if the old house were demolished, building a new one here would not be permitted.
Only if the foundation walls remain...
That sounds strange. The extension hardly used old foundations, did it (?)
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
@11ant
Maybe I didn’t express myself clearly. Sorry.
An extension should basically be possible.
The story about the foundation walls referred to the shed.
A new building would not be allowed on the property. However, it might be possible to convert the shed (since it has existing use rights) into a residential building, and for that, the walls would need to be used.
At least that’s how we understood it.
And precisely in the case where my parents’ house would be demolished, building a new house here wouldn’t be permitted because it is located in an open/rural area.
...Unless... foundation walls were used.
As I said, unfortunately, I can only pass on what we were told...
Maybe I didn’t express myself clearly. Sorry.
An extension should basically be possible.
The story about the foundation walls referred to the shed.
A new building would not be allowed on the property. However, it might be possible to convert the shed (since it has existing use rights) into a residential building, and for that, the walls would need to be used.
At least that’s how we understood it.
And precisely in the case where my parents’ house would be demolished, building a new house here wouldn’t be permitted because it is located in an open/rural area.
...Unless... foundation walls were used.
As I said, unfortunately, I can only pass on what we were told...
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