Hello, I’m new here and wanted to ask for your opinions or personal experiences. We currently live in a beautiful old apartment in a sadly dilapidated manor house in the middle of nowhere. Now the house is being sold, and we will probably have to move out by early to mid-2020 due to partial demolition and extensive renovation. Unfortunately, we don’t know the exact timing yet. We only found out the day before yesterday and now feel a bit unsettled. We have been keeping an eye on the real estate market from time to time but never really felt pressured to find something.
I definitely don’t want to rent again, and neither does my husband. He’s a passionate gardener with an impressive plant collection, and moving is already tough enough. Anyway, long story short: we now want to buy something of our own (unfortunately under time pressure). It’s a terrible time since there are very few houses or plots available in the area, and those that are can be really overpriced.
I think building a house is probably not feasible either time-wise or financially (because of a larger plot, a house of about 110 m2 to 150 m2 (1,180 to 1,615 sq ft) would be plenty).
There is an old farmhouse here that we want to take a look at. The barns and garages are in good condition, but the house itself urgently needs renovation—bathrooms, walls, and floors all require work, and the heating is just a stove. The building structure seems quite solid.
That means a completely new heating system would have to be installed, the walls redone, and flooring laid everywhere. I don’t know anything about the insulation yet.
What do you think would be a rough estimate just for the heating system? I imagine many walls would have to be opened up and pipes or wiring installed.
We’re both fairly handy and willing to do the work ourselves. My husband works as a landscaper and can handle bricklaying, plastering, and similar tasks. Is a budget of 50,000 to 60,000 euros (about 54,000 to 64,500 USD) realistic, or am I dreaming?
Oh, a few more details: about 130 m2 (1,400 sq ft) of living space and 2 bathrooms with hot water boilers (which would need urgent renovation as well!).
Thanks in advance, and feel free to be brutally honest.
I definitely don’t want to rent again, and neither does my husband. He’s a passionate gardener with an impressive plant collection, and moving is already tough enough. Anyway, long story short: we now want to buy something of our own (unfortunately under time pressure). It’s a terrible time since there are very few houses or plots available in the area, and those that are can be really overpriced.
I think building a house is probably not feasible either time-wise or financially (because of a larger plot, a house of about 110 m2 to 150 m2 (1,180 to 1,615 sq ft) would be plenty).
There is an old farmhouse here that we want to take a look at. The barns and garages are in good condition, but the house itself urgently needs renovation—bathrooms, walls, and floors all require work, and the heating is just a stove. The building structure seems quite solid.
That means a completely new heating system would have to be installed, the walls redone, and flooring laid everywhere. I don’t know anything about the insulation yet.
What do you think would be a rough estimate just for the heating system? I imagine many walls would have to be opened up and pipes or wiring installed.
We’re both fairly handy and willing to do the work ourselves. My husband works as a landscaper and can handle bricklaying, plastering, and similar tasks. Is a budget of 50,000 to 60,000 euros (about 54,000 to 64,500 USD) realistic, or am I dreaming?
Oh, a few more details: about 130 m2 (1,400 sq ft) of living space and 2 bathrooms with hot water boilers (which would need urgent renovation as well!).
Thanks in advance, and feel free to be brutally honest.
Lumpi_LE schrieb:
A quick note about heating: according to the original poster, there are stoves present that need to be removed and disposed of. That’s expensive and often hard to find someone to do. An old farmhouse probably won’t have a gas connection, so a heat pump is the only sensible option— and for a house that old, it shouldn’t be a small one.Nordlys schrieb:
If there’s no gas, then you use oil and radiators. Thanks, Karsten
Lumpi_LE schrieb:
And since you’re so eager to know: I built my heating system myself and it definitely didn’t cost 50,000 or 30,000, but I guess the OP won’t be able to do that with their question. Not really, but since you mentioned it...
Uh okay...?!
You pay under 30k yourself, but expect everyone else to pay 50k... I don’t get it.
I can only repeat myself and also agree with Nordlys here. With 60k, you can indeed get very far.
Sure, if you have zero time, want a “show home” style house, have no skills, and want to move in quickly, then 60k won’t be enough.
But if you take your time, plan the project well, don’t just accept the first quote from “specialist companies,” don’t get stressed, do some work yourself, and actually enjoy the process, you can achieve a lot with 60k.
I mean, it’s not as if carpenters arrive to install windows and doors with machines worth 200k, drywall installers bring wall erecting equipment worth 150k, floor layers come with parquet machines worth 200k, electricians with cable laying machines worth 150k, etc.
They all do their jobs using expertise and manual labor.
You can definitely learn parts of this yourself on such a project, especially if you’re already a tradesperson. (It’s not like a carpenter spends three years learning how to install a window; they watch five times, help out, and then can do it— especially with old houses.)
Of course, it costs time and the result isn’t always perfect... but you save real money, learn something, and hopefully have a lot of fun!
The end result can be a very beautiful house full of charm and character.
T
Tigerlili13 Apr 2019 19:29Wow, thank you very much for all the replies. We have now taken a look at the property from the outside after receiving the address from the realtor. Honestly, I think demolition might be the only sensible option. The interior photos were terrible, and there are even visible cracks on the outside; the roof would need to be completely redone. No, we’ll pass on that. I really don’t mind renovating something, but living on a construction site for years and pouring money into it would be too much. Next week, we’ll check out a semi-detached house and see how that one is.