Overwhelmed with new property. Trying to avoid panic-selling.

jcuurthht

grumbler said:

aoleks said:

a new gas boiler is really not the end of the world. in fact, unless the boiler was recently replaced (last 3 to 5 years) and properly serviced every year (evidence!), I would want to replace it anyway. they're quite cheap, the cost can be spread over years (interest free), they are much more efficient and will save you hundreds every year and on top of that, the installation is not that disruptive. can be done in 1 done, clean work. but even if it was an issue, you don't sell a property at a loss (lol) because you need a new boiler worth £2500...

Mine is 30 years old and I'm not going to replace it untill it actually needs replacing. And I think you grossly overestimate the potential savings.

Normally I'd agree. If the boiler works, don't touch it. However installation of new gas boilers that don't run on 65% renewables will be banned in Germany starting 2024, so we want to take the opportunity to do it now.

jcuurthht

diystarter7 said:

Hello
You are not alone, it happens to many. The good news is most will get over.
The house we live in, I was not happy now love it mainly because of the area and what we have done to it.

As others said, prioritise the must do bits.
Then take a breather as every day you will have new ideas.
It is best to do the major/dirty work first, EG floor levels, wiring (best to get new all round in older places), and heating. However, esnure the property is
watertight and check, double check for woodworm/damp etc.

So, get the urgents done - take a breather - make your bedroom and living room as comfy as yyou can so you can relax without spending money if possible  then plan ahead and get quotes etc for a better idea and then sleep on those and plan


FYI -  I/we made changes big changes but if we had gone further it would have been better - but as we worked and had less time etc, now regret that but happy but would have been happier.
So do the urgents, rest, think, think again then move ahead as mentioned above.

You have moved away from parents as you wanted, got the horses sorted the rest will come in time.

Yes I think the rest part is very important. Enjoying a week or weekend away from the stress will be important.

Apodemus

What country is this property in?  Something very strange if these sockets are in the UK...even if the wiring was from the 50's.

...and these fuses (?) at the circuit board...what on earth are they?

jcuurthht

Apodemus said:

What country is this property in?  Something very strange if these sockets are in the UK...even if the wiring was from the 50's.

...and these fuses (?) at the circuit board...what on earth are they?

It's in Germany, but I'm British so I regularly post on English speaking forums.

https://www.thespruce.com/home-fuse-box-how-they-work-1824667

liberty_lily

Lots of people find their new (to them) houses overwhelming so don't beat yourselves up over it @jcuurthht 😉

I'm speaking as someone who's done about seven (mainly DIY) renovation projects, including Tudor, Georgian and Victorian houses - a few of which were fairly major and friends advised they'd be booking into a hotel for the duration and getting the builders in, lol, whereas we lived on site throughout, primarily due to lack of funds to employ the pros! We had to learn on the job.

But even I was overwhelmed by our most recent purchase back in 2018. It was a non-listed, 400 year old, poorly bodged repossession. Despite being smaller than each of our previous five houses and in theory requiring less work, I spent the first few weeks crying myself to sleep over what we'd done in buying it. In the first week we seriously considered putting it into auction. 

Almost five years on and we've completely reconfigured the layout (involving lots of wall repositioning, steels and relocating the kitchen) and finally it feels like home!

Tbh, although most would consider the building characterful, this didn't extend to the inside and whilst it will never be my favourite of all the houses we've owned, I love what we've done - a mix of adding period appropriate features and putting our own eclectic stamp on the place. 

I'm so pleased we decided to persevere....not least because it's now worth well in excess of twice the price we paid 😁

Looking at your pics I'd definitely not be fazed by the prospect but see it as a challenge and opportunity to create your dream home - particularly if it's enabling your wife to have her horses on site!

We started with almost zero DIY skills and are now proficient at many aspects of renovating. Good luck!

Apodemus

jcuurthht said:

Apodemus said:

What country is this property in?  Something very strange if these sockets are in the UK...even if the wiring was from the 50's.

...and these fuses (?) at the circuit board...what on earth are they?

It's in Germany, but I'm British so I regularly post on English speaking forums.

https://www.thespruce.com/home-fuse-box-how-they-work-1824667

Thanks!  My Googling was narrowing you down to Germany!

Interesting looking property!  Enjoy!

kdotdotdotdot

Buying a new house is one of the most stressful things you can do in life, so it's no surprise that you're feeling overwhelmed right now.

If you can stay where you are and get works done on the house while it's empty, then that's great.  If not, most of this (apart from rewiring) can be easily done while you're in situ.  The difficult part for you will be getting the trades to start work - I'd say it's unlikely you'll get anyone this side of Christmas.  

There's nothing in that list that says you have to sell it again, so breathe, make a list of the most urgent jobs and start ringing around to get quotes.  Focus on the future and what a lovely home you'll eventually have.  

jcuurthht

kdotdotdotdot said:

Buying a new house is one of the most stressful things you can do in life, so it's no surprise that you're feeling overwhelmed right now.

If you can stay where you are and get works done on the house while it's empty, then that's great.  If not, most of this (apart from rewiring) can be easily done while you're in situ.  The difficult part for you will be getting the trades to start work - I'd say it's unlikely you'll get anyone this side of Christmas.  

There's nothing in that list that says you have to sell it again, so breathe, make a list of the most urgent jobs and start ringing around to get quotes.  Focus on the future and what a lovely home you'll eventually have.  

Yes we are living with my wife's parents who are also helping us with the renovation work. We only pay 200 € rent, so our situation currently is ideal. We live 45 minutes from the house so currently only visiting on weekends. Your suggestion on focussing on the future is powerful. The surrounding land is really spacious and lovely with lots of potential.

andre_xs

First of all, I would also relax and calm down. There must have been something you liked about the house in the first place, and if it's only its surroundings. Focus on that again. I would consider selling again only if you truly don't like it (e.g. it turned out that there's a train track which you missed and the noise drives you crazy), but not because of the potential need for renovations.

You said you will lose a lot of money when selling now again. For your mindset: How much would you get done if you spend this money which you would lose instead on the renovation work (i.e., getting people actually doing the work for you)

Just a little word of 'warning': If you do it yourself (maybe with the in-laws) and only on weekends, there's a certain danger that the progress is a bit too slow and you get worn out after weeks spending every weekend in the house. Everyone is different, so you may not mind and instead may enjoy working in the house, just something to watch out for.

There are two solutions: Either move in, and do the rest while you are in. Or you take breaks from the house. From personal experience, if you have the money, I would recommend to not take too long to get it all done, it can get annoying after some time...

Funny enough, I'm a German who bought a house in the UK roughly 6 years ago. A house which was in heavy need of (non-serious) renovation, so I feel a little like the mirror image of you We had 6 weeks between getting the keys and when we *had to* move in. So I took as much off work as possible, invited family and friends, and we tried to get as much done as we could in one big effort. And then we moved in, with some parts not finished at all, very provisional solutions, etc. And then did it step by step. We personally don't regret it, because here (Greater London area) houses prices are still soaring up and we couldn't afford a house today.

Regarding boiler: That's what they told us too, but ours is still going strong after 6 years. I've looked it up, with our usage, a new boiler wouldn't save very much per year. And if you are short of money, it's easier to spend a little more per year than one big lump sum in one go.

Regarding re-wiring: Our solution was to get a new fuse box. Leave the wires in the walls etc (when it's from the 1950s, they may be perfectly fine), but replace faulty outlets and get a modern fuse box with RCD and alike.

jcuurthht

andre_xs said:

First of all, I would also relax and calm down. There must have been something you liked about the house in the first place, and if it's only its surroundings. Focus on that again. I would consider selling again only if you truly don't like it (e.g. it turned out that there's a train track which you missed and the noise drives you crazy), but not because of the potential need for renovations.

You said you will lose a lot of money when selling now again. For your mindset: How much would you get done if you spend this money which you would lose instead on the renovation work (i.e., getting people actually doing the work for you)

Just a little word of 'warning': If you do it yourself (maybe with the in-laws) and only on weekends, there's a certain danger that the progress is a bit too slow and you get worn out after weeks spending every weekend in the house. Everyone is different, so you may not mind and instead may enjoy working in the house, just something to watch out for.

There are two solutions: Either move in, and do the rest while you are in. Or you take breaks from the house. From personal experience, if you have the money, I would recommend to not take too long to get it all done, it can get annoying after some time...

Funny enough, I'm a German who bought a house in the UK roughly 6 years ago. A house which was in heavy need of (non-serious) renovation, so I feel a little like the mirror image of you We had 6 weeks between getting the keys and when we *had to* move in. So I took as much off work as possible, invited family and friends, and we tried to get as much done as we could in one big effort. And then we moved in, with some parts not finished at all, very provisional solutions, etc. And then did it step by step. We personally don't regret it, because here (Greater London area) houses prices are still soaring up and we couldn't afford a house today.

Regarding boiler: That's what they told us too, but ours is still going strong after 6 years. I've looked it up, with our usage, a new boiler wouldn't save very much per year. And if you are short of money, it's easier to spend a little more per year than one big lump sum in one go.

Regarding re-wiring: Our solution was to get a new fuse box. Leave the wires in the walls etc (when it's from the 1950s, they may be perfectly fine), but replace faulty outlets and get a modern fuse box with RCD and alike.

The Notar & Grundsteuer costs were 20k. No estate agent fees for us, but that would be 5% if we sold using an estate agent. Given the rising interest rates in Germany and the cooling property market, I'm sure it would sell for less. Especially if the buyers were shrewd and realized we mistakenly bought and want to sell it asap.

But there is some cool stuff about the property. It's a fehnhaus, so half of it is stable/farm storage. There are also buildings that can be used for the horses. There is 15,000 sqm of land. 3000 of that is around the house, so plenty of nice garden.

First thing is get some electricians round to quote the job and hope we can find someone to actually do it.

In Germany, from 2024 new gas boilers need to work with 65% renewable energy, so we are keen to take the opportunity to install a new one before then.