Should one buy an old house and renovate everything or build a new house?
Yeah, it could be like that, compared to estwing's house it also sounds like a lot. We haven't looked at it at all since we bought a demolition house :eek: that has been renovated; it was more important to stop the water from running in through the foundation and roof than to deal with the heatingGladh said:
There's a lot you can do here in the future if you want, like adding insulation to the attic for example, and some window replacements might be more profitable than I realized
hello everyone,,,
I have a small question for you, and especially Havsutkikt and gladh.
you who have such large houses, 230 sqm and 180 sqm,, what was the reason for choosing such large houses,, I assume you don't have that many children,,
I live in an apartment of 66 sqm now, 2 rooms and kitchen ,,, it actually sufficed, if I would triple my apartment to 180 sqm, there would be lots of extra rooms and unused spaces,,, sure it's fun to have large spaces, everyone thinks so, ehhehe,, but shouldn't you have just enough for the family so the house doesn't become too big,
havsutkikt who built the house 230 sqm recently, you didn't happen to get a lot of free sqm thrown in, ehhehe or some super discount???, because increased sqm means increased cost to build the house, and to maintain it later too??... what was your reasoning??? I am thinking about big or small house, price, etc,, good to get some advice from someone who has built, ehehe
regards
I have a small question for you, and especially Havsutkikt and gladh.
you who have such large houses, 230 sqm and 180 sqm,, what was the reason for choosing such large houses,, I assume you don't have that many children,,
I live in an apartment of 66 sqm now, 2 rooms and kitchen ,,, it actually sufficed, if I would triple my apartment to 180 sqm, there would be lots of extra rooms and unused spaces,,, sure it's fun to have large spaces, everyone thinks so, ehhehe,, but shouldn't you have just enough for the family so the house doesn't become too big,
havsutkikt who built the house 230 sqm recently, you didn't happen to get a lot of free sqm thrown in, ehhehe
or some super discount???, because increased sqm means increased cost to build the house, and to maintain it later too??... what was your reasoning??? I am thinking about big or small house, price, etc,, good to get some advice from someone who has built, eheheregards
dvd1234 said:hello everyone,,,
I have a little question for you, and especially Havsutkikt and gladh.
you who have such large houses, 230 sqm and 180 sqm, what was the reason for choosing such big houses, I assume you don't have many children,
I live in an apartment of 66 sqm now, 2 rooms and a kitchen, it actually sufficed, if I were to triple my apartment to 180 sqm, there would be lots of rooms left over, and unused spaces, sure, it's fun to have big areas, everyone thinks that, ehehehe, but shouldn't one have just enough for the family so the house doesn't become too big,
havsutkikt who built the house of 230 sqm recently, surely you didn't get a bunch of free sqm included, ehhehe
best regards
This thing about building big while building has been discussed in a number of other threads. The conclusion was essentially two camps where I and several others didn't see it as strange and it was quality of life and comfort that we paid relatively little for. The other side strictly went for a house as efficient and cheap as possible to run. We are five in the family and often have many guests, a large house suits us according to how we want to live. Being able to have 25 people for dinner seated without rearranging the whole house is something we need, others do not.
I bought my house almost three years ago and have basically redone everything on the ground floor. Therefore, I can share some advice and how I reasoned. Note that I knew nothing about renovation when I started, a beginner but somewhat handy and thorough. I bought a house for 765,000, new roof from 2004, good and dry basement, good location, new front door, and some new triple-glazed windows. In other words, a good house.
The heating system was oil, so I got a cheap pellet burner that I connected to the boiler, which saves money needed for the renovation. I took out a loan of 60,000 from the bank for a new kitchen but paid off the car's remaining debt, as I'm renovating entirely by myself and learning along the way, it was more economical and now I freed up an extra 2,000 per month (I'm likely spending around 4-5,000 per month).
What you don't know, you quickly learn here on the forum, the first thing was plumbing. I replaced all the radiators from a single-pipe system to a two-pipe one, the old pipes were on the floors, but now the pipes hang in the basement ceiling and come up by the radiators (I insulated them too, of course). I simply started in one corner and learned as I went, (of course, I calculated the necessary effect for both radiators and pipe dimensions), all with info here on the forum, thanks everyone… Now the heating was cheaper, and I could put more of my saved money into the rest, bought materials when I found them cheap and took my time, tore down a wall and put up a new one. Drywalled where it's uneven and paid attention to spackling, gypsum corners, and painter's tape under the painting. Drywalled a creaky floor because I didn't have joists to fasten the creaky floorboards. Rebuilt a staircase with oak parquet (extended the steps a bit too).
Now the kitchen is almost done, the old one was worn and small, it went out and the kitchen became a TV room, then I turned the old living room into a larger kitchen. It turned out great but required some plumbing and the like. I have replaced all the linoleum with walnut parquet and lowered the ceiling with spotlights. (The house is by the way 1/2 plan over 108 square meters).
Anyway, it was a lot of work, but I took my time and above all, was very meticulous, in total everything has cost around 120,000 (including appliances fridge+freezer 16,000, oven 5,000, microwave 4,500, hob 10,000, fan 7,500, 4cm*8m walnut countertop 16,000) and I need about 20,000 more but the whole thing is nicer than newly built normally equipped houses. The countertops, 2 pieces at 60cm*4m, I had a joinery order and cut/glue into one 70cm*4 as well as the rest glued together into a kitchen island about 1*2m, that job only cost 1,000 bucks, compare with the same at, for example, Kvik (30-40,000?).
My advice is to take your time, make sure to have a house with a dry basement/attic, good roof and exterior, then the imagination comes in and does the fun, the rest you learn (you have no choice ;-))… 😊
Good luck/Matz
The heating system was oil, so I got a cheap pellet burner that I connected to the boiler, which saves money needed for the renovation. I took out a loan of 60,000 from the bank for a new kitchen but paid off the car's remaining debt, as I'm renovating entirely by myself and learning along the way, it was more economical and now I freed up an extra 2,000 per month (I'm likely spending around 4-5,000 per month).
What you don't know, you quickly learn here on the forum, the first thing was plumbing. I replaced all the radiators from a single-pipe system to a two-pipe one, the old pipes were on the floors, but now the pipes hang in the basement ceiling and come up by the radiators (I insulated them too, of course). I simply started in one corner and learned as I went, (of course, I calculated the necessary effect for both radiators and pipe dimensions), all with info here on the forum, thanks everyone… Now the heating was cheaper, and I could put more of my saved money into the rest, bought materials when I found them cheap and took my time, tore down a wall and put up a new one. Drywalled where it's uneven and paid attention to spackling, gypsum corners, and painter's tape under the painting. Drywalled a creaky floor because I didn't have joists to fasten the creaky floorboards. Rebuilt a staircase with oak parquet (extended the steps a bit too).
Now the kitchen is almost done, the old one was worn and small, it went out and the kitchen became a TV room, then I turned the old living room into a larger kitchen. It turned out great but required some plumbing and the like. I have replaced all the linoleum with walnut parquet and lowered the ceiling with spotlights. (The house is by the way 1/2 plan over 108 square meters).
Anyway, it was a lot of work, but I took my time and above all, was very meticulous, in total everything has cost around 120,000 (including appliances fridge+freezer 16,000, oven 5,000, microwave 4,500, hob 10,000, fan 7,500, 4cm*8m walnut countertop 16,000) and I need about 20,000 more but the whole thing is nicer than newly built normally equipped houses. The countertops, 2 pieces at 60cm*4m, I had a joinery order and cut/glue into one 70cm*4 as well as the rest glued together into a kitchen island about 1*2m, that job only cost 1,000 bucks, compare with the same at, for example, Kvik (30-40,000?).
My advice is to take your time, make sure to have a house with a dry basement/attic, good roof and exterior, then the imagination comes in and does the fun, the rest you learn (you have no choice ;-))… 😊
Good luck/Matz
Thank you, matzen. Feels good to know that it's possible if you want it.
Hellodvd1234 said:hi everyone,,,
I have a small question for you, especially Havsutkikt and gladh.
you who have such big houses, 230 sqm and 180 sqm, what was the reason for choosing such large houses, I assume you don't have that many children,,
I live in an apartment 66 sqm now, 2 rooms and a kitchen, it actually suffices, if I were to triple my apartment to 180 sqm, then there would be lots of extra rooms and unused areas,,, we all like having large spaces, right, ehhehe,, but shouldn't we aim for just what's enough for the family so the house doesn't become too large,
havsutkikt who recently built the 230 sqm house, you didn't get a bunch of free sqm included ehhehe
regards
regarding space, I reason like this. My sister has a single-story house at 125 square meters. Comparing with mine at 108 square meters, I have to say I prefer having a slightly more private upper floor with bedrooms and such. It's good to be able to retreat for some peace and quiet sometimes, especially when you have visitors.
Also consider buying a house with a basement, here you get many free square meters for storage and laundry, tools, carpentry, home cinema, or whatever it might be. Here you also have the heating system so you understand that I have more living space than my sister with her 125 square meters where about 15 are used for the laundry room and 10 for the boiler room.
The price is calculated partly on the area when buying a house, but what I see in price images, the price is not increased that much if the house has a basement. A basement for me, however, is invaluable. But if it feels damp and smells strange (basement smell) you should be a bit cautious.
My house is now valued at about 1.1 million and I have around 800,000 in loans, the top loan will be gone in about 4 years and then I'll live super cheap and with some luxury, already now I'm living cheaper than in my previous 3-room of 75 square meters. That I increased the repayment by 1000 bucks on the top loan made me earn just over 30,000 against the old 15-year plan.
Heating costs me about 10,000 per year so I'm satisfied. An advantage of my 1/2-story house is also that my attic is only about 24 square meters, not much heat loss to the crows therefore and cheap to insulate additionally which is my current project.
I had the same problem as dvd1234 and was looking for a house in the Gothenburg area. Since I really wanted everything nice, it would cost more to renovate than to build new. The rundown houses were not THAT much cheaper that I THINK it would pay off. What mostly determines is if you can find a plot to build on that is attractive enough and doesn't cost more than you can manage. The advantage of renovating is that you can take the costs bit by bit as someone said, but it also takes an incredibly long time and is a huge job. I gave up and it will simply have to be a new build; if you want, you can also do quite a bit yourself there.
hello everyone again,,
I wonder something... a new build costs about 2.5 million, nothing specific now, just an approximate price as I've perceived it,, but I have heard that if you buy a used house and want one that's a bit good, it costs about 1.7 - 1.8 million,, and then you should renovate for about 300,000 roughly,, then we reach 2 million now,, so a used house that ultimately ends up around 2 million, and a new build for about 2.5 million, how do you reason, which is more valuable than the other,,,
and that used houses that are around 1.2 million which I usually see in ads, you will probably have to renovate quite a bit, a lot if so,,
is my view correct??
no specific houses or city now, just a general perception,,,
what do you think+???., do I have the right view??
I wonder something... a new build costs about 2.5 million, nothing specific now, just an approximate price as I've perceived it,, but I have heard that if you buy a used house and want one that's a bit good, it costs about 1.7 - 1.8 million,, and then you should renovate for about 300,000 roughly,, then we reach 2 million now,, so a used house that ultimately ends up around 2 million, and a new build for about 2.5 million, how do you reason, which is more valuable than the other,,,
and that used houses that are around 1.2 million which I usually see in ads, you will probably have to renovate quite a bit, a lot if so,,
is my view correct??
no specific houses or city now, just a general perception,,,
what do you think+???., do I have the right view??
It depends on what one values and how, for example, you view older construction techniques (and architecture) compared to modern ones. Personally, I willingly pay more for a (properly) renovated house from the early 1900s than a modern house because I believe everything from materials to craftsmanship was better back then (not in all houses, but in most). The things that were less good I have replaced. If I were to build my house today with the same materials (timber, 6 cm thick and 30 cm wide wooden floors, etc.) and with the same craftsmanship, it would cost 3-4 times more than a modern house of the same size. But some prefer modern houses, which I fully respect. Even I could consider living in a new build, though not just any. What I don’t want to live in, however, is an old house that has been incorrectly renovated, meaning one that has been made to resemble a modern house inside & out and where much of the old materials have been replaced with modern ones. Then the point of living in an old house is lost.dvd1234 said:
In this area, a new house is currently being built, windows and everything are in place in most spots... But there is no roof with all this snow. It can't be particularly successful to have snow everywhere in a new wooden construction so... No tarps over the open roof or anything. Lucky it's not oneself building.
dvd1234 said:
What is economically worthwhile depends on the location. In metropolitan areas where house prices are high, it pays to build new, in depopulated areas where used houses are significantly cheaper than new ones, it's worth buying a used one regardless of condition.
But then you also have to find a plot in a location where you want to live, if that's not possible, a used house is what you have to go with regardless of the economy as such.