Home renovation: What do we pay attention to, before buying the house??
In recent years, the purchase of an old house is a very common phenomenon in Greek real estate market. Many people buy an old property (apartment, maisonette, detached house, etc.) in order to renovate it internally according to their needs and aesthetics, while avoiding the additional costs that would come across by added value if they bought it fully renovated.
However, many times, this pleasant moment when we have bought a property and start its renovation can lead to unpleasant surprises that are either reversible or irreversible, but require extra time and money from the owner.
So what do we have to look out for before buying an apartment that needs renovation?
- Check for arbitrary construction
Although the transfer of a property on its own (according to Greek Law 4187/17) provides us with a legal property, we must definitely have our own engineer before buying it, who will examine its legality FOR US. This is because many times there are omissions in the arbitrariness that after the notarial deed are irreversible.
- Check the house layout
Before buying we have already decided what kind of property we want to buy. With 2 rooms or 3 rooms and if it is possible to expand. Is it possible to increase the space of the bathroom / kitchen / living room? Here are some questions related to the next check.
- Assessment of the structural resistance of the house due to layout changes of the house
In an ideal scenario, we recommend a detailed structural check of the whole building. However, this is almost impossible since we do not know what changes have been made to other properties of the building where we cannot have access.
So, according to the layout changes of the masonry walls that we want to make, we have to see if our property is affected (e.g. with the demolition of a wall bearing static loads) and a civil engineer to assess the new situation.
Besides, this will largely determine the type of license required by the Town Planning Office for the renovation.
- Assessment of technical issues concerning the renovation and its extent
Briefly:
- Status and elevator access for transport of collection and trash materials
- Heating system that we want to implement (e.g. access for natural gas, possibility of underfloor heating, etc.)
- External Thermal Insulation (if we have access to all external walls)
- Electricity, water, TV and Internet infrastructure and the extent we can intervene in these
- Soundproofing with adjacent properties
- Possible wall and ceiling moisture due to external factors
- Bath drainage (in case of transferring the basin or installing a built-in one etc.)
5. Pre-costing and duration of renovation
It is good to have a relatively realistic picture of the cost of renovation (with a margin of tolerance in relation to the materials we choose to apply) and a schedule of work.
In the context of buying and home renovating, we can provide you with all the services required to make the experience unique for you without stress and unexpected situations!