There is a house I walk by occasionally that I absolutely love. It’s old and run down but definitely art deco in a modest kind of way, with round balconies and a gold brick doorway. As a joke, I keep telling people this is my future house.
I say as a joke because I am a broke millennial. I have accepted my fate of never moving past paying rent for a place to live and spending the remainder of my minimalist income on avocado toast and oat milk lattes.
But recently, I saw a “For Sale” sign in front of the house and this is probably my only chance to ever see its art deco interior, if any is left, before it’s all turned into a modern and soulless place.
I have called the seller and I overheard its asking price when they referred to it as the “1.1 million euro house”. They asked twice if that was indeed the one I wanted to visit.
The visit date will be set next week.
Now, how do I sound like I’m the kind of person who doesn’t flinch at the idea of spending a million euros on a house? What questions do I ask? What might they ask me in return? What are things I shouldn’t say?
Some extra information:
- This is in Brussels, Belgium
- A permit was requested to split the house into 5 apartments (2 floors could be built above the existing 3)
- It was originally built as a single family home
Edit: this is the house
UPDATE
I got a phone call last Monday about the house. They offered a visit that very day. So I quickly got ready. I tried to make myself look legit (thanks @boogetyboo@aussie.zone and @ultranaut@lemmy.world for the advice) by downloading the permit info, printing it and putting it inside a notebook. It was new and blank, so to make it look used, I added a few papers and paperclips sticking out and a big binder clip holding it open at a random page, where I took some notes: permit number, number of rooms, asking price.
I then met with the real estate guy, I felt apprehensive but excited. I greeted him and he asked if I was more interested in the single home or the apartment project. I said it would be apartments but I was open-minded about the single home. I told him the funds were coming from a relative. I asked if I could take photos for them. And then we started the tour.
A big round staircase is the first thing I saw. Beautiful parquet with exotic wood. Round panels bringing light in here and there. One room still had big yellow flower wallpaper.
My first thought was that the place was much bigger than it looked.
The basement was very damp and moldy in some places. The electrical system was very outdated.
The gound floor still had a wooden built-in cabinet.
I saw a succession of big rooms, rounded edges, big windows. Lots of light.
Next floor still had a bathroom with red tiles, a bidet and very old fixtures. A rusty balcony with windows rounded at the corners.
I asked a little about the house. It was built in 1926, belonged to a doctor.
The plaster was falling off the walls, which were cracked in places. The house seems to have been unused for decades.
The real estate guy told me he estimated the repairs to be probably around another million euros.
Next floor was much of the same, it had a very cool cast iron fireplace with rounded shelves. We walked on a pretty sizeable terrace and looked down at the garden. There was the nicest little staircase curving down to the (overgrown) garden that was just way too damaged to be saved. It was heartbreaking to see everything so broken and rusted. (I don’t have photos of it, my bad.)
There was an old minuscule kitchen in a corner. It had sideways cabinets to save space.
I asked about several things (thanks @eezeebee@lemmy.ca and @JaY_III@lemmy.ca for the suggestions), whether there was a humidity problem, whether the cracks were structural, whether the garage got flooded, whether that was asbestos around the basement pipes, and each time the real estate guy said “Hm, I don’t know”. Like thanks but you’re not helping me in my decision.
At one point the guy said I could make a lower offer - like a million - if I wanted it as a single home.
Outside I said we’d keep in touch. I don’t know how passable I was, but he did ask me if I was an architect, so maybe I had some credibility?
So then I went home. I was happy that I finally got to see the house and that it still had stuff inside, but very sad that it is in the shape it is and that I can’t save it.
The easiest approach would likely be “scouting” on behalf of an associate, perhaps they couldn’t make it and sent you. Take lots of pictures for your associate, and you’re not personally involved with the purchase makes it easier to handwave questions.
If you insist on pretending to be rich keep discussion light, talk about potential renovations, take pictures to send to your designer. Ask about the history of the home, dig for unique characteristics. Inquire about the area and what kind of “crowds” to expect. Don’t dress too fancy, don’t pull up in a 09 civic (park around the block and walk), and if they ask, you made a small fortune trading crypto.
Removed by mod
Thanks, I ended up going with “wealthy overseas relative who I have to report to”
Holy shit OP DELIEVERED. Fantastic stuff, thanks for sharing! Glad you got your opportunity to check it out.
Just say you recently came into some inheritance and that you are looking into investment opportunities. Then they will expect you to be out of your element, so you won’t need to try to pretend you’re someone you’re not. If they ask about the inheritance, say your grandfather made a fortune selling lumber or something boring like that.
This is roughly what I went with. I also kept it vague
I’m from California so my wealth meter is broken beyond all reason. Is 1.1 million euros really considered “rich?” Everybody’s making jokes about wearing a monocle or not asking questions about flooding and I’m sitting here thinking about the house on my street that sold for about that much recently…and is a tear-down. 😭
Edit: actually wait, it was more like twice that much… it was like $2.3 mil and there’s no way they do any less than strip it to the framing.
yeah. That kind of money is top 5% of homes in most of Europe outside very wealthy areas and districts like Zurich. In the UK the average house price is about £300k ($400k)
Yeah dude. I’m in Boston. It isn’t San Fran levels yet but if you want a lot (with a rotting house on it) that will be a nice $2mil and then you can enjoy removing the rotted house.
Vancouver BC is home of the broken wealth meter. There was a flash game where you guessed which house was listed over a million dollars.
There’s a guy on the internet who does videos comparing Vancouver real estate with literal European castles of a similar price. “Not livable” money in Vancouver can get you “has gardens and outbuildings with servant’s quarters” in some parts of Europe.
We sold a townhouse in the lower mainland and bought a house on an acre+ in middle BC with some money left over.
Vancouver is ridiculous.
Same, and also with experience in the construction business, so my first thought was that 220k per door for apartments is quite reasonable. I wouldn’t fret about it at all, because in the grand scheme of things this is chump change. Just say you’re getting into real estate investing with a business partner.
A quick search tell me that in Belgium the minimal wage is 2000€ sauce before tax.
So yes one million is above a lifetime of work for many persons, definitely rich
Edit formatting
Some wealthy people don’t give a shit whether you believe they have wealth. You don’t need to prove anything to anyone until and unless you make an offer. Ask questions, and don’t answer questions. Give vague, short responses and neglect to elaborate.
It also doesn’t matter how you dress or the car you drive. The wealthiest person I’ve ever met dressed in sweat pants or jeans 99% of the time and drove like a 5 year old standard suv most of the time.
I only found out he was rich when I was talking to another employee at the mall where I worked that this guy would regularly come into the jewelry store and drop 25k on watches for friends like once or twice a month.
Once I was in the jewelry store when he and his wife were in to get her ring cleaned and my friend casually asked how much they paid for the ring and he was like idk I got diamond wholesale from a friend in the jewelry trade for 250k and paid some Private designer to design the ring and make it for them by hand.
I’m assuming open houses aren’t a thing in Belgium? In the US, it’s no big deal to walk in to an open house and just tell the agent that you live in the neighborhood, like the house and have always wanted to see the inside. They’re usually pretty chill about that.
Seems like OP had to make a viewing appointment with the showing agent
1.1M € for this ?!
Questions to ask if you feel like it:
How much does an average apartment go by in rent around this area? (This’ll create the assumption that you’ll buy it all and put all apartments to rent)
How’s the neighborhood? How noisy is it on a scale of 1-10?
Are there spaces to park multiple cars?
Ask if there’s any history of water damage or flooding - it looks like the garage would let water flow down into it. There are visible cracks near the roof. Important things to know to protect your “investment”.
Also, please do follow up. I want to know how this goes.
I don’t think a rich person who “won’t flinch at spending 1.1 million euros” would actually ask those questions, they’d just spend whatever they need on it lol
Like a 60k repair to them would be like 50$ to you or me
You make a good point. Still, I think it depends. I can see a multi-millionaire caring more about their $50 than the average person. 60k on 1.1mil is more than 5%. And when your primary goal is to gather as much wealth as possible, that matters - that’s 60k that isn’t making them more money, plus time for construction that delays making more money on the investment.
With pictures, ideally!
Just posted a update!
Thanks for letting me know. I’m glad you got to check the place out. Thanks for sharing it with us!
Thanks for the suggestions, I did ask about those. The agent had no idea but it made me sound more legit. Also, I posted an update!
Thanks for going through with it and posting the update!
You want to know rental prices for each unit. The last assessed tax rate. How the utilities are paid, ie, each unit has its own billing or if its all comon. What the building rates for utilities are that are not covered by the renters. Age of all building utility like water boiler / heat or anything like that and if they are on a maintenance contract. And as you walk around you are inspecting for what repairs need to be done. No need to look impressed by what you see, you are only looking to see if the property will be a cash generation machine or money pit.
Aka ack like a landlord
Thanks, I wrote down all your questions in my notebook. Turns out everything has to be redone so that was easy. This house is definitely a money pit. But if I had infinite money, I would totally restore it.
Show up in a ripped shirt with a mustard stain on it looking dazed and slightly disinterested, like you already visited 4-5 houses that day.
That doesn’t look like a million euro house at all…
“So, per rental unit, this is much cheaper than the average one in Canada?”
I’ve never gone house shopping in Belgium but in the US at least, you would be fine just staying vague if they ask you any personal questions as long as you keep it friendly and aren’t rude about it. If you wanted to say you have an uncle or someone like that who is thinking of investing in apartments and he wanted you to check it out for him since you live in the area, that is a totally plausible story and will provide plenty of cover for you to be yourself. In my experience in the US at least, real estate agents want to show you the properties they are selling. They don’t want you to waste their time, but if they are selling a house they generally want as many people to check it out as possible. Ideally those are people who actually want to buy it, but anyone checking out a property they have for sale is always better than no one.
Thanks for the advice, which made me less nervous to meet with the real estate person, especially because they had a visit just before me
I’m not sure about questions to ask but you should definitely wear a monocle
1.1 million sounds like a goal if you can turn this into rental units. Based on the picture heavy renovation is needed, so focus on modification and the status of the permit is the important stuff.
Thanks, I tried to focus my questions on renovation during the visit. But it was actually pretty obvious, everything has to be redone.
Those pictures are rough, imo a legit offer would be about 500k less (or more) than a comparable move in ready place.
