Converting a 2 bed into a 3 bed?????

Dawnyann34

Hi,

I'm new here and this is my first post so forgive me if it's in the wrong place .

We have just brought a 2 bed victorian house which although is not a terrace (its just a 2 bed semi) it is the same layout as one. It has a massive main bedroom on the front and a good size 2nd bedroom and a ridiculously huge bathroom that I can only think WAS originally a third bedroom. It has a good size dining room which joins onto a good size square kitchen, plus it also has a cellar and 4 outbuildings (all backing onto each other joining the outside wall of the kitchen).

My question is this, we would really like to get 3 bedrooms out of this property so that we don't have to move in the foreseeable future as we plan on having another baby. Does anyone know if we would be reducing the value by putting the bathroom downstairs (by knocking all the outbuildings into one with a door leading from the kitchen to the new downstairs bathroom) and making the large upstairs bathroom into a 3rd bedroom? We would have enough room to keep a seperate toilet upstairs, which I think would soften the fact that the main bathroom was downstairs with any potential buyer?

The only other option would be to covert the loft, but from what i gather that would be well out of our price range (even though we definatley have the room for a proper staircase etc without encrouching on any of the bedrooms upstairs) .....

Any advice would be grateful

Ta

Dawnyann:D:D

House_Hunter

Sounds fairly similar to mine in some respects; large bathroom etc...

Several houses I have seen have split the bathroom in 2, making a small box bedroom at the end and then a small bathroom...

Persoanlly I don't like that option, as I think big "family" sized bathrooms and don't like small useless bedrooms. I am also persoanlly put off downstairs bathrooms and much prefer upstairs one's....

We did discount a few houses based on the fact the bathroom was downstairs.

Having said that, it is fairly common to put the bathroom downstairs on victorian houses....

melody83

If this is goint to be your long term house, I think the best thing you could do is wait/save and spend the money on a loft conversion later on... you could also use the outhouses (if you could afford it in the future) to extend the kitchen into. You would end up with the ideal family home. 3 large bedrooms, a large family bathroom and kitchen. I also discounted Victorian houses before buying mine because of downstairs bathrooms. Putting the bathroom downstairs would cost quite a lot of money anyway so may as well save a bit more and do the loft?

sugarwalsh

Hi - I personally wouldn't move the bathroom downstairs. I have 4 kids and it would put me off completely, even with a loo upstairs.

Is there scope to move the internal walls around? Or save and put a room in the loft, kids love loft rooms, as do adults who want to escape the craziness below!!!

Our house has 3 large bedrooms and we comprimised with a smaller, but lovely and functional bathroom to get the double rooms. Trust me, with kids around you don't get too much time for luxurious soaks!!

Try befriending people on the street and go for a nosey, or look at other houses on rightmove to get a good idea about what may work.
Good luck.
Mx

phill99

There is a phrase: 'homes are for nesting, not investing'. You need to make a decision based on what is needed for you and your family, not for your Bank manager.

I live in an area of terreced houses. All have had three bedrooms at some stage, with the bathroom downstairs. Over the years some people have opted for 2 bedrooms and have moved the bathroom upstairs into the smallest bedroom, thus giving you a decent sized bathroom but at the expense of the third bedroom.

This suits some people but some others prefer the third bedroom and are happy to have the bathorom downstairs.

A bathroom downstairs has some benefits - its easily (and safely) accessible to young children and if you have a leak/flood, then it you don't get residual damage to the room below. But it doesn't suit everybody. In this area, where it is very common, it doesn't make any difference to saleability.

Are there other options? Could you turn your front room into 2 smaller rooms? or could you put an ensuite upstairs in the main bedroom while putting a second shower/bathroom downstairs and turning the current bathroom into a bedroom? Could you perhaps have just a WC upstairs (pinched out of the bathroom) while turning the remainder of the bathroom over to a third bedroom.

If this is a house that you can see yourselves in for a decent amount of time, then do what is right for you and your family. Don't worry about the value. 'Nest, not invest'.

Dawnyann34

melody83 wrote: »

If this is goint to be your long term house, I think the best thing you could do is wait/save and spend the money on a loft conversion later on... you could also use the outhouses (if you could afford it in the future) to extend the kitchen into. You would end up with the ideal family home. 3 large bedrooms, a large family bathroom and kitchen.

That would be my perfect choice. My father in law is a builder so it would help with costs of converting the loft. Ideally I would like to turn all the outbuildings into one sun room (if thats wot you call it? i'm not sure):o.

And when I do start poo'ing money I can have the cellar done out as a playroom for all these kids im supposed to be having lol

Thanks for all your input, it's nice to sound people out to see who would buy a property with a downstairs bathroom etc.

goggle

Sounds like my mates house!
Can you divide the massive front bedroom into 2 rooms?
I would def not put the bathroom downstairs - it will alienate over 1/2 of your buyers in future - though of course you do need to make it your home first of all ...

Dawnyann34

phill99 wrote: »

There is a phrase: 'homes are for nesting, not investing'. You need to make a decision based on what is needed for you and your family, not for your Bank manager.

I live in an area of terreced houses. All have had three bedrooms at some stage, with the bathroom downstairs. Over the years some people have opted for 2 bedrooms and have moved the bathroom upstairs into the smallest bedroom, thus giving you a decent sized bathroom but at the expense of the third bedroom.

This suits some people but some others prefer the third bedroom and are happy to have the bathorom downstairs.

A bathroom downstairs has some benefits - its easily (and safely) accessible to young children and if you have a leak/flood, then it you don't get residual damage to the room below. But it doesn't suit everybody. In this area, where it is very common, it doesn't make any difference to saleability.

Are there other options? Could you turn your front room into 2 smaller rooms? or could you put an ensuite upstairs in the main bedroom while putting a second shower/bathroom downstairs and turning the current bathroom into a bedroom? Could you perhaps have just a WC upstairs (pinched out of the bathroom) while turning the remainder of the bathroom over to a third bedroom.

If this is a house that you can see yourselves in for a decent amount of time, then do what is right for you and your family. Don't worry about the value. 'Nest, not invest'.

Thanks matey,

I don't think the main bedroom is quite big enough to make into 2 bedrooms as they'd be too small. If I went with my idea then we COULD have a WC upstairs (pinched out of the bedroom) as you say. I'm just not too sure if I do want my main bathroom downstairs myself.

We're due to complete & move in, in the next 2 weeks and people have said that we may want to live in it for a few months before making any desicions like this, as we don't know what we want from the property until we've lived in it if that makes sense?

sugarwalsh

Good advice - I change my mind every 5 minutes about what I will do to our house....

Mx

phill99

Trust me, you get used to having a bathroom downstairs. Remember to do what is right for you, not what other people think.

Dawnyann34

sugarwalsh wrote: »

Good advice - I change my mind every 5 minutes about what I will do to our house....

Mx

I know, i'm terrible for it too I think mine is a gemini thing though. I can never make up my mind on anything.

We have only got £13k to do most of the basic work like re-wiring, central heating, kitchen etc (thank god my father in law is a builder) so this loft conversion seems years & years away.:eek: