Heart says Move, Head says Extend - Help please

avenida

Ok for the past few years, on and off ive tried to move - failing miserably, and we have also considered extending, below are some points:

To get our house sold at a realistic price, there is nothing we can move to in the area that we can afford

We could move to a bigger semi but I am in a detached and dont want to do move to a semi

We can extend out the side of our house - 2 storey side extension (6x4m) we like the area we live in btw

Im worried about the work involved in extending and that we may go over budget, I have 2 young children and worried the work will be hard to cope with, Mum is worried that I will extend and still want to move

Any advice, comments would be most grateful as I am pulling my hair out here
Thanks

harrythefurrysquid

My parents extended with four children running around, and it worked out very well. They did it in two stages -- first adding a garage and kitchen extension, then adding two bedrooms on top.

A possible snag to be aware of if you're thinking long term, is that you might want to give your master bedroom an ensuite bathroom, if it hasn't already got one. When your children have grown up to be stroppy teenagers, having four people fighting over the bathroom isn't great.

avenida

harrythefurrysquid wrote: »

My parents extended with four children running around, and it worked out very well. They did it in two stages -- first adding a garage and kitchen extension, then adding two bedrooms on top.

A possible snag to be aware of if you're thinking long term, is that you might want to give your master bedroom an ensuite bathroom, if it hasn't already got one. When your children have grown up to be stroppy teenagers, having four people fighting over the bathroom isn't great.

the extension will give us 2 bathrooms upstairs which will be great in the future as I have 2 girls!

Barneysmom

Stay put and extend. Wherever you move to you'll have to do work to make it the way you like it anyway, so just build an extention.
You've just got to be hard on yourself with your budget.

avenida

Barneysmom wrote: »

Stay put and extend. Wherever you move to you'll have to do work to make it the way you like it anyway, so just build an extention.
You've just got to be hard on yourself with your budget.

Do you mean by putting in cheaper kitchen and sanitary ware etc?

sonnythecat

I vote for extend, and keep a rum & coke ready poured in your fridge at all times during the building work lol

avenida

sonnythecat wrote: »

I vote for extend, and keep a rum & coke ready poured in your fridge at all times during the building work lol

I dont drink, a big bar of chocolate instead

hope extending is the right thing 2 do

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

avenida wrote: »

hope extending is the right thing 2 do

No point worrying about that now.

You need more room. You have to either move or extend.

If you can't sell at a price that enables you to move, then extending is the only choice remaining. Therefore it's the right choice.

elsien

When you say you are worried about the work being hard to cope with, do you mean because of the responsibility of organising it, managing it and getting it how you want within budget, or do you mean the practicalities of living there while the work is done, with small children around. If it's the latter, is there the possibility of decamping to a relative (hi mum!) for some of it for a break if you need to?

Doozergirl

It's the right choice to extend because you like where you are and you have the space. When you build an extension, it's entirely possible to build the shell until it's watertight before you even consider knocking through the existing house walls into it, so you can keep dirt and dust to a minimum. You will get better value for money than buying a new house and it will be exactly as you want it. If money is tight, I wouldn't settle for cheaper fittings, I would build what I could and then wait for the shiny stuff. Your second bathroom can stay empty with the door closed until you have the cash to do it properly. No one says how much has to be done straight away.

We're looking for a new house, and even moving to a different area in the same town I am finding a struggle! I like our neighbours, I like the park nearby, I like the village post office being so close and the greenbelt on our doorstep. And I was so desperate to move from this house; but if we could extend this house, we would. But we can't, so that's that decision made!

lellow_lorry

If you can extend go for that option...look at what a property of the same as yours costs if you extended.........could you afford to move into that?? Its nearly always cheaper to stay put...remember moving costs would be about 10k for a property 250k or below and roughly 15-20k for a property in the 251-400k bracket...not including any money lost on a low offer on your property....money better spent on an extension. As for the incovenience...most of the work is on the outside until cutting through to the main property. a few months of hassle. If you are worried about going over budget....get a number of quotes from reputable builders....some will guarantee a price. Good luck