Should we move or improve?

Prosaic

In a bit of a predicament at the moment. Any advice would be very appreciated!

Kids start school next year. We have lived in our house now for almost 5 years and have about 100k equity in it. House needs improvements ( new kitchen etc) but have been thinking about moving to property where it's all done and hopefully a bit more living space as downstairs needs more room

Alternative is to cash in some of the profit, and use that money to design our place how we want it ( extension or conservatory etc)

Worked out that stamp duty, fees etc will cost us 12k to move, so I am thinking that 12k would be better spent staying put

We want to stay in the same area as work is nearby, and good schools, dr's etc so moving to a cheaper area is not on the cards

Our house is ex-council ( always liked it as the council build more roomy houses!) but some people have said we'll never recoup money on an ex council place

I'm stuck now whether to move or improve?

ginger_nuts

have a look around and see what other housing are selling for .
If you are happy where you are then why move .

Alan_M_2

Be careful what you spend the money on if you decide to improve.

You won't recoup all your investment on the following expenditures, however they will likely make the property more saleable.

Expensive kitchen or bathroom
Games Rooms
Garaging
Expensive conservatories.

You will recoup money by extending to provide more bedrooms, but only if sensibly done, a 4 bed house will always be worth more than a 3 even if they are similar sizes.

Of course, if you have no intention of moving then value is largely irrelevant, it's what makes you happy that's more important.

Rachman_2

Prosaic wrote:

Kids start school next year. We have lived in our house now for almost 5 years and have about 100k equity in it. House needs improvements ( new kitchen etc) but have been thinking about moving to property where it's all done and hopefully a bit more living space as downstairs needs more room

Alternative is to cash in some of the profit, and use that money to design our place how we want it ( extension or conservatory etc)

Worked out that stamp duty, fees etc will cost us 12k to move, so I am thinking that 12k would be better spent staying put

We want to stay in the same area as work is nearby, and good schools, dr's etc so moving to a cheaper area is not on the cards

Our house is ex-council ( always liked it as the council build more roomy houses!) but some people have said we'll never recoup money on an ex council place

I'm stuck now whether to move or improve?

What profit - it's more expensive to move up the ladder now than 5 years ago - in fact, unless you are getting out of the market, have you really made anything ? You have an increased asset on paper, but have you really made a profit when your house to move to is now so much more expensive and you will have to borrow so much more to move up......

However, given it's ex-council, in many cases these have gone up most in the last few years and are usually the ones to fall first and furthest if it all goes wrong (back towards usual levels) - so maybe locking profits and turning them to a non-ex-authority property's not a bad thing.

leftieM

The bottom line is - research! It's no harm to view houses to get an idea of what a good extension looks like and what your money will buy elsewhere. You may find a house you think is great or you may come to appreciate more what you have. No decision is wrong as long as you make it for the right reasons.
I was in your situation a few months back. We own an ex-council house in a really nice area that we liked. We investigated moving locally and found that we couldn't get what I considered a step up the ladder within our budget in the areas we fancied (ex council are such good value for money that to get bigger was going to cost £100k+). We kept talking about the options and priced an extension as well as keeping an eye on the property market. In the end we decided to move to a part of the city that isn't as highly regarded as the area we are in but where you got much more for your money. For us it was about getting the biggest house cheapest and that meant a move.

Prosaic

Thanks for the replies, very much appreciated

We have 3 nice size bedrooms at the moment, and all the houses we've looked at within our proce range are smaller. To go to a non-ex-council means a BIG jump in price, which frankly is beyond us, so it's either
a) Move out several miles to cheaper area
b) Move to next house up, but we would be at the top of our borrowing limit, which worries me, and have nothing left ( savings etc)
c) Improve where we currently live

Nothing against our current place, just need more living space downstairs

Rachman_2

Prosaic wrote:

Thanks for the replies, very much appreciated
c) Improve where we currently live

Nothing against our current place, just need more living space downstairs

Provided you see it as your home, rather than as somewhere to live whilst it makes money - then I don't see what's wrong with this - it's not going to add as much in percentage terms as if the same work were done to a non-council house, as it's an ex-council house and they have a lower ceiling price and some of the market won't touch them. BUT, if you are going to live there and need the space, this is probably the cost effective option - price up proper extension as well as just a conservatory (the difference may not be as much as you think - glass is very expensive.... - Durox blocks are not... - in any event, put proper heating into it so you can use it all year round and make sure the foundations are deep enough to take another storey on top if you want to build up in future as well.....