Advice please

Hello123_2

Hi we need advice...

We are looking to do up our 2 bed terraced (it's in a poor state) but are unsure what makes financial sense and what is going to make our house worth the most it possibly can as well as increase saleability when the time arises!

Before I start, I guess that our house has a ceiling height of £105k.

Current layout:
Downstairs: Front door opens into living room, kitchen/diner and dwnstairs bathroom. Also an old plastic lean-to on back of kitchen.
Upstairs: 2 double bedrooms (same size), very dangerous staircase in one bedroom which goes up into the loft - a window in there but not boarded out.

Options:
1) Leave everything as it is & just update bathroom - currently just a bath but could squeeze in a separate shower - are buyers bothered about this?

2) Half one of the double bedrooms to create an upstairs bathroom and turn the bathroom downstairs into another room (playroom, utility, office?)

3) Same as number 2 but also do a loft conversion to create another bedroom

4) Leave everything as it is, but do a loft conversion to create another bedroom with a shower room.

Suppose i'm asking what is the most viable and if people would rather have more bedrooms and a bathroom downstairs or a bath upstairs but less bedroom space??!!

We are just looking for advice at the moment. Also looking for very rough figures for what the above would cost (I know very rough!).

Looking forward to hearing your opinions, Thanks in advance

cattie

With your house being a low priced one, to be honest, I would leave it as it is but do my own viewings (which I always prefer to do anyway as I know more about the property than any ea!). Then as you show them round, point out the possibilities that you have mentioned here so viewers can see the full potential of the house. You won't make much money on doing any of the work yourselves and may well end up out of pocket.

If anybody asks why you've not bothered to make any of the alterations yourself, you just say you've not been able to afford it.

go_cat

Firstly, i would be asking what is the house worth in its current state then add how much it will cost to alter - then how much will it be worth to see if it makes financial sense

Hello123_2

We obviously have a rough idea as to what it is worth in current state (and how much it 'owes' us)..but need advice as to how much the above options costs and much potential value they can add.

Is a bathroom downstairs likely to put people off? thanks

Catblue

It is a 2 bed terrace that is never going to be worth a lot so trying to chop up double bedrooms into half the size/moving bathrooms/creating a loft conversion out of exactly the same internal space is very unlikely to be worth the time or the money.

For an optimum selling price of 105K then it simply isn't cost effective to do any major works on your house. You'd never get your money back.

It sounds like you want to just do up the house and then move. So just declutter, redecorate and put the house on the market. No need to do anything major.

If your house isn't working for you then just move to one that does. Or one that at least has the potential to work for you.

Adding a loft conversion that costs you 30K does not add 30K to the value of the house. Especially not in an area where houses have a ceiling price of 105K.

People who want a swanky loft conversion won't want to live in what is otherwise a 2 bed terrace in not a great area. Seriously, they won't.

Hello123_2

Catblue wrote: »

It is a 2 bed terrace that is never going to be worth a lot so trying to chop up double bedrooms into half the size/moving bathrooms/creating a loft conversion out of exactly the same internal space is very unlikely to be worth the time or the money.

For an optimum selling price of 105K then it simply isn't cost effective to do any major works on your house. You'd never get your money back.

It sounds like you want to just do up the house and then move. So just declutter, redecorate and put the house on the market. No need to do anything major.

If your house isn't working for you then just move to one that does. Or one that at least has the potential to work for you.

Adding a loft conversion that costs you 30K does not add 30K to the value of the house. Especially not in an area where houses have a ceiling price of 105K.

People who want a swanky loft conversion won't want to live in what is otherwise a 2 bed terrace in not a great area. Seriously, they won't.

Thanks. The area is a good area but terraced houses are now only worth £105 in the area I think. It says on Zoopla that some of my neighbours payed £125k in 2007 & 2008 but obviously I know the crash has had an effect.

May I ask you what are chances are of selling with the bathroom downstairs? And how much does this alter the house value?

I understand what you say about the loft room. We do already have a (dangerous) staircase and window up there - would it be worth just boarding it out and changing the staircase or is that not even viable? Thanks

cattie

Well I personally would never buy a house with a downstairs bathroom, but there seem to be plenty of people who don't mind. Sometimes ftb's will settle for a downstairs bathroom just to get on 'the ladder', with a view to moving on in a couple of years or so.

It's difficult to say how much value an upstairs bathroom would add, without knowing the dimensions of the room that it's eaten into.

In my area (popular London suburb) there are very few houses with bathrooms downstairs but I'd guess having one located upstairs in an average family house in street where bathrooms were commonly built downstairs, it would increase the price by about £5k. An additional downstairs cloakroom seems to add around £2.5-£3k on the value of a house.

hazyjo

If all the nearby houses have the bathroom downstairs and it's a standard layout for your street, I wouldn't bother moving it. Where I've lived before, a 3 bed Victorian house with a downstairs bathroom goes for approx the same price as a house with 2 double beds and and upstairs bathroom.

Could you maybe fit a small en-suite in one bedroom? What are the dimensions? If it means turning a double into a single bedroom, I'd leave well alone. That will knock more off than the value of having an upstairs bathroom.

A separate shower is a plus point, but wouldn't really add value. Does it not have a hand shower attached to the taps, or on the wall over the bath?

Is it really big enough for a loft conversion? Would you gain much space and would you be able to fit a shower in? I doubt you'd make the money back when selling (people given reasons above).

If you don't do a proper conversion and just board it out and change the staircase, it can still only be sold as 'boarded loft space' and won't add anything. Don't waste too much money on this. If you do a conversion, do it for you to stay in and use - don't to it to gain value. It won't.

Jx

motherofstudents

Can you do any of this work yourself ? If you have to employ builders then I don't really think it will benefit you. We have recently added a large loft extension as a dormer to a bungalow. It has created 2 extra bedrooms, study and second bathroom. Also stripped out the downstairs doing a complete refurb - rewire, replumb, new windows/doors, new kitchen and bathroom, new intenal doors, ceramic tiles and wooden floors throughout. All fully decorated and solid fuel fireplace fitted. All this was done on a budget of under £15000.

If you have to pay builders etc to do the work for you, I don't think it will be worth your while. It is worth cleaning, decluttering, maybe emulsion the walls. It is possible to get your loft boarded and install a loft ladder for a small cost so might be worth doing.

The downstairs bathroom is quite common in some places so I would probably leave it. Anyone who wants a property to do up will prefer one that has nothing done so you may appeal to that market. Otherwise, some buyers like to buy properties that are in move in condition so if you think that is likely, it may be worthwhile decorating and 'dressing' the house. Maybe you could ask your EA which is likely to be the case.

What it comes down to is how much money you can make from it, so either sell it as it is and take a low offer. Or spend some money on it and hopefully take a slightly higher offer. It is fairly likely there will not be much difference in the end so maybe not worth spending money you willl not get back.

Hello123_2

hazyjo wrote: »

If all the nearby houses have the bathroom downstairs and it's a standard layout for your street, I wouldn't bother moving it. Where I've lived before, a 3 bed Victorian house with a downstairs bathroom goes for approx the same price as a house with 2 double beds and and upstairs bathroom.

Could you maybe fit a small en-suite in one bedroom? What are the dimensions? If it means turning a double into a single bedroom, I'd leave well alone. That will knock more off than the value of having an upstairs bathroom.

A separate shower is a plus point, but wouldn't really add value. Does it not have a hand shower attached to the taps, or on the wall over the bath?

Is it really big enough for a loft conversion? Would you gain much space and would you be able to fit a shower in? I doubt you'd make the money back when selling (people given reasons above).

If you don't do a proper conversion and just board it out and change the staircase, it can still only be sold as 'boarded loft space' and won't add anything. Don't waste too much money on this. If you do a conversion, do it for you to stay in and use - don't to it to gain value. It won't.

Jx

Thanks. The loft is defo big enough for a double room & en-suite but I guess that would cost a lot! Would it appeal to buyers to have a new (safe!) staircase and at least board it out (few hundred £) so they could at least use as a storage room/see the potential should they wish to convert it - there's a window & electrics up there.

The majority of the houses in our street have upstairs bathrooms as well as 2 double bedrooms. Ours is in a row of 3 only which were all built before the row of 10 up the road.

The double bedroom sizes are approx:

Bed 1: 3.5m x 4m (front)
Bed 2: 3m x 4m (back)

Anyone have any opinions on the 'lean to' - keep it up or knock down?! Thanks!

tbs624

Sellers sometimes find it worthwhile to have plans draw up for things such as loft conversions ( without getting the actual job done themselves), espceially if they fall within "permitted devlopment" of the property as it can help some buyers to more fully realise the property's potential.

As for the rear lean-to, if it is in a reasonable state I'd leave as is but perhaps source some quotes for upgrading it, which you can then wave about as and when appropriate.