Looking to buy a bungalow to extend.

beedeedee

I noticed a sign on a vacant unkempt plot today that said "Sold - STPC",
Would any money have changed hands at this point do you think?

glasgowdan

beedeedee wrote: »

I noticed a sign on a vacant unkempt plot today that said "Sold - STPC",
Would any money have changed hands at this point do you think?

Are you looking to try and jump in there and offer more? Good luck!

beedeedee

No, unfortunately not! I'd not actually noticed a sign like that before....it was a plot on the edge of a Mr T's car park which they'd bought previously but never developed. Just wondered if it had really been sold, or just that a deposit had perhaps reserved it in the hope that planning consent would be granted for whatever.... Just intrigued.

Waterlily24

00ec25 wrote: »

don't assume a bungalow will have been built with foundations strong enough to support an entire new storey

Very true we had to have ours underpinned.

annamayjones1991

gettingtheresometime wrote: »

Can I just ask why you're looking for a bungalow but prepared to have all the hassle of converting it into a two story house?

Of course, we have found a couple of bungalows in our area that are in need of a lot of work, they are detatched, have a bigger garden around the entire property, and generally come with at least one parking space.They are well within our budget leaving us with enough money to complete immediate necessary work start on some cosmetic work with a view to extending it over the next few years.
Houses of similar price have been small (semi detatched or more commonly, terraced) no parking, small garden etc In short, they are tricky to "make" any money on.
The higher end of our budget gives us a bit more of what we are looking for in a house, however we really want a project. And buying a property at the higher end of our budget will not leave us with a lot of money to do the things we want to do to it.
Extending and doing up a bungalow in the end would hopefully give us a better return in the future.
That being said, if a project in the form of a house came on the market and gave us the rooms and space etc we're after we would seriously consider putting in an offer as that way we would get the best of both worlds.
I'm not saying that a house would be dismissed, I just wanted to know any ideas/advice people had on bungalow extentions to give us a bit more room to decide.

annamayjones1991

Thanks to everyone for all your advice.
Food for thought.

Davesnave

annamayjones1991 wrote: »

Of course, we have found a couple of bungalows in our area that are in need of a lot of work, they are detatched, have a bigger garden around the entire property, and generally come with at least one parking space.They are well within our budget leaving us with enough money to complete immediate necessary work start on some cosmetic work with a view to extending it over the next few years.
Houses of similar price have been small (semi detatched or more commonly, terraced) no parking, small garden etc In short, they are tricky to "make" any money on.

Can I just say that this is a very odd situation you're describing. It never normally happens, mainly because of bungalows' relative rarity in many areas and the larger plot sizes you mention, which makes them desirable.

I'd like to know whereabouts this place with cheap detached bungalows is, in very broad terms, of course, because no one wants you buried in the rush!

One does sometimes find bungalows of non-standard construction which are cheap for their size and facilities, but there's a reason for this connected to mortgageability and the possibility of structural defects. That doesn't mean these bungalows represent a bad buy for everyone, but they do have a specific market, which rules out all but cash buyers.

teneighty

I wholeheartedly support the OP's strategy. I've had numerous clients that have bought tired and run down bungalows and with some imagination and a lot of hard work they have created fabulous family homes whilst adding significant equity.

I've got one that is just finishing at the moment and by raising the roof and building a large dormer they have created 3 new big double bedrooms, one with ensuite and a new family bathroom in the roof space. The place is huge now and looks fantastic plus they have added at least £300k to the value. Another one on a more modest scale simply extended and opened up the internal layout to create a more open plan living space/kitchen. Looks great and they have made a tidy profit.

What surprises me is why so many people pay through the nose to live in cramped boring soulless modern estate houses. Give me an old property to do up every time.

Probably the hardest thing is finding suitable properties. Anything with obvious development potential will probably be priced with a premium to reflect the potential value. The key is to find the property with more obscure potential before anyone else sees it. A bungalow a few doors down the road from me sold for £325k and the builder completely transformed it into a very contemporary stylish 2 storey house and it sold last year for £1 million. Similar old bungalows in the area are now going for £500k - £600k as everyone can see the potential.

annamayjones1991

Davesnave wrote: »

Can I just say that this is a very odd situation you're describing. It never normally happens, mainly because of bungalows' relative rarity in many areas and the larger plot sizes you mention, which makes them desirable.

I'd like to know whereabouts this place with cheap detached bungalows is, in very broad terms, of course, because no one wants you buried in the rush!

One does sometimes find bungalows of non-standard construction which are cheap for their size and facilities, but there's a reason for this connected to mortgageability and the possibility of structural defects. That doesn't mean these bungalows represent a bad buy for everyone, but they do have a specific market, which rules out all but cash buyers.

Thanks. We live on the south coast, to be honest the two bungalows we have seen come up are as you say a rarity, I haven't at any point said they are in abundance, and you're right, perhaps the fact we can afford them suggests some structural problems, hence my original post being about what to ask and how.
After my partner and I chatted it through last night the one that is currently on the market we have decided to not go for anyway for other personal reasons.
We are open minded, as I said before the bungalow idea is a dream scenario as we have always said we'd like to have a project like this. I was just going in blind when it comes to what to ask should something come up on the market.
Your post and others have been very helpful, however as it happens we won't be looking at the one I mentioned in the original post. Notes have been made and I will come back to this should another one come up on the market.
In the meantime if a suitable 2 storey property should come up on the market we will proceed to look into that also.

Many Thanks

aneary

Do you have any experience with building works?