Loft conversion additional value

robbiejustice

Hi,

I have recently bought a house and am considering getting a loft conversion to increase the property value before selling in the next few years. I will ask an estate agents opinion but thought I would post here incase anyone has any insights...

The house is a 3 bed surrounded by 4/5 bed houses. Total floor area is 130m2 and purchased for 470k. 2 doors down sold 4 years ago for 540k (145m2) and Zoopla estimates the value to be 580k. Adding a dorma with bathroom will cost 35k and add 10m2 net (including loss of space for staircase). Both houses total plot sizes are about the same.

I am assuming that our house will then be worth about 540k and the loft conversion a good investment.

Am I missing anything?

LandyAndy

I, personally, wouldn't pay nearly as much for a three bed with a dormer windowed loft conversion as I would for a purpose built four bedder on two stories.

spadoosh

Zoopla isnt that accurate.

My neighbour bought in 2007 for £148,000, i bought in 2011 for £104,000. They are the exact same house, all be it i have a larger plot (i live outside london so have never needed to measure the square footage, its just 'a good size'). Zoopla suggest there house is now worth £142k. And it suggests my house is worth £119k. Thats exactly the same house. I suspect the real value would be determined somewhere in the middle.

Also worth bearing in mind its not uncommon to have a 10% swing in values, particularly volatile markets so whilst itmight be worth £540k according to zoopla, no one has actually paid that price for one of those houses, and even if they did market it at £540k it wouldnt be completely unreasonable to think it could sell for less than £500k. At which point youve just spent £35k and whatever you could scrape together as a contingency because it inevitably costs more, months planning and sorting something that you didnt actually want, that hasnt made you any money.

If your expertise dont lie in property, just not that wise investing your time and money in to it trying to make money. Invest your time and money in your area of expertise, youll find it a lot easier.

Robin9

If you have a family need for a loft conversion then do it but dont do it for profit.

I personally would opt for a 4 bed designed as a 4 bed rather than a 3 bed converted to a 4 bed

Doozergirl

I think loft conversions generally need a downstairs extension to balance the living/sleeping space.

I think you will make money, regardless. If houses are worth over £3,500 a square metre then it's hard not to. Some people are correct that the floor space isn't quite as valuable as that over two stories, but this isn't a cheap area and someone will always need to compromise to acheive the number if bedrooms they want.

robbiejustice

Thanks for your replies.

The estimated sale price is quite critical and I will need to do more investigating there but the local market has definitely gone up significantly in the last 4 years.

Understand the points regards a 4 bed on 2 stories being better hence valuing my property at 540k instead of 580k.

Regards investing the money in something in my area of expertise... My money is normally invested in index trackers but this opportunity has somewhat landed on my lap so why not investigate and take it if the numbers stack up. Granted, there is still clearly considerable work, inconvenience and risk but then that is the same with investing in anything.

buglawton

Estate agents will tell you that reselling the day the loft conversion is finished will net you 60% of the cost in increased sale price. Your mileage will vary depending on if your locality has exceptionally high house prices and how well the conversion was kept to budget. An additional bathroom to go with the added bedroom above is mandatory.

Doozergirl

An estate agent can't possibly say how much a loft conversion adds across the country. There is a rough price per square foot anywhere and there can be no generalisation.

We just added a mansard loft conversion to two houses in Chelsea and the 'profit' was about what the OP paid for their house .