To Move or Extend?

andyrules

We've been on the market for a while now - lots of interest but we have not found anywhere suitable. Current house is in fab area - schools/shops/buses/leafy etc, but too small.

We are now having estimates in with a view to extend - and are just not sure how cost effective it would be for resale a few years down the line.

Is there any general consensus about how much value extensions add? I know in the end it's a subjective thing and down to how much someone likes it, but we're just worried about losing money on it.

Advice and opinions from mse experts would be much appreciated!

JonathanA

You're right, it isn't an exact science. You need to consider whether any of the neighbouring houses have been extended, will what you are proposing make your house look out of place, or would it make the value significantly higher than that of other properties in your area? What are you proposing to add - make sure the house doesn't get out of proportion (no. of reception rooms to bedrooms & make sure you have enough bathrooms for the size of the property etc). Also, will it reduce the size of your garden dramatically?

I'm no expert, but we extended our house about 5 years ago when we couldn't find what we wanted - we had a largeish corner plot, so were able to add about 50% on to the floorspace without detracting too much from the garden, and neighbours had also extended, so we weren't out of keeping. We did our extension to make it look as though the house had always been built that way - same bricks, pitched not flat roof etc. It cost us about £40k + VAT but we got that back when we sold the house 3 years later (having decided that we didn't just want space, we wanted something with a bit of character, so moved anyway). At the end of the day, it is your home, if you plan to stay for the long term, then the money you will save from not paying estate agents, solicitors etc to move will go towards the costs of the extension, and obviously you won't pay stamp duty. My advice would be to employ the services of a good architect who will project manage it for you (we did, and he picked up on things we would never have known about!)

Good luck

andyrules

cheers jonathan, that's mainly what I needed, that you can get the money back on sale.

We're looking at side extension which would fit nicely (we're a semi), would make 4 double beds and 3 reception/ 2bathrooms, so balance is OK I think. Roof needs doing anyway, so would tie all that in and builder says he can use tiles that reflect the character of the property. Downside is we lose the garage, which I realise would alienate some, but there have been a lot of garage conversions round here, which indicates many are more interested in rooms! We have room for 3 cars on the drive, and there are no parking problems on the road, which is not a main one. We have plenty of garden space. Houses in our road are mostly varied, just a few like ours and some have extensions. It's a very sought after area - which I suspect is one reason why I'm finding it hard to relocate!

Do any others have experiences/advice to share?

JonathanA

Has anyone else done anything similar where you live? You may also wish to speak to your estate agent and ask them whether the cost of the extension would be reflected in a selling price (or a surveyor who will have a good idea). Just because we got our money back, doesn't mean you will, so proceed with caution. The positives though are that you clearly have space for car parking (always a big issue for people) and it sounds like the house will be well proportioned. Speaking to an architect may not be a bad idea - for the cost of a couple of visits they may save you some money or give you suggestions you hadn't thought of.

shelly

We had an extension put onto our previous property and hubby wished we hadn't bothered. It cost us about 10K in total and was only an extension of our living space. It was nice but we don't think at time of selling it made our house worth anymore than it would have been had we not extended.

space_rider

I`m thinking of losing my garage and converting it to a living room. It`s only used for storage. It`s not like the house doesn`t have enough storage inside. I tend to put stuff in it that needs to go to the tip. Will be interesting to see what folks say about you losing your garage.

andyrules

Interesting opinions - Jonathan, I daren't ask estate agents as we are currently on the market and I guess they they won't be happy if we pull out.

space-rider, I did a search on here and there are a couple of threads about garage conversions- there is divided opinion. seems it is becoming a popular way of gleaning extra space but of course some would prefer it as a garage. Personally, there's nothing in there that wouldn't sit just as well in a shed!