Do home improvements always equal increased value?
Discussion
Hi,
Currently the wife I live in 3 storey town house, which was built in 2007.
The layout is;
Ground Floor - Garage, long hallway, shower room under the stairs, with a small utility (2x2.5m) and 4th Bedroom (3.2mx2.7m) (we currently use this as a dining room)
First Floor - Good sized living room (4.7mx4.2m) and kitchen/diner (2.7m x 4m)
Third Floor - main bathroom, bedroom 1 with ensuite, double bedroom 2 and small single bedroom 3.
The layout does not really work for us. The living room is great, we're happy with that. The kitchen however is no good, it's too small to be a valid kitchen diner and having the dining room on another floor is rubbish.
The ground floor honestly is a waste of space.
While our garden is not huge, we could accomodate around a 3m extension onto the rear of the ground floor - combining the current 4th bed and the utility this could give us a 6.2x4.7m space which would provide a good sized kitchen, with dining/living area (a family type space). This would also open straight onto our patio for outside dining or simply just to allow plenty of light and air in.
I have no doubt the space would be ideal for us (my parents have a similar space in their house) and the existing kitchen would become the 4th bedroom (also with an ensuite) so the house would still be marketable as 4beds (but be much more of a family home in our opinion) and with an extra bathroom.
The difficulty is that it also needs to make financial sense.
I reckon I can do the above for between £12 and £15k, which will need some juggling from us. Ideally I'd hope to have the house revalued at the end of it all and be able to secure a better mortgage deal due to increased equity AND release about £5k which I will be borrowing to carry out the work.
The house is currently worth around £165k and I'd hope it to be worth about £188k following the work.
Am I being realistic? Or will this be good money after bad and are we better off making do for longer, putting our efforts into moving house sooner.
This is certainly by no means a forever house, but with this work done I think we'd be happy there another 8-10years.
Thanks
Currently the wife I live in 3 storey town house, which was built in 2007.
The layout is;
Ground Floor - Garage, long hallway, shower room under the stairs, with a small utility (2x2.5m) and 4th Bedroom (3.2mx2.7m) (we currently use this as a dining room)
First Floor - Good sized living room (4.7mx4.2m) and kitchen/diner (2.7m x 4m)
Third Floor - main bathroom, bedroom 1 with ensuite, double bedroom 2 and small single bedroom 3.
The layout does not really work for us. The living room is great, we're happy with that. The kitchen however is no good, it's too small to be a valid kitchen diner and having the dining room on another floor is rubbish.
The ground floor honestly is a waste of space.
While our garden is not huge, we could accomodate around a 3m extension onto the rear of the ground floor - combining the current 4th bed and the utility this could give us a 6.2x4.7m space which would provide a good sized kitchen, with dining/living area (a family type space). This would also open straight onto our patio for outside dining or simply just to allow plenty of light and air in.
I have no doubt the space would be ideal for us (my parents have a similar space in their house) and the existing kitchen would become the 4th bedroom (also with an ensuite) so the house would still be marketable as 4beds (but be much more of a family home in our opinion) and with an extra bathroom.
The difficulty is that it also needs to make financial sense.
I reckon I can do the above for between £12 and £15k, which will need some juggling from us. Ideally I'd hope to have the house revalued at the end of it all and be able to secure a better mortgage deal due to increased equity AND release about £5k which I will be borrowing to carry out the work.
The house is currently worth around £165k and I'd hope it to be worth about £188k following the work.
Am I being realistic? Or will this be good money after bad and are we better off making do for longer, putting our efforts into moving house sooner.
This is certainly by no means a forever house, but with this work done I think we'd be happy there another 8-10years.
Thanks
sherman said:
Have a look on rightmove or similar for a house near you that has had the extra work and see what price it is going for. Also this search will show you if you will be allowed an extension as if no other houses for sale have one the planners may not let any extensions be done.
Cheers, no houses near me with any similar work carried out, there are only a small number like ours and no others for sale within the development have had any real work carried out.Only one like ours on rightmove at the moment, but it's still just as built (it's up for £166k).
In terms of permission, my next door neighbour has had outline consent given (we'd do both extensions together) and there is a house within our development (smaller house than ours) with a similar sized extension so a precident has been set.
As an ex housebuilder (I now do other development 
) I have experiece of these housetypes. The units with a 4th bedroom on the ground floor were always a struggle to sell and you are voicing the opinions of many buyers.
Most housebuilders changed their layouts to put a kitchen/dining room on the ground floor and living room and 1 bedroom on the first floor.
Making thae change will certainly make your house more saleable but this is not necessarily going to be reflected in a price change that covers your costs.
) I have experiece of these housetypes. The units with a 4th bedroom on the ground floor were always a struggle to sell and you are voicing the opinions of many buyers.Most housebuilders changed their layouts to put a kitchen/dining room on the ground floor and living room and 1 bedroom on the first floor.
Making thae change will certainly make your house more saleable but this is not necessarily going to be reflected in a price change that covers your costs.
Thanks for that.
When we bought the house we thought it was a great layout, but soon realised how impractical it really is. Would be ideal if say you had a teenaged child or an elderly relative living there who could use that room and be almost self contained on that floor (own shower room and use the utility as a kitchenette) but otherwise it's hopeless.
So what you're saying is adding the extension might make it easier to sell but perhaps worth no more? I'm not too bothered about selling just yet, but as described above would like to increase the value on paper for mortgage reasons.
As a builder, you might be able to comment on the outline cost I have from my neighbour (who is a builder and would be carrying out the work along with his own adjacent connected extension).
Approx £8k for the shell (finished to plaster) 3mx4.7m.
This seems a good price to me? I have trade contacts for electrics and plumbing so could have that work carried out cheaply, then budgetting £3-4k for the kitchen fitout. (my parent paid £6k for a similar sized good quality kitchen and £3k of that was granite which we're not fussed about).
When we bought the house we thought it was a great layout, but soon realised how impractical it really is. Would be ideal if say you had a teenaged child or an elderly relative living there who could use that room and be almost self contained on that floor (own shower room and use the utility as a kitchenette) but otherwise it's hopeless.
So what you're saying is adding the extension might make it easier to sell but perhaps worth no more? I'm not too bothered about selling just yet, but as described above would like to increase the value on paper for mortgage reasons.
As a builder, you might be able to comment on the outline cost I have from my neighbour (who is a builder and would be carrying out the work along with his own adjacent connected extension).
Approx £8k for the shell (finished to plaster) 3mx4.7m.
This seems a good price to me? I have trade contacts for electrics and plumbing so could have that work carried out cheaply, then budgetting £3-4k for the kitchen fitout. (my parent paid £6k for a similar sized good quality kitchen and £3k of that was granite which we're not fussed about).
D1bram said:
Thanks for that.
When we bought the house we thought it was a great layout, but soon realised how impractical it really is. Would be ideal if say you had a teenaged child or an elderly relative living there who could use that room and be almost self contained on that floor (own shower room and use the utility as a kitchenette) but otherwise it's hopeless.
So what you're saying is adding the extension might make it easier to sell but perhaps worth no more? I'm not too bothered about selling just yet, but as described above would like to increase the value on paper for mortgage reasons.
As a builder, you might be able to comment on the outline cost I have from my neighbour (who is a builder and would be carrying out the work along with his own adjacent connected extension).
Approx £8k for the shell (finished to plaster) 3mx4.7m.
This seems a good price to me? I have trade contacts for electrics and plumbing so could have that work carried out cheaply, then budgetting £3-4k for the kitchen fitout. (my parent paid £6k for a similar sized good quality kitchen and £3k of that was granite which we're not fussed about).
I can't really comment on the cost of extensions etc, only on new build from scratch, extensions are procured differently with less buying power etc. The price you quote is about £560 per sqm, but I think much of your cost will be second fix and fitting the kitchen etc. If you get it all for under £650 per sqm that seems like a good deal but I am the wrong person to ask.When we bought the house we thought it was a great layout, but soon realised how impractical it really is. Would be ideal if say you had a teenaged child or an elderly relative living there who could use that room and be almost self contained on that floor (own shower room and use the utility as a kitchenette) but otherwise it's hopeless.
So what you're saying is adding the extension might make it easier to sell but perhaps worth no more? I'm not too bothered about selling just yet, but as described above would like to increase the value on paper for mortgage reasons.
As a builder, you might be able to comment on the outline cost I have from my neighbour (who is a builder and would be carrying out the work along with his own adjacent connected extension).
Approx £8k for the shell (finished to plaster) 3mx4.7m.
This seems a good price to me? I have trade contacts for electrics and plumbing so could have that work carried out cheaply, then budgetting £3-4k for the kitchen fitout. (my parent paid £6k for a similar sized good quality kitchen and £3k of that was granite which we're not fussed about).
Its very hard to say on value, but a valuation accuracy of 5% is very good going. So I can't really say whether it wil improve the value by the amount of the cost because that is just too much accuracy in valuation terms.
I see. I realise value is very subjective and tbh is always a best estimate until it sells, and overall I'd not be too fussed, just be nice to be able to secure a better mortgage deal following on from the work. If I didn't borrow any additional I'd only need to to be valued at £180k. Might just crack on and do it anyhow as I'm sure the layout would work for us.
Anyone else have any feedback on the proposed layout? As a home would it add appeal for you?
Thanks.
Anyone else have any feedback on the proposed layout? As a home would it add appeal for you?
Thanks.
In my experience, general "home improvements" are worth less than 10% of their cost. Major alterations (adding central heating when not present, extensions, conservatories etc) are worth upto 40% of their cost if sold shortly after they are added, the "older" the extras are the less they are worth till after 3-4yrs they are worthless.
IMO the only "profitable" Improvement you can make is to paint all walls a neutral colour covering any fashionable colours :-)
Short story- nothing you do will get your your money back short term... property is a long term gain (always) but major additions are just sales incentives and don't add value (generally)
IMO the only "profitable" Improvement you can make is to paint all walls a neutral colour covering any fashionable colours :-)
Short story- nothing you do will get your your money back short term... property is a long term gain (always) but major additions are just sales incentives and don't add value (generally)
[quote=scubadude]In my experience, quote]
Do you mind me asking what is your experience (not being disrespectfull, just wondering if you work in property, or if it's personal experience etc...).
I asked the question initially because we've all seen the propert programmes from a few years back where folk add a bedroom, or a new kitchen and the value shoots up, but I wonder if that was more to do with the market back then and actually doing nothing would have netted them almost as much. (and of course far more 'profit').
In current times obviously the housing market is much more grounded, and I don't want to end up putting myself into negative equity (even though not on the mortgage) to carry out improvements.
Do you mind me asking what is your experience (not being disrespectfull, just wondering if you work in property, or if it's personal experience etc...).
I asked the question initially because we've all seen the propert programmes from a few years back where folk add a bedroom, or a new kitchen and the value shoots up, but I wonder if that was more to do with the market back then and actually doing nothing would have netted them almost as much. (and of course far more 'profit').
In current times obviously the housing market is much more grounded, and I don't want to end up putting myself into negative equity (even though not on the mortgage) to carry out improvements.
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