My house hasn't appreciated in value in 12 years
Discussion
I bought my 1960's 4 bed detached 13 years ago for £205k. No mortgage, as I saved up the £50k cost to change by doing overtime.
I've spent less than £35k so far on having the kitchen/diner, lounge, 2nd bedroom and bathroom redone. This year I'll be getting the main bedroom, family bathroom and hallway done - around £15k.
Zoopla estimate is £438k.
The previous owners lost about £20k in the 4 years that they owned the house, plus whatever it cost them to get the septic tank replaced. Bought just before the crash, and had to sell fast due to divorce.
I've spent less than £35k so far on having the kitchen/diner, lounge, 2nd bedroom and bathroom redone. This year I'll be getting the main bedroom, family bathroom and hallway done - around £15k.
Zoopla estimate is £438k.
The previous owners lost about £20k in the 4 years that they owned the house, plus whatever it cost them to get the septic tank replaced. Bought just before the crash, and had to sell fast due to divorce.
blueg33 said:
ChocolateFrog said:
My parents have spent a good 80 or 90k just on kitchens in the last 10 years.
People spend mental amounts of money, atleast from my perspective.
I'm around £3k into my house over the last 7 years but 2k of that was doing the garden.
I prefer holidays to new kitchens and bathrooms.
Your parents much be hard on kitchens!People spend mental amounts of money, atleast from my perspective.
I'm around £3k into my house over the last 7 years but 2k of that was doing the garden.
I prefer holidays to new kitchens and bathrooms.
In 20 years for us it’s one kitchen, three bathrooms, a cloakroom and a utility. Total about £45k on a property worth circa £1m now. Kitchen still looks good at 20 years old. Bathrooms at 5 years old are like things from a new fancy hotel.
Jasmine1 said:
Alex Z said:
Deduct the amount you’d have spent on rent in the meantime from your calculations and report back.
I get that, it’s more the fact the money I’ve spent on home improvements you never get back.It’ll make the house easier to sell in future but investment is the wrong word. It’s a bit like ordering a brand new car with options, I suppose.
Bought my house for £56k in 1998. I haven't kept a tally of mortgage interest, or minor repairs, but "improvements" including an extension have cost £56k
And decorating and major repairs (like a new boiler) have cost £15k.
If we'd done nothing and Kept it as per 1978, (when the previous occupants stopped doing anything, I think), it would be worth £180k as a refurb.
House is probably worth £250k
So basically we've only maintained its value, by doing the improvements and repairs we've done.
ChocolateFrog said:
blueg33 said:
ChocolateFrog said:
My parents have spent a good 80 or 90k just on kitchens in the last 10 years.
People spend mental amounts of money, atleast from my perspective.
I'm around £3k into my house over the last 7 years but 2k of that was doing the garden.
I prefer holidays to new kitchens and bathrooms.
Your parents much be hard on kitchens!People spend mental amounts of money, atleast from my perspective.
I'm around £3k into my house over the last 7 years but 2k of that was doing the garden.
I prefer holidays to new kitchens and bathrooms.
In 20 years for us it’s one kitchen, three bathrooms, a cloakroom and a utility. Total about £45k on a property worth circa £1m now. Kitchen still looks good at 20 years old. Bathrooms at 5 years old are like things from a new fancy hotel.
Mind you, we once built some apartments in Cheltenham, very high end. Sold the penthouse for over £1m (20 years ago). We had put in a super fancy top of the range kitchen that cost us £20k (thats a huge amount for a developer, especially back then). The day after the owners completed the purchase, I went past and found the kitchen in a skip - apparently it wasn't good enough!
blueg33 said:
ChocolateFrog said:
blueg33 said:
ChocolateFrog said:
My parents have spent a good 80 or 90k just on kitchens in the last 10 years.
People spend mental amounts of money, atleast from my perspective.
I'm around £3k into my house over the last 7 years but 2k of that was doing the garden.
I prefer holidays to new kitchens and bathrooms.
Your parents much be hard on kitchens!People spend mental amounts of money, atleast from my perspective.
I'm around £3k into my house over the last 7 years but 2k of that was doing the garden.
I prefer holidays to new kitchens and bathrooms.
In 20 years for us it’s one kitchen, three bathrooms, a cloakroom and a utility. Total about £45k on a property worth circa £1m now. Kitchen still looks good at 20 years old. Bathrooms at 5 years old are like things from a new fancy hotel.
Mind you, we once built some apartments in Cheltenham, very high end. Sold the penthouse for over £1m (20 years ago). We had put in a super fancy top of the range kitchen that cost us £20k (thats a huge amount for a developer, especially back then). The day after the owners completed the purchase, I went past and found the kitchen in a skip - apparently it wasn't good enough!
Both my wife and I couldn't pay £9k extra for someone else's hideous choices. Could not fault the quality. Could fault the aesthetic vibe.
I'm still kicking myself. It had a bigger garage.
Jasmine1 said:
I get that, it’s more the fact the money I’ve spent on home improvements you never get back.
It’ll make the house easier to sell in future but investment is the wrong word. It’s a bit like ordering a brand new car with options, I suppose.
That's not necessarily true.It’ll make the house easier to sell in future but investment is the wrong word. It’s a bit like ordering a brand new car with options, I suppose.
Our street is mainly 30's 3-bed semis. When we moved here around 20 years ago, maybe 5% of the properties had had loft conversions. Today, it's more like 70%.
We paid £65k for a loft conversion and single-story extension back in 2007. According to the Bank of England inflation calculator, that's £105k in today's money.
When houses come up for sale now, those with the loft conversions and extensions go for £725-750k whereas those without generally go for around £550k.
Part of the issue is that the cost of building work seemed to rocket as a result of Covid and/or Brexit, although probably more the latter since it hasn't come back down again. I was talking to a neighbour selling one of the unconverted properties who'd had a buyer back out of an offer after getting quotes in excess of £175k for the building work! They said that they offered to drop the price but the buyers said their mortgage lender had said they weren't prepared to loan with so much of the value of the property being dependent on the work carried out, so they would've needed to massively drop the asking price to do it.
Simpo Two said:
Stop keeping a ledger. You'll save time and be much happier 
I'm afraid I agree OP. You have a nice house, decorated and appointed to your tastes, and in real terms you haven't lost money. I know other people who are obsessed with the value of theirs, comparing their place to neighbours which have gone on the market recently and looking at which house had the better options when it was built. Seems to me all they do is stress themselves out over it and worry about something over which they have no control.
It's a home, not an investment. Just enjoy it.
Jasmine1 said:
I get that, it’s more the fact the money I’ve spent on home improvements you never get back.
It’ll make the house easier to sell in future but investment is the wrong word. It’s a bit like ordering a brand new car with options, I suppose.
You literally say it yourself. You've improved your home - that's what you get in exchange for the money.It’ll make the house easier to sell in future but investment is the wrong word. It’s a bit like ordering a brand new car with options, I suppose.
Think of your home as a home, rather than a line on a spreadsheet. You'll be happier for it.
I try not to think about it.
£1.85m purchase price, £300k spent so far in last 18 months (£180k of that on new windows and kitchen!), add in the stamp duty on it and it's worth nowhere f'ing near what we've spent and won't be for a very, very long time!
If you keep a running tally, you'll always end up kicking yourself if you've done it purely for financial reasons.
£1.85m purchase price, £300k spent so far in last 18 months (£180k of that on new windows and kitchen!), add in the stamp duty on it and it's worth nowhere f'ing near what we've spent and won't be for a very, very long time!
If you keep a running tally, you'll always end up kicking yourself if you've done it purely for financial reasons.
tight fart said:
I’d say this thread qualifies as one of the most stupid I’ve seen.
Completely agree, there's another thread running where someone is grateful for being given a council property after two years in various sheltered accommodation which really puts this one in perspective. AB said:
I try not to think about it.
£1.85m purchase price, £300k spent so far in last 18 months (£180k of that on new windows and kitchen!), add in the stamp duty on it and it's worth nowhere f'ing near what we've spent and won't be for a very, very long time!
If you keep a running tally, you'll always end up kicking yourself if you've done it purely for financial reasons.
How many windows do you have?!£1.85m purchase price, £300k spent so far in last 18 months (£180k of that on new windows and kitchen!), add in the stamp duty on it and it's worth nowhere f'ing near what we've spent and won't be for a very, very long time!
If you keep a running tally, you'll always end up kicking yourself if you've done it purely for financial reasons.
The house which my ex-wife resides in is hopefully, touch wood, going to sell soon.
Sadly I won't see much out of it but I did a quick calculation a few weeks ago based on if I were to receive half the decent equity, seeing as it was bought in 1998.
Appears that it doesn't quite equal my half of the mortgage and other big expenses like a new kitchen, decorating, garden, DIY etc
Still I suppose it would have got me the money back unlike renting, which has cost me nearly £250,000 so far, non of which I'll ever see again.
Sadly I won't see much out of it but I did a quick calculation a few weeks ago based on if I were to receive half the decent equity, seeing as it was bought in 1998.
Appears that it doesn't quite equal my half of the mortgage and other big expenses like a new kitchen, decorating, garden, DIY etc
Still I suppose it would have got me the money back unlike renting, which has cost me nearly £250,000 so far, non of which I'll ever see again.
Gassing Station | Homes, Gardens and DIY | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff