Owning your own home

2-up, 2-down in Brighton. Ex council. 1960s build. Freehold. Want to weigh up options of staying on here for a few years or moving elsewhere given impending family enlargement so we're giving some thought to extending.

Is there a general rule of thumb on easiness/best value as an investment to extend outwards or upwards?

Extend into the loft: large enough for a massive master bedroom (the size of the whole floor space nearly) with en suite and a small landing. Currently the ceiling doesn't support any weight so would obviously need some substantial work. It then becomes a three storey house with 3 beds. Master bathroom still quite small. 2nd and 3rd bedrooms decent size. Retains fairly substantial rear garden. Other houses in the street have done the same.

Extend into the garden: allows a good size 3rd bedroom and we would likely extend the bathroom to a good size to boot. Doubt we would have space to ensuite any of them. Though we would do both floors (again, houses in the same street have done the same) so would have either an extra reception room or a very large kitchen/diner. If the latter we could maybe plumb in a downstairs toilet or have an extra storage area or workshop or something.

To make matters more fiddly the garden, although long, is terraced so if we extended outwards we would likely end up rght up against the wall of the first terrace so to have any daylight in the kitchen/new reception room we would need to do some structural work to the garden as well.

This is all theory at the moment - haven't applied for any planning permission. We don't have any particular budget in mind but could get our hands on whatever was needed. If we extended we would likely live here for a good many years to come.

Is there any received wisdom on which type of extension would make for better value to the investment?

Surely that's his permanent retreat...

Generally if people want more bedroom space that's because there are more of them, so they will also want more living space. A house with twice as much bedroom space as living space has very niche appeal, which is why when developers build three-storey places they usually put a living room on the first floor to balance the living/sleeping space towards 50/50.

This isn't always true, tho. If you live in an area where renting rooms is popular, like a student area, then the moar bedrooms the merrier, but if you're in a largely owner-occupier area the two storey extension will be best.

Which offers best value depends what the house is worth now, what it's worth done and the cost of works. In cheaper areas you may 'lose' money on the work, in 'spensive areas you may get rich by doing both.

Which pinball machine would you put in?

Loft conversion first. Best bang for buck

That machine got hammered in the Narrowboat at Angel, and a nice trigger to fire the ball. I have Travel Time a 70's Williams machine and a pool table in the living room 😀
Check out Pinball Pleasure they had one. It's Romford way.

Yes, Mr Hefty! By a process of elimination, we are moving to Harston! Thanks for the surveyor tip. Pint on me at your favourite south Cambs watering hole when I'm local.

Jolly good, so long as it's not this chintzy little palace: http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-55570178.html

Oof, that's hideous. Got to be USA-ians who had that built.

Triple garage love.

Rambling ponderpost alert:

We've had an offer accepted on a three bed mid-terrace in Kentfordshire which needs a lot of work.

It's got that weird bathroom accessed through one of the bedrooms thing so that will need knocking through turning into a big bathroom, essentially reducing it to a two bed before we convert the loft to restore the third bedroom. We can only put roof windows at the back due to planning restrictions so we're probably limited to making that one room.

So we spend a few months and £££ re-modelling and renovating to end up with a nice three bed with two big doubles, one small double two receptions and cellar man cave. Pretty happy with that on the face of it. I like being able to get it exactly how want as well.

The niggling doubt I have is that allowing a safely generous budget for the work, we end up at about the same bottom line as if we'd just bought an already converted and immaculately finished four bed semi a couple of weeks ago. And that had bigger rooms, a bigger garden and side access. And needed absolutely nothing doing. I know three beds is fine now but if we have another kid we’ll be straight back to the r-1 situation we’re in now. I’d love to be able to walk into house for life, have enough guest rooms to have family and friends stay over.

My missus however is mad keen on this terrace and insists that we don't need a house the size of the one that got away. She points out the cost of heating a four storey, four bedroom house is worth considering given that we'll be on one salary for the foreseeable there's only two people and a baby in it right now. This is true.

She thinks I'm pining hopelessly for dream-house and claiming that the cost it went for it was a fluke and that I should move on.

In return I think it indicates that there will be other properties of that ilk that fall into that price bracket and I'm worried that she's rushing into a huge renovation project that will deliver something less than ideal because she's worried nothing else like the previous one is coming up. The market there is very odd. Very little comes up and when it does it get pounced on but I'm tempted to pull the emergency brake and wait.

On the other hand I do like her plan because the terrace could be a great little house. It's in a great spot on a nice street and it's ours to do with what we want. There's also good opportunity to save a lot on money on the mortgage if we're a bit smart with renovation. No small consideration there.

I dunno, I'm just reluctant to let go of the big house and garden dream. We've looked at 4 bed detached properties in budget. Buying a 3 bed terrace with a small garden that can't be extended beyond 3 bed due to conservation area status, feels like bit of step back. But perhaps it’s the sensible thing to do.

I can’t seem to settle on how I feel about it and what the smart thing to do is.

i'd wait for something better and look nearby but thats me

Same, we saw 40+ properties before we settled on the one we got which turned out to be a bargain when we had all but given up hope.

If you want this move to be the forever home then hold out....if its just a stepping stone then go for the 3 bed. You can get it how you want and the market for 3 beds come sell time is larger. 1st time buyers and 2nd movers will be after a 3 bed in 5-7 years time, you should have no problem selling.

I went through the same process 5 years ago, went from a 2 bed flat to a 3 bed semi (Beckenham to Bexley). We pretty much gutted the new house and moved in 9 months after purchase, its been a great house but it was never our forever home. We have now sold it and hope to complete next week on a 5 bed house (+ full size basement) close the girls school (Sidcup), this should last us for the time the girls are in full-time education. Will it be our last home, No. We want to self build, but that's a story for 10-15 years time.

@Cornish_Bike, That's kind of what I've been telling myself.

If we go for this we'll end up adding a fair bit of value with the lost conversion and renovation. We'll get what we want right now and although it's not fully future (baby) proof, it will reduce the mortgage considerably so if we decided to move on in say 3-5 years then we'd be in a strong position. I guess that's the way to think of it.

Also, I've just trawled the listings in the town we're moving to again and literally nothing new has been added for the last two weeks. We've seen and either been outbid on or rejected everything else.

We are under offer and solicitors are being instructed this week so it's the point of no return in terms of committing to costs...

I think i'm going to have to unclench and go with it.

Also if your wife is going to be at home looking after the kids it'll make for a far happier house if she is close to friends / shops / cafes, stuff to do etc...an extra bedroom, bigger garden will not make your life as happy as a content wife / child.

Plenty of time yet to get older and mess up their lives / hope & dreams.....

if my wife is reading this the above was only done for comedic value.

^This.

plus she's really excited about "the project".

You haven't mentioned schools and transport

Modest terrace compromise* wins on both counts.

*new band name.

Plus if we go with MTC* i get to have fun spending a shit ton of cash of fun things like stoves, man caves and bike sheds. It's miscellaneous board heaven.

*as above. not:

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To be fair, I was looking at all sorts of three beds before I went on my demigapapyah.
When I came back (dreads and beaded necklaces) I realised I really didn't need a whole bloody house. Its easy to get caught up in it all, I still do, hence me chasing a house recently, for no real reason apart from Boredom.
Its what you get used to, when I moved back into my flat I used the spare room as storage room as I didn't even need it for living space, obviously I have slowly sorted it out, but considering I was convinced I needed a 3 bed for the wife and myself only 8 months earlier.
My parents are bloody worse, they insist it's uncomfortable to live in a house with less than 4 bedrooms and at least 2 reception rooms. Thanks folks, didn't want my inheritance anyway you shits!
TLDR: Get the terrace, its a house you will be living in, not a house you could be living in, and it sounds shithot.

Thanks man. This will sound pathetic but it's good to hash this stuff out with the more sensible heads of LFGSS. Sometimes I need to work things though and discuss them to come to a conclusion and it's not something I wanted to discuss any more with my other half as we have talked it to death and I didn't want to undermine her excitement with my reticence. IRL bro chats are hard to come by when you're busy all day and charging home from work to bath a 5 month old, so this thread has been helpful. Cheers!

Yep. True dat. I'm so used to living in a building site I could live in a building site forever.

(Sigh).

#1bed4lyf though*

*no kids, not having any

I hear that one.
Freeloading little bastards.