House saga, continued, thought I had the perfect solution but no! I want to cry

[sweetkitty]

Story, we have 4 DCs and are in a 2 1/2 bedroom house, new build so rooms are small, no storage, no garage. We have 2 DCs in one small room 3m x 3m on bunks, one DC in a tiny boxroom 2.5m x 2m and nearly 2 yo DC sleeps in a cot in our room. We have no space at all, the kitchen is quite small as well not nearly enough cupboards. I spend my life decluttering half the DCs toys are up the loft and I throw things away that I might want to keep just because we don't have the space.

Obviously we need more space. We have a larger than average garden for a new build so we thought about an extension, got the plans drawn up architect said it would be about 40-50K we thought fine. We were selling MILs house anyway to fund it. MILs hosue took over a year to sell but finally did, we have full planning permission for the extension but the quotes were all around 75K and that's before any contingencies/decorating/furniture etc so we are talking 100K.

So we looked at moving, we can't afford an older house so new build it is and how depressing it is, we saw this one at the bottom of a lovely estate, 4 bedrooms, 2 quite small, garage we could convert to a 5th bedroom but the garden is tiny less than half what we have now. To get everything we want, in an area we want it's another 100K for what a tiny extra bedroom and a garage and half the garden we have now. If we go cheaper it's move out of the town slightly so a commute to the DCs school.

We have been decorating this house to get ready to sell but yesterday I had a brain wave, we half the size of the extension, we would still get a 4th bedroom upstairs, we would double the size of the boxroom and downstairs have a garage size space bedroom 5 and a decent sized utility room, ok we wouldn't get the large kitchen etc but with a good utility room that would give us space. We could pay for the extension outright so no more extra on the mortgage and actually be better off as we would have a better LTV.

DH deadly against the idea, he hates this area and wants to move! The area is not that bad we live at the bottom of a cul de sac it's very quiet, the neighbours whilst not friendly don't bother with you, theres no wild parties etc. The school is less than 5 minutes away and ok you come out our estate and it's council houses but I think he is being a bit of a snob.

I just think it's a no brainer, 45K for an extension, even after which we would still have a big garden, live in a quiet cul de sac, be close to the school etc

or

move 100K for a better area for a garage and a boxroom. Oh and a smaller garden and more travelling to schools etc.

I'm at my wits end we need to sort this out, DH says I only want the extension as I could get it now whilst putting the house on the market, it could be there 6 months to a year from now. DS is nearly two chances are in 6 months he will be out his cot and needing a toddler bed, I'm either going to have to put the 3 girls in the middle sized room at a squeeze, or move them into our room and we have the middle room or get bunks for the boxroom which I cannot see happening. Or DH and I get a sofa bed for downstairs which he says he will not do.

It sounds like your hubby is not happy about where you live, and is thinking for that the same money that you would spend on an extension, you could move somewhere better.

We moved 1 mile - to a MUCH better area, much better school, bigger house, smaller garden, even no off road parking... and yes, the delay in getting there, and the stress of moving a family of 5 - including moving schools for our oldest... and even a 3 week stay in a student house!!!!

I look back (we moved august last year) - OMG.. it was all sooooo worth it!!! And, I would do it again.

It's all about getting value for money... I can understand your hubby wanting to move and getting more for the £100k.

Sell your house....You don't seem to be 'in love' with the house you have - and the area that you are living in. It all seems a bit 'it will do'!

It's hard to get motivated, especially with 4 small lusheous kids!

I know my opinion does not matter in the slightest... but I can read from your post that you don't seem too happy with the house you have now, and the area that it's in. And, your husband definetely doesn't seem happy either.

I can understand the stress you feel about the delay that selling houses can cause... and it seems alot more stressful than just 'getting the builders in'.
Talk to your hubby, and try and come to some kind of compromise... You do move house, but until then, you do sleep on the sofa bed downstairs. That's what friends of mine do, as they stay up late and just fall into bed. And their two little girls have their own rooms. It's all about priority.. and what's more important.

I think, it's more about getting value for money.. I would use £100k more on getting something 'new' and exciting. A change!

We did... We spent £100k more on a our new house/life..... and despite a stressful road to get here... we never look back..

I really hope you get something sorted. xx

Just a small point.....I wouldn't assume that by halving the size of the extension it automatically halves the cost. Before you make any decisions I would get a proper quote for the new proposed size. x

Thanks for replying, I know I will be getting a requote before thinking about building, DH has said to give it a week.

I do like my house I love the space around it we have and the size of our garden, two of my babies were born here too so quite attached to it.

I definitely didn't fall in love with the house DH liked, he's more about the kerb appeal of the house, he likes the new build look, I'm more into actual space inside sizes of rooms etc, most new build 4 bedrooms have 2 box rooms and hardly any storage. The utility room is a glorified cupboard too

I know it's all about location but I don't think it's that bad really, it's do quiet here only our neighbour ever drives past our house. School catchment would stay the same if we moved, unless we go further afield.

If we move downstairs it's going to look terrible for viewings isn't it? DH won't go for it either.

As the other poster said, halving the size of extention wont neccessarily halve the cost!!!

I am not into new builds personally (room sizes are TINY and no storage)....how about a do-er upper? You could get really good room sizes and a decent garden if you are willing to do some work?

If your DH really is against the area you live in, you really need to talk about that first.

If you then choose to extend your current house, why not discuss with a builder your plans and see what you can get for your budget? He might have some good suggestions to make on how you can realise your dream within your budget.

If your garden is fairly large, how about a conservatory on the back (playroom) and a single storey ext on the side (larger kitchen/utlity and another bedroom)??

Do you have a loft/eaves? If so you can get very creative with storage cupboards! My friend did a loft conversion and put cupboards with sliding doors in all the eaves...really worked well.

How much extra square meters are you going to get from this extension ? Is it more than moving to another house ? You should work out how much each extra square metre will cost in the extension against a new house to see what is more value for money.

Instead of a separate utility room, how about that becomes part of a larger Kitchen instead ?

I think we went a bit mad with the extension we have plans for it was double storey L-shaped wraparound think it was 77m squared. My new plan would be 25 metres squared but still give us extra bedroom down and upstairs and extend tiny boxroom so we would in effect have 5 double bedrooms.

We currently have lounge/ dining room then kitchen. Eventually I would like to take down wall between dining room and kitchen and have kitchen/diner and separate lounge. Neighbours have done this and it makes such a difference to size of the kitchen.

There's a house came on for sale in a nice area tonight, 4 bedrooms the master is 3.2m x 2.9m the other three bedrooms are 2.5 x 2.5 ie small, the kitchens small wouldn't fit our dining table standard 6 seater but it dies have separate dining room, it back directly into a railway line (main East Coast line)

It was 158k cheap for you southerners I know!

Forgot to say old do upper is a no go my DH hates DIY with a passion!

25 metre squared doesn't sound very big. Is that in total or per floor ?

I wouldnt extend just to get another 25 sq metres.

We did extend our old house and I had a young dc at the time and it was not fun You have 4!!!

I honestly think moving would be your best bet but a new build will not give you the space you need and will cost alot more than an older house.

There are 2 new build projects going on in my town and I am at the size of the rooms...

But an older house is a lot more expensive and we hate DIY.

The extension would give us a bedroom downstairs and a utility room. Another bedroom upstairs and extending the box room to double its size. Also plan to put a sunroom on the back as a playroom.

I honestly don't know what to do now :(

If you do extend your current house you need to make sure that the result doesn't mean you are at the ceiling price for your area. It could potentially make your house harder to sell.

The impact of an extn on family life is enormous so do factor that into your thoughts. Could you get a place you need to work on and then get in the professionals, older house do have larger rooms.

Could it be that you just haven't found the right place yet as none of these options seem very good? If you have a 50k cash injection that could pay for quite a lot of work. Can you see any older style places in your dh preferred area that could have a loft conversion?

Don't rule out a doer-upper just because you don't like diy. If you pay a good price for the property, and you have the cash available that you would have used for your extension, you can pay tradesmen to do the work to make it just how you want it, no diy needed.

Yes but I don't see the point of going through the hassle of trying to sell this house? And we all know what the markets like. Then moving into another house to spend months with the builders in.

The way I've planned the extension would only mean one door knock through downstairs and a wall and another door knock through upstairs. No kitchens being ripped out etc. plus we are building at the side so won't lose the size of our garden.

I'm not looking for huge rooms just decent sized doubles not the little nix rooms I've been seeing I've got to think of life with four teenagers as well.

HOw likely is the house to sell ? I have thought about moving but my neighbours house is like a show home, she's spent a fortune on it and it's been on the market for nearly 15 months.

I would imagine that in this market a show home style house is harder to sell than one that needs work. People want to be able to add value so will seek out the bargains rather than one that is already done (and may not be to their taste but they don't want to pay the premium).

There's no rhyme or reason from what I can see, bargains are selling of course they are but having bought a house that needs work once, I could not care less about so called added value, I just want an easy life.
Oh and the neighbour has spent £70k and has it priced at 2004 prices so will loose every penny she's spent if only somebody would actually make an offer.

Only you know what you want sw and what you are prepared to put up with re: building work/mess/stress etc.

Good luck!

..would also add that a do-er upper neednt be a complete pit...and you can do a room at a time

Your ext plans sound fine if those rooms would be big enough....although bear in mind you may be pricing yourself out of the market...could you live in your ext home for the rest of your life/at least til your dc are grown?

I know the market is crazy just now. There are 3 beds bought for 175 selling for 148 ( which I don't think will sell).

I just don't know if I am done with this house yet, it has a lot of potential still left in it if we are prepared to live with some mess v the stress of moving if we can find something we both like and this house sells.

I think I want an easy life as well, well as easy as it can be with 4 DC. I cannot cope with weekends of DIY stretching on years.

Well....theres your answer!

If you like your house, can see potential and are prepared to live there for the forseeable future then go for it.

Yes but DH doesn't feel the same. Had a walk round our estate and there's a house with the exact same extension as I would want, I think I am going to knock on their door and ask them about it, would they do it again, how much extra space did they get, was it worth it?

good idea! Its v hard when souses want different things wrt homes