To keep or sell inherited property, can’t decide!

[Cydonia]

I have inherited a bungalow, shared with a sibling but they are happy to just have their share of the money. It’s in the town where I live already, in a nice area and has the outside space that we’re missing in our current house.
But....the inside isn’t really big enough. We’ve looked at a loft conversion, but there’s not enough head height to do much more than put our son’s room and some storage up there. There is room to extend out which would give larger living space downstairs, but our bedroom would still be downstairs. DP works night shifts, so not sure if that will work?
We have been wanting to move from our current house for a while, but it hasn’t been financially possible. I was fortunate to inherit some money aswell as the bungalow, so originally was looking at houses for sale, but there’s nothing that I really like that isn’t unaffordable! And then of course, the pandemic hit. Will we be able to sell two properties and will their value be badly affected?
Basically my question is...is it better in the current climate to just put the bungalow and our house on the market and wait, hoping that my dream house turns up? Or throw a lot of money at a house that still might end up not quite right for our lifestyle? ( but does have a lot of plus points )
I’m hopeless at decisions so any input welcome!

I would sell the inherited house and wait til the right house came up then be prepared to sell yours quickly to be in a good position of getting the house you want :)

I think I’m a bit scared of the whole buying/selling process and that’s leading me towards the ‘easier’ option. I’ve never sold a house before, the prospect of selling two does not appeal!

Either sell now (as in- get it listed today!) before the arse drops out of the market or prepare to hold onto it for a couple of years until the market stabilises.

Could you rent it out (splitting any profit with your sibling) until the market stabilises and then sell it further down the line when you find something you do want?

My Dh worked nights for years living in a single storey house and we had a baby at the time.
It never bothered him. He has said he can now hear more of what is going on the room below now in a normal house with stairs than he could in the master bedroom of our old bungalow.
I'd look at entending, not adding an upstairs and live in it. Bunglows are harder to come by now days and are sought after when you one day sell it. Or life there till retirement no need to ever move.

*extending.

Thanks everyone. We thought about renting previously, but I wasn’t keen on the hassle. My brother lives abroad so it would all be down to me, plus not so easy to split the money. Though temporary renting might be an option to consider if house prices are going to drop dramatically coupled with more people not able to buy anymore.

Troels he does say he doesn’t really struggle to sleep during the day, but it might be different when he is right next door to the living room, with the garden outside the window? But you’re right, you can hear downstairs anyway ( I can hear him snoring right now 🙄 ) so may not make much difference?
I have constructed a pros and cons list 😁

Can you put in a massive dormer or ‘hip to gable’ loft extension that makes better use of the roof? Plus downstairs extension?

If it’s on a sizeable plot I’d consider extending outwards. Most bungalows that I see on rightmove have terrible layouts for a family. But in places like Australia they do single level
Living much better than us, so good designs are possible!

It is possible to do a loft extension when the roof is low by either a dormer or raising the roof. I know some people who looked into this . It was very expensive so they decide not to. It might be worth investigating. Planning permission too could be a problem.

You don't sound like you really want to extend/rebuild the inherited house so I'd sell that first, split the money with your sibling and sell your existing house.

2nd storey extension... loft conversion?

Renting it out will be a long term ballache so if you're wondering, I'd just sell it. Get it on the market quickly before the big drops appear (if they actually appear)

Sorry I should have said, I had a design and build guy round on Monday to look at doing a loft conversion. Unfortunately the ceiling height is just too short to be able to do what I wanted ( which was a bedroom, bathroom with bath as downstairs is just a shower room,storage areas with a dormer), floor and ceiling joists not strong enough for all that and putting in bigger ones would shrink the space further. So he said they could do a more basic loft conversion ( ie not to building regs but still suitable to use ) and extend the downstairs. After deliberating I just feel it’s a lot of messing about trying to make a house fit our needs, when maybe we should just sell it and look to buy somewhere that is already suitable.

I think also, having had no experience of renovation/extension work, I was all excited about what I could do. Then when someone comes and says what is actually possible and all the potential problems it’s just put me off. I just hope it hasn’t dropped too much in value!

It sounds like the best plan, OP.

If it has fallen in value, so will anywhere you want to buy.

It's an architect you need. A good architect will come up with good ideas. I don't understand how joists will take up more room - we've replaced joists and this hasn't happened.

Don’t do any work that’s not to building regs. You won’t be able to sell it years later, or at least not for what it’s worth.
Also, speak to someone about the tax on selling a second home you don’t live in, it might be better long term to rent it out privately.

Sell your house and live in the bungalow for a bit to decide

@AbbieLexie You need stronger (bigger) joists of converting the loft space for habitation. The bigger joists take up the bigger space reducing the height of the room above. Other option is to shift the ceilings on ground floor down but that is again, a headache.
There is astill the case for a whole new storey to be added but frankly it doesn't sound like the OP's head is in the right space for it.
Sell it and wait for the right house to come along

Sell the bungalow and keep looking for the right house.

Thanks for the input everyone. I think selling is going to be the best decision. It was my dad’s house, and he wasn’t even in it a year before he died and never really got to enjoy it. So an emotional attachment too. When he was house hunting he was annoyed at the lack of “proper” bungalows that people hadn’t extended and converted, and would moan about why you would do that and not just buy the right house in the first place 😂 So maybe that is also clouding my judgement.
The ceilings downstairs are already pretty low, so lowering them wouldn’t be an option I don’t think. And while there is space outside for an extension, it would obviously cut down on the outside space that made me want to keep it in the first place.
I am a bit concerned about the tax thing though? The solicitors never mentioned that when we originally said we were going to sell it, surely it’s just part of the estate and not a second home?

If it's a big site, would you consider demolishing it and building your dream house?

It’s semi detached, I don’t think that would be allowed! It’s not a massive site, but compared to where we live now ( terraced house, back yard, no drive etc ) it seems big.

You would only have to pay capital gains tax on any increase in value since it was inherited.

It is unlikely to have increased in value, is it not?

I’d sell the bungalow first, as it is, don’t bother with any tarting up. From experience, renovations always cost more and are a lot more hassle than you bargained for.
And I’d ask the estate agents for a realistic price, not what they think you want to hear. I’ve known 2 probate sales within this extended family hang around for ever because of ‘optimistic’ pricing. You wouldn’t want it hanging around all over winter, looking more and more forlorn and unloved, not to mention heating and keeping any garden presentable.