Sell or extend?

[lboogy]

I'm torn between moving or extending. If we extend it will cost £100k including loft conversion. If we move we'd be spending the same amount to move to a more expensive area. Surveyor said I won't get £100k back , so I'm thinking I stay where I am.

I also think house prices are a bit too high in my chosen area - they've probably gone up 100k in 2 years. but I can't see a crash coming in that area.

Prices in my area haven't changed in 2 years.

Anyone facing a similar dilemma?

I'll say sell and buy somewhere affordable to your budget. I was in the same situation 6 months ago and decided to sell and buy.

I hate loft conversion as the space will always feel small after conversion.

I bought an old extended 4 bedroom semi detached house and it feels so big with a lot of storage spaces

How do you like your current house and area?
There's plenty of costs in moving although with the current break on stamp duty its much cheaper. I would expect that when people's redundancies and furlough incomes start to bite that house prices will dip but definitely not crash.
I'd have a chat with a mortgage broker just to get an idea of the finance side, also have a chat with an architect for extension ideas.

I'd be wary of spending money on a house that could be at the ceiling of the road. This is why we're moving, we're not committed enough to the location to want to spend money on this house as we wouldn't see much increase in the house's value from the work.

We decided to move. Weighed up the costs of extending and how we wouldn't get out money back if we were to sell it in the future. Also the stamp duty holiday helped with our decision.

Thanks everyone. I'm inclined to move. I wanted to move a few years ago but couldn't find anything. How's the time otherwise I'll be stuck for another 2 years post stamp duty holiday

So you’d spend the same amount of money to achieve a similar house (through extending or buying) in the current or a better area? Not sure why you’d want to stay put and go through loads of costly and stressful work that you know you’ll lose money on?

House prices in my area are at a cealinng of £500k. New area is around 630-700k - some extended already or the same. Prices in that area have been rising since 2018, so I figure if I don't move now the gap will keep stretching and I'll never be able to move to that area

I assume you have 100K cash to pay for the extension.
If so, better sell current house, put 100K extra towards the deposit of a bigger house. With low interest rates, your money will go further this way. Your new house will also retain value better than the 100K you sink into an extension.

@DblEspresso agree. Thanks