Which improvement to spend ££££s on?

[workininacoalmine]

Name changed. We want to sell our family home (largeish 4 bed Edwardian semi) to downsize now DC have all left. We have about £50k to improve it. One bedroom is currently in loft conversion but it's a bit crap. We are going to spend about 30k on building a new garage and landscaping the garden (a mess currently), then have 20k or a bit more left over to do one of these options: 1. Improve the current loft conversion to make it a wow factor master bed with en suite; 2.Build a utility room on side of the house 3.En suite to main bedroom and improve and modernise the family bathroom. Kind of guessing at the costs right now these are just thoughts. Want to make the house attractive to buyers and increase its value if we can. Any nuggets of wisdom welcome! Thanks mumsnetters

Thanks everyone, some really good points. For context the house value is probably about 450k (maybe a bit more). Option 4 was to do nothing apart from make the garden presentable and add a garage, which seems to be the vibe I'm getting on here. The house is very liveable and the kitchen is modern, all new wood flooring downstairs etc. Loads of on street parking and it's a lovely location. The loft conversion has been done for years, it's just a bit meh. Not planning on moving for 6 months or so, and my experience of estate agents has been that they are extremely variable in quality of advice so I've been looking at articles about how to add value, and how to make the house desirable. If the market continues to be this strong, we may not need to do anything to it apart from the garage. Thanks again for insightful responses.

Another vote for tidy and present your house nicely for sale. See how the market reacts to your property in the current state and then only do work if it doesn’t shift.

Our new house had a new (expensive) kitchen fitted 2 years before we bought, a new master ensuite 1 year before and lots of new fitted wardrobes 3 months before they sold. I’m ripping it all out!! I just don’t like the style of the master bathroom (too modern), kitchen (I’d like a different layout and hate the wooden worktops) and the fitted wardrobes are on the opposite side of the room to where I’d like them. Total waste of money on the part of the vendors. I didn’t pay more for these features, as I knew I’d be replacing them imminently.

Absolutely no way I’d spend fifty grand to sell. I’d make sure it was in good decorative order throughout, clean and then sell.

Why the garage? Maybe get planning permission for the garage and utility extension if you want (not sure why would bother though)

People might want to build their own home office to their own spec / extend or pay £30k less without a garage. That’s something anyone can add whenever.

£50k is more than 10% of the value of your house!

No one I know who has a garage keeps a car in it. It is full of bikes, camping stuff, freezer, tumble dryer, etc etc.

Off street parking / a drive really does add value, but if you have space for a garage you presumably already have that? I don't know why anyone would build a garage, garage-shaped, and then use it for al the other uses. Build a shed or utility room, if that is what you need. But if you have off street parking, the value is already there.

If I was buying I wouldn't want to pay extra for a newly added garage.

Oh - round us all the garages are being converted into home offices.

I’d also add that a house sat on the market near a relative. Over time they gathered the feedback from viewers, made the changes and then sold it fairly quickly. So if you do just go on the market and it’s not selling, you’ll at least know where the general consensus is for improvements.

I wouldn't even bother with a garage. You won't add value to it to recoup the costs.

@StillUpholding

Walked past the house the week we sold after to see all the new carpets in a skip!

My uncle put a new kitchen in before selling his lovely beachfront home. He was informed by his ex-neighbour the whole house had been bulldozed

Ha ha! I thought I felt bad that the front door I finally got round to painting was repainted fairly soon by new owner.

We previously had an old wooden garage from God knows how many years ago (period house with multiple previous owners) that was rotten and falling down. The space where it used to be is now used for off road parking. There's never a problem parking on the road because it's a dead end with houses on only one side and woodland opposite. I had reasoned that a garage was essential to sell, but probably not when I think about it.

Bloody hell £50k in a house worth £450k - you're throwing your money away. Not a chance you'd recoup that!

Spend a couple of grand getting the garden tidied up. Declutter, clean really throughly, and spend a weekend doing any odd bits of touching up of decor - bleach grout, clean carpets. Job done.

Yeah sell as it is and make sure it's written somewhere that it's is priced knowing that it needs some TLC

I wouldn't spend anything on it. As others have said just sell as is, the market is buoyant.
Why go through the stress of finding builders, landscape gardners and live through all that work. Then pray that you don't get cowboys who run off with your money or do a shoddy job, and how much will these improvements add to the sale price?

Definitely don't bother with a garage. Most are too small for modern dark anyway. Even if you do add a garage it's highly unlikely that you will recoup the money it cost to build it. Most people don't expect to be able to park a car in a garage these days, so it is something most people have compromised on before searching for a house. Obviously this is a generalisation, but less people have this as a priority these days

*Cars not dark

If I were you I’d spend a little bit (hundreds) on an architect or plans to show how a garage and integrated utility could be added. Do the buyer’s thinking for them, but don’t spend the capital outlay. And tidy the garden, make sure it has kerb appeal. And that’s all.

Oh and on the off chance of a miracle, what area is your house in? I'm in the market for a 4 bed though I fear yours is not expensive enough to be where I'm looking

Clean and declutter.

That's it.

Purely personal but as someone who has ripped out en suites (absolutely loathe them) id not pay over the odds for one.
Why not simply save the 50k for the new place !

I think the general rule is to spend 1-2% of the asking price on cosmetic changes, isn't it? . So just to touch up the paint on the walls, fix any wobbly taps, get the carpets professionally cleaned, buy some nice plants to make the front of the house look welcoming, invest in a stunt pineapple to display in the kitchen.

Once your house is on the market you'll hopefully get feedback from buyers. If they all complain there is no garage then invest in building one, but otherwise leave it. Alternatively get your bluntest friend round and ask them to point to bits that need tidying and freshening up.

I really wouldn't bother spending money building a garage if I was planning on selling, complete waste of money. You'll probably get the full £450k by just tidying up your house, and taking nice pictures!

Your budget sounds a bit unrealistic too, sorry. Planning fees, architectural drawings, building regs. Also if, honestly, other stuff needs updating like heating system, radiators, bigger 3xtension, tha5 is all likely to effect any work you do now. We took out the bathroom in our new house to put in a megaflo and new pipes and walk in shower.

We bought in knowing it needed work and are just about to take out the kitchen that’s relatively new as getting big extension built.

Don’t build a garage,I’m eying ours up to knock down, old garage,for more garden.

Honestly I’d ask around for advice on decent estate agents and really listen to what they are saying.

Look at other houses that have sold on your street or very close by. You will soon answer the question of what is worth doing. I disagree with other posters as usually if you do things right you should double your spend. I speak from experience on several occasions. If nobody has sold near you with a similar property chose the most 3 reputable estate agents and if 2 of them agree on something do that.

@HelpMeh

Oh and on the off chance of a miracle, what area is your house in? I'm in the market for a 4 bed though I fear yours is not expensive enough to be where I'm looking

We're in Greater Manchester

Thanks everyone for some really good advice that I'm going to take. Getting 3 EAs round to value. No longer planning to do any major work. I think I was making assumptions and needed a different perspective.