Any ideas on property value?

[Singlebutmarried]

We’re looking at extending.

Currently 3 bed 1940s semi with shower/loo upstairs and main bath downstairs (separate loo downstairs too)

Plan is to move the bathroom upstairs, and then extend downstairs to include a 3rd bedroom/study with a Jack and Jill bathroom through to the new utility.

We don’t need the space upstairs, so keeping just 2 bedrooms upstairs would be fine.

So we would have:

Living room/snug
Kitchen/lounge/diner about 8x3m
Loo
Utility
Bed 3
Ensuite/Jack n Jill

Upstairs
Bed 1
Bed 2
Large bathroom
Walk on airing cupboard (boiler et al in there)

We’re SE and DH asked what difference only 2 beds upstairs would make and I said very little, but he’s convinced we’d lose money by doing the above, we’re not planning on moving so I think it’s a bit of a moot point.

We won’t lose much garden as it’s massive.

It's very hard to say without more information, floorplan, etc. For me, I wouldn't buy a house with the only bathroom downstairs so moving the bathroom upstairs is a big plus. But when I look at houses I automatically discount any bedrooms downstairs so I would view your new layout as a two bed.

Have other houses in your area done the same thing? How large are the remaining 2 bedrooms upstairs?

I agree. I think for marketing / valuation purposes, it will still be viewed as a 2 bed with some additional living space downstairs (the study). If people choose to use that room as a 3rd bedroom then that's upto them, but I don't think people would see it as a 3rd bed.

I think it would be better to see if you can get a 3rd bedroom upstairs - maybe make the footprint of the downstairs extension smaller (e.g. just the utility / open plan room) but make it double storey to get a 3rd bed upstairs?

An extended semi will always be worth less than a bigger detached house. Work out how much it will cost for the building works, how much you'd hope it would be worth, and see what a 3 or 4 bed detached is worth.

I would never want a downstairs bedroom and I think a lot of people would take the view that your extension was a second living room rather than a bedroom. Could you do a loft conversion to get an extra bed and bath instead?

I think you'd be destroying value and it'd be hard to think of the downstairs bedroom at such. Have you considered a loft conversion with an en suite instead?

Agree that a loft conversion would be a better layout. I wouldn’t want a downstairs bedroom

Removing a bedroom upstairs could make quite a significant difference to value if your house is in an area popular with families.

Could you do a small 2 storey extension to add an upstairs bathroom and downstairs study, then convert existing bathroom to cloakroom/utility.

Not a chance for a loft conversion. There’s not room to stand in there.

It will end up being 2 full baths plus a loo.

Take your point of the downstairs bedroom. Think I’ll take the proposed floor plan to a local agent.

We don’t need the upstairs space which is why we’re thinking of moving the main bathroom upstairs. Some of the houses in the road are 2 bed as they opted for the bathroom to be put on a bedroom rather than built on the back (guessing 70s by the state of the readers wives we found in the ceiling ).

Really is a how long is a piece of string thing isn’t it.