Reno for 100k?

[Pammela2]

We live in a bungalow that we bought with the intention of renovating. It has been 5 years now and we’ve only done some cosmetic things.

We have acces to 100k but are not sure what is best to do. Husband thought paying the mortgage down would be good but I think we should look at Reno potential- I doubt it’s enough for our ideal though.

We would, ideally like to do a loft conversion and extend that out on top of a current single story extension- hopefully get 3 bedrooms and a new bathroom. Then re jig the downstairs a bit to make an open plan area with new kitchen.

I doubt we’d manage that on 100k though?

So do we do a normal loft conversion for one bedroom and bathroom and re jig down stairs? And potentially add the extra later?

any thoughts on how far this could go? We’d manage maybe 10k extra. Potentially have family that might contribute a bit in a loan, but undetermined as of yet!

Costs would depend on how complex the rejigging is really. Do you have a floor plan you could share? Maybe you'll get some helpful suggestions on here to keep costs down but still maximise what you have.

I would have a rough couple plans in mind and speak to a builder/contractor about what would be a good budget.

Have you considered using the 100k to move house? Maybe you could side step into a property that has a better layout for you and save money (and stress) in the process.

It depends on the spec you go for but £100k may be a stretch… other points to consider though:

Do windows need replacing? What’s the heating system like? Does the property need re-wiring…
The roof?
If these all need doing in the next 10 years then I’d probably get them all done whilst the refurb taking place, obviously this will increase the cost but be beneficial in the long run.

Loft Conversion - £50k
Kitchen - £20k
Bathroom - £10k
Rewiring - £6k
Boiler/plumbing - £7k
Windows (dependant) - £8k
Roof - £10k
Carpets/ Flooring - £5k
Remedial works (plastering/decorating etc) - £5k
Rental/Storage (6 months) - £6k

That’s £127,000 in itself for worse case scenario…
If the additional works I mentioned don’t need completing then you’ll get it under the £100k…. But always have a contingency!!

The thing is though, would you get a return for the money you invest if you were to sell? Would it not be better just to sell this property and buy one that better suits your needs without having to do all this extensive building work. What’s your plan when the building work is taking place? Are you planning to move out or live on a building site? Stay with relatives? Short term rental? Also storage costs for your belongings…
These are costs to factor in too.

Thanks for the input. I have thought about moving but if we did, we would have to do work.. we would need another 200k to get somewhere in better nick that was in our school catchment.

If we stick to 100/130k, we would easily make the money back.

This is the current layout. Would look to move into the loft, probably putting stairs where the study is and take down the wall between dining and lounge. Or re jig. I’d like a utility put in somewhere!

so loft could be just the 1 room and bathroom, or we look to get some more money and go over the extension, which is basically that whole back section of lounge and dining.

We don’t need windows replacing, the roof looks ok atm but you never know.

Depends where you are but I don’t think 100k is realistic

I think you're right about opening up the study for stairs and taking down the dividing wall between the lounge and kitchen. I would want to explore taking down the walls to the study too and maybe having the stairs open to this space, but I would want to know which walls were load bearing as that would influence the cost!
If you open up the loft. I would open as much space as possible. Depending on the pitch of your roof will tell you what number of rooms would be practical. Creating rooms will not be expensive as these are just partition walls, but building dormers and putting the stairs in will be the most costly part.
I think worst case scenario you could create a room and ensuite upstairs as wells as remodel your kitchen diner. Obviously depends on what fixtures and fittings you choose! As pp has said things like rewiring and sneaky costs you find on the job (are the joists suitable in the loft for example) can eat into budget in an annoying way.

We have a bungalow and have been renovating for the last 3 years. It already had an upstairs (2 beds and a shower room) but we have turned into 3 beds and full bathroom. This has required a full restructure of the roof to remove load bearing posts, additional purlins, 4 velux and 4 new windows. This plus knocking a wall out downstairs, new kitchen, flooring etc has come in at around 100k. My husband is very handy so does a lot but upstairs was mostly a builder job. I think minus the windows (new bays downstairs too) we’d probably be just over 80k. Hope that’s helpful to have some recent numbers.

Thanks! That’s good to hear. We’re in Scotland, so at least not looking at south of England prices. We do live in a desirable area though and it seems to be passed on in quotes sometimes.

I think we’ll look into rough costs and see what would be most beneficial.

We are in the south west of England so it ain’t cheap!

Oh really! I would say that gives me some comfort that we might manage a decent amount then!
I hope it’s all been worth it.

Tell me about it! The lack of tradespeople are frustrating too!

We've written off houses with open plan downstairs (or equivalent).
We renovated a 4-5 bedroom house with a reply kitchen, replacement floors upstairs, carpeting throughout, complete redecoration and some roof repairs and replacement gutters for 48k.

Yes, I am wondering about pocket doors between a dining/living area. We’d use one of the bedrooms as a separate living room too if we made more space upstairs.

So you’re looking to go from 3 beds to 5?

On basis that you said an upstairs would hopefully give you 3 beds, and you already have 3 downstairs but will turn one into a second sitting room.

How many kids do you have?

You might find it helpful to watch some old episodes of Your Home Made Perfect or Love it or List it?

I think it is interesting that we have reached a crossover point where renovation, especially in things like fundamental structual change like loft conversions and extensions, is actually looking a lot less beneficial in terms of value than moving house. House price increases are relatively low/static, whereas building costs have literally gone through the roof.

Currently under going a loft conversion, just two large bedrooms. We moved in February to a probate bungalow, so a lot to do ! cost for the loft is around £60k, we had a few quotes and this one was all in, with drawing plans etc. We are South East

Ideally, yes. Although if we got the three upstairs we’d use one bedroom as a living room, one as an office and the other keep as a bedroom. Then the open plan at the back.

We do need an office but I’m unsure we’ll manage the 3 beds and bathroom upstairs. Maybe 2 kids bedrooms and shower room, or one big bedroom with bathroom.

Then I’d be looking to try to put an office somewhere- maybe next to the stairs.. but it’s much trickier..

It is interesting. However, our house has gone up about 100k and to move would be over 30k in stamp duty..
And we can’t get a finished product with all the things that we want for the extra 100/120k..