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Original poster

what's "easier" moving house...or having an extension?

26 replies

futurity · 08/12/2008 16:51

OK...so I know neither of them are easy but I wanted some honest answers from those who have been through it.

Is moving house really the hell on earth that it seems to be? How does living through having an extension compare with all the disruption that it brings?

OP posts:
ComeOVeneer · 08/12/2008 16:56

Depends on size of extension really. We had a small single storey extension and a wall knocked through in our old house (then a new kitchen) and it was less stressful than the move we did 2 years ago (mind you the offer was accepted in June, we moved in Jan the next year a s there were a lot of problems).

A friend recently had a 3 bed semi extended, adding 2 bedrooms, both ensuite, extending the back of the house to increase the kitchen into a huge kitchen breakfast room, increasing the living room and adding a study and a utility room. They had to move out for a period of time and lived in a building site for over a year, so it was more stresssful than moving!

Guess that doesn't really answer your question does it?

sellorrenovate · 08/12/2008 17:05

Haven't been through it but we will be moving out in order to extend (& totally renovate)....a combination of the 2 really

lalalonglegs · 08/12/2008 17:35

Depends on the sale and the builders: willing vendor/willing buyer with decent solicitors and finances in place is all fairly straightforward. Take away one of those things and it becomes hell on earth. Decent builders who communicate well and turn up when they are expected to, do what was agreed and stick to budget make life a lot easier - if you find some that fit that description, let me know .

ChippyMyrrhton · 08/12/2008 17:37

To move is easier (especially if you get the packers in).
Unless of course you love your house, and can justify the cost of extending.

Original poster
futurity · 08/12/2008 18:45

thanks for your responses...it's hard isn't it as there is no right or wrong on this one. Everyone I know who has moved recently said "never again!!!" but they have done it and probably won't have to do it again.

We don't NEED to move...we have been here 12 years and we love the road and do love the house...ok..not love the house but we like it! But we can't stop picking fault at it and working out what we could do with it and what we can't do (loft conversion out of the question for example). Then we start wondering about other houses in the village and where would we want to live and how does it compare to here etc etc.

The idea with moving with all the STUFF we have combined with the fact that we work from home would just be so awful. So would building work to be honest. Maybe we should not do anything at all LOL!

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lalalonglegs · 08/12/2008 18:51

Personally, I think if the house needs lots of work doing to it, then it is at least more satisfying to do that work than move providing the location is great. I wouldn't say it is easier though - just a separate set of unknowns - but it will probably be cheaper, especially if 4% stamp duty becomes an issue in your move.

Original poster
futurity · 08/12/2008 18:58

no...definitely not in the 4% range! But you are right..I hadn't thought about the 3% stamp duty on say a house worth 400,000..thats 12K which is alot of money just for moving. (last time we moved stamp duty was alot less as was the value of our house!)

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psychohohohoho · 08/12/2008 19:15

I always swore when we moved here 12yrs ago that I would NEVER move again. It was honestly one of the worst ever times of my life, but then, we moved while MIL was recovering from major emergancy heart surgery (she had a tumour in her heart that was discovered by accident while having an echo for palpitations and she was rushed to theatre, not even allowed to get of the bed as her heart was twice the size it should be), I suffered a miscarriage with the shock of MIL, my uncle (who raised me), was dying of cancer AND DD1 was in and out of hospital after suffering HIB influenza and was left with a weak chest...........I was dealing with the estate agents and and solicitors from which ever hospital I was in on any given day, and the estate agents were being twunts.

in fact, I think I threatened to come and kill them all if they moved the moving date again (they movd it THREE times!!!)

it was NOT a good experience and one I am hoping to never do again.

Having said that, we are about to embark on an extension in the new year, so I may yet change my mind on what is worse.

Original poster
futurity · 08/12/2008 19:30

oh my word psycho..that is most definitely not a good combination of situations to be moving house with!!

I am fairly innocent when it comes to moving house. First time round DH and I were innocent first time buyers and it was all lovely and fluffy. Then when we moved here we part exchanged so again relatively painless. Now we have 2 kids, 2 cats, we work from home and we have a whole life going on (compare to the last two times!) and the only thing I can think that would be nice about moving is going to nose around houses!

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psychohohohoho · 08/12/2008 19:34

no, it really was not!

I would have loved a 'nice' moving house time.......I have friends who have moved three or more times (in fact I think flame moved yearly for the first four years of our friendship), and it seems to have put none of them off..........so maybe it is what else is going on that colours it.

but, like I say, we are extending in the new year, and currently going thro DH fitting a new bathroom (into wk3 now)........it is getting stressful.

snoringnightmare · 08/12/2008 19:36

Think if you've got that "want to move" itch going on then nothing makes it go away.

Tried that at one of our previous homes. Extended downstairs and loft. Pretty messy and stressful. Great when it was finished but there were other houses out there..... Then 18 months later we moved.

Of course, the housing market today is not a great one to be thinking about buying and selling anyway.

So, not much help really am I.

nickytinseltimes · 08/12/2008 19:37

I've done massive renovations and part of an extension (we gave up, but it was self build - I mean, actually us physically building it) and it was farking hellish.

We are about to try to sell - ha, ha! - and it is already a nightmare.

I would avoid both if at all possible.

If you must, then extend.

ggirlsbells · 08/12/2008 19:39

we had large extension done about 3-4 yrs ago
it was probably a lot easier than moving becasue we moved out for 5 weeks at the worst stage..definitely recommended!

mrsmaidamess · 08/12/2008 19:41

Having an extension means that you will hopefully get the layout you want, based on how your family lives in your house.

If you move, the new house may seem great to begin with. Then in time, you may realise that something about the flow of the layout is not right, like the kids have to run through the kitchen to get to the back door or something ,and you may have to extend there!

Just a thought.

Original poster
futurity · 08/12/2008 19:58

mrsmaidamess ...your comment about kids going through the kitchen to get out of the back door made me laugh as that is what winds me up a bit about this house! You are right though..it is difficult to imagine a new house and how you can live in it and how it would work for you...especially in our case as we work from home as well.

Interesting point snoringnightmare about the itch! I think I have it too a certain extent or maybe it is just the itch for change..whether it be moving or extension.

OP posts:
sellorrenovate · 09/12/2008 07:40

No doubt you are watching this www.channel4.com/4homes/on-tv/the-home-show/. I'm desperate for George to come and do our house

barbarianoftheuniverse · 09/12/2008 07:55

Moving house is faster, cleaner and far less stressful. Our 4 month extension took 17 in the end and was way over budget. Would never do it again.

Original poster
futurity · 09/12/2008 10:25

we are seriously thinking of applying for George!

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sellorrenovate · 09/12/2008 19:05

I have applied for George but I haven't heard anything

ThePellyandMe · 09/12/2008 19:20

We had an extension last year. The width of house at the back, internal walls knocked out to make massive family room and kitchen.

We had nowhere to go so stayed put and it was a nightmare. When they came in the house and started dismantling the kitchen and knocking out walls I couldn't use my kitchen all day. Me and the dc's would do everything in the lounge. Hell!!

Having said that it was cheaper than moving and we got exactly what we wanted.

littlefrog · 09/12/2008 19:40

We had builders for 8.5 months of my pregnancy with DC1, and lived in the house the whole time - electricity run on cables; no hot water for several months, no heating at all, no oven. Oh, and no roof to the house for 3 months either. But the builders were fab, and though it was stressful and filthy and COLD, I really missed them when they left! I wouldn't do it with DS now though - he'd need to be a lot bigger.

KatieDD · 09/12/2008 21:35

My friend had an extension tinking it would be cheaper than moving, the bastards at the council keep writing to her saying they want to reband her house now and put up her council tax, so she might as well have moved and saved herself the trouble.

Original poster
futurity · 10/12/2008 09:41

interesting about the council tax going up. hadn't thought of that.

sellorrenovate: short list drawn up mid to late January I was told.

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sellorrenovate · 11/12/2008 12:55

So there's still a hope that George will be my saviour...in my dreams I suspect.

Niecie · 11/12/2008 13:08

Moving house is far easier and I have had some not very simple house moves - the last one took 5 mths with threats of chains collapsing (which became reality once). The time before we exchanged and completed at the same time on the motorway on the way to our new house with all our worldy goods in a truck going to a place where neither DH or I a knew a soul and where really, we didn't want to be moving to in the first place. And of course there was the whole shinanigans that lead us to be exchanging and completing on the same day in the first place. That was stressful.

But, it is nothing to having somebody in your house for weeks on end, getting in the way of your life, making a mess, making your house worse before it gets better and taking over your garden. And we only had a loft conversion done too. Most of the work went on under the roof and they only come through near the end. Mind you, we were having a new kitchen fitted at the same time at one point which didn't help.

No, I would move unless I really adored the house (or at least what it could be given some work) and the location.