Deep Singh

Ok here goes. I am about to start refurbing my house and have a dilemma. Its an Edwardian 5 bed. It has a very small family bathroom ie 1.74m x 2.34m. I'm thinking about converting one of the bedrooms plus some corridor space to make a big 'luxury' bathroom that would have seperate big bath and walk in shower etc. That would mean I end up with a 4 bed plus a study/box room ie the existing bathroom.

Now the question is will this devalue the property ie whats worth more a 5 bed with small family bathroom or 4bed + study + large luxury bathroom?

Estate agents/property developers opinions especially welcome but all invited.

Many thanks as always

davyboy

5 bedrooms and one tiny bathroom?

Did they not wash or go to the loo in the old days!

Tell me it has an en suite too!

TopBanana

I would have thought it would devalue it. Cant you just expand the bathroom and shrink the 5th bed?

David Lock

I'd do what is nice for you. I'd probably build large bathroom and AND make small room into shower room as well. Sounds like type of house with outside privy as well??

Deep Singh

Hi.

No ensuite but am making one.

TB, thats not a possibilty due to layout.

David, yes I could do whats nice for me but the roof over your head is the biggest investment you usually make. Because of this I can't afford to devalue the property by even 10% as thats a hell of alot of money(for me)

Vegescoob

Detached or semi, town, city or rural?
Good area ? How long do you intend to stay there?
Rule of thumb is don't end up with a property that, upon sale, you would have to ask a lot more for than neighbouring properties. However, if the changes are for your circumstances that might not apply.
Large bathrooms are far better but even with 4 bedrooms many would expect an ensuite in the master bedroom to accept it as a family house.
The plumbing layout has to be considered in this and a bit spent on advice from a good architect or architectural technician might pay dividends.

Suresh

Deep, I'd also say to go with what suits your lifestyle best (probably the bigger bathroom). You have to live there almost every day of the year, so make sure you enjoy your life now too and not only worry about the fruits of your investments.

Suresh

Deep Singh

VS, town (Essex, but two miles from London), nice area, may well live here for the rest of my life, semi detached. I am building an ensuite so thats not a problem. I wouldn't have to ask much more for my house than neighbours(with similar period properties) but they will be offering 5 beds and small bathroom and I will be offering 4 beds + study + large **** off bathroom

Suresh, I take your point and thats why I'm making myself an ensuite and nice kitchen etc. Just don't want to do anything thats going to lose me major amounts of cash.

Thanks for the help so far

GCollier

There was a survey in the Times property supplement a few months ago which (iirc) said that the level of demand/requirement for 5+ bedroom properties was actually smaller than the amount of such properties which existed. A decent bathroom is always a big selling point, and a 5 bedroom house with only a small bathroom would undoubtedly put off buyers. So I'd go ahead with plan and convert one of your bedrooms.

Gary.

Clarebabes

There's a house round here which has a flat roofed extension giving it 5 bedrooms. Only problem is no garage and only one bathroom! They want £250K for it - way over the top for it in this area.

The problem is who would want to fill a house with enough people to warrant 5 bedrooms with only one bathroom?

It seems us British are obsessed with toilets - we like at least 3 in a house these days. A town house we were thinking of buying recently had 4!

BTW, look how cool this house is with an amazing bathroom:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetai...a_n=1&tr_t=buy

2000TLondon

A nice bathroom is a major selling point, as is a nice kitchen, and is generally the area people will spend most money. If you are concerned about resale, the idea would be to have the bathroom fairly neutral so that a buyer wouldn't have to consider updating it themselves, or spending to change it to their taste.

If you have to sacrifice a bedroom to create the bathroom you want, I would go ahead and do it. Although you need to consider resale, it's important not to see your home just as an investment, obviously, so as said previously, do it for yourself mainly. I would imagine if anything in your situation the addition of an en-suite would add most value. If you are considering staying there the rest of your life, there is no real immediate issue with resale.

It would be prudent to get as many quotes from professionals as you can, even if you intend to do it yourself, as you don't want to end up having to spend way over budget if you find any surprises.

As far as walk in showers go, I'm shortly going to try and turn my family bathroom into a "wet room".

CLSII

Deep,

I agree that a good bathroom, and kitchen are really important come sale time.

I remember watching one of the 'moving house/developer' programmes which suggested that it might be prudent before alterations to consult a few local Estate agents...after all they do value houses and if you pick a decent local one they should be able to give you some idea.

Just a thought ;D

Deep Singh

Hi.

Thanks for that Times survey info Gary I'll try and find it on google .

Clare, strictly speaking it does'nt have just have one bathroom as there is one downstairs aswell, and I'll be adding an ensuite. Also I'm talking about making a larger bathroom as opposed to adding one. Thats one hell of a bathroom in the link! I only wish you could get a house like that for £400k in London!

2000t, I would never dare diy it! Agree though it would be funky but neutral, nothing ott

More opinions welcomed

Deep Singh

I'd love to do that but not sure quite how ie why should they come around to my house to offer me free advice?

stevebt

iTrader: (8)

i always thought bathrooms added money onto property but its the bedrooms that do it. it you remove a bedroom to make a bigger bathroom, no matter how good the bathroom looks your house would sell for less money that if you had left it as a 5 bedroomed house. a 5 bedroomed house with a small bathroom is always more disreable than a 4 bedroomed house with a large bathroom.

your better option would be to look at seeing if you can make the existing bathroom bigger by making one of the other bedrooms smaller ie if there is a stud wall around the bathroom chances are its going to back on to a bedroom. if you moved the wall (minor job) in the bedroom back about 2-3ft this would make the bathroom much bigger and still retain a 5 bedroomed house

or you could do your idea and still extend the old bathroom into a bedroom but not as much so it could then be clased as a small bedroom

fast bloke

leave the bathroom as it is, rejig the bedrooms to make an en suite. You need to make all the accomodation proportionate. 5 beds and one crapper wont work - ideally you need two wash areas and 3 crap areas with 5 beds. Then make downstairs have 3 or 4 receptions. Would you ever consider a house with 5 beds, 1 reception, 1 bathroom? - Where does everyone go when they are not sleeping?

Turbohot

To the pub.
Convert the house into a pub.

(I will bugger off now)

fast bloke

[falls asleep on the crapper]

2000TLondon

Just tell the local Estate Agents you are considering selling, want a valuation, then say what if I added this bathroom, did this, did that, do you think it would be worthwhile? They'll always be happy to come round and have a gander, you are always a potential victim, sorry, customer after all! Whatever they tell you, tell 'em your going to think about it for a month or two.......... Get half a dozen round for a balanced view (and expect the valuations to differ by 20% of the mean value!!!) And remember to treat them with contempt!!!!!

MikeCardiff

iTrader: (2)

General rule of thumb is one bathroom and/or toilet for every 3 bedrooms, you can get away with say one bathroom and a downstairs toilet in a 4 bed house.

If you're planning on staying in the house, do what suits you - the 'value' of the house is irrelevant if you are going to be living in it. If you are planning on selling as quickly as possible and trying to make a profit, then go for what suits the area.

It is quite tricky though as not many people now, and probably fewer still over the next few years need 5 bedrooms in a house - considering people are having smaller families due to starting later because of careers etc... then 4 beds is about the maximum most people need.

Personally I'd go for an extra bathroom ( even if just a smaller shower room / bog combo ) as it would make the house more easily sellable, and more livable while you are there - it may not make it worth more compared to the neighbours, but then if their houses are valued at say 15% more than yours, but they cant sell them because they dont suit peoples needs, then it doesnt make much difference.

You have to remember the value of a property means nothing if you cant sell it to anyone.

Deep Singh

Ok, I think people have misunderstood or I'm just confused.

The house already has

1) one toilet(and shower) downstairs. I agree the shower bit doesn't really count as its downstairs.

2) Assume it has an ensuite as I am defo making one

3) Small bathroom( enough for toilet/shower over bath combo and basin). This will be a little cramped ie 1.73mx 2.34m.

4) A seperate toilet and wash basin up stairs

I cannot make the bathroom bigger by encroaching on another room because the layout makes this IMPOSSIBLE.

Also I am not talking of ADDING a bathroom but making one thats bigger and could truely be described as a luxury family bathroom ie with two basins, seperate big bath, big walk in shower etc. The existing bathroom will then become a study/box room

So in summary which is better

1) 5bed, 1 downstairs tiolet and shower, 1 ensuite(assume),1 small family bathroom plus seperate toilet ( AS THE HOUSE IS)

2) 4 bed, + ONE STUDY upstairs(1.73mx2.3m), 1 downstairs tiolet and shower, 1 ensuite, + BIG LUXURY BATHROOM.

Thanks

The Zohan

Have a look at what similar 4 and 5 beds go for in your area. TBH there are not that many familes that need 5 bedrooms these days unlike the Victorian period. I would have thought a larger good spec bathroom would make it more desirable.
No-one with a family or not wants pokey small bathroom. Without seeing your property i would still imagine that loosing a small bedroom and gainning a bigger bathroom is the way to go.

DMC12

Personnaly I'd prefer option 2. I'd find a luxury bathroom with walk in shower much more appealing.

I've seen 3 & 4 bed new builds with the smallest bedroom no bigger than your proposed study. In other words there is nothing stopping you marketing it as a 5 bed anyway when the time comes. It's up to you and the new owners to decide how you'd want to use it.

How much have you budgetted for the conversion? I can't see it losing money, but I don't know whether it would increase the value to recoup the cost of the work.

Cheers

Steve.

hades

FWIW, I don't think you'll loose out by converting. An example of houses where I'm presently looking - 2 otherwise identical houses, but one mildly extended to make it 5 bedrooms, the other is 4 bedrooms (both with 1 en-suite, 1 family bathroom, 1 downstairs cloaks). Difference in asking price is £5k in £300k. If the 4 bedroom one had a really nice bathroom and the other a really pokey one, I could see that gap closing to nothing

With this level of thing, a lot of it boils down to what an individual buyer wants. Some people might be looking for 5 bedrooms as they have 3+ kids. Some will much prefer the space of a nice bathroom. There's a certain element of luck when you come to sell as to whether the people viewing your house want to buy what you have.

MikeCardiff

iTrader: (2)

I cant understand this obsession some people seem to have now with having a huge bathroom - its probably the one room in the house you spend the least amount of time in.

All these property programmes have people spending absolute fortunes on bathrooms the size of a double bedroom, and it just HAS to have stone tiles on the floor and walls.

The bathroom in my house has enough room for a toilet, sink, shower and bath, which is fine as that covers anything I'm going to do in there.

R1916v

Bathroom is a good selling point as along with the kitchen it'd cost the most to refurb, but size doesn't really bother me just the way it's been done.

TopBanana

You don't want to make big compromises on what could well be your final house. Do whatever you want and enjoy it!

Deep Singh

Ok, looks like its leaning towards option 2...

Vegescoob

Once you've had a bathroom bigger than the British Standard Issue you won't want to go back.
I don't want to.
I think there's some sort of relic of Puritanical attitudes towards luxury to do with bathing that led to miniscule bathrooms.
Utter nonsense of course, enjoy your bathroom.

Oh, forgot to say, if you go for the larger bathroom don't forget to build in a sound system.
You can get speakers for bathrooms, have the source and amp in a bedroom and then your favourite chillout music to unwind to.

davyboy

Clearly not This is SN, everyone has an opinion.........but they don't know ****.