Accurate valuation for loft conversion?

[Dylan T]

Hi all - I'd like to convert the loft in my home, but have had a couple of firms out to give quotes and it's a little more than I expected. My concern is not making my money back; it adds a 4th bedroom but there's a risk of overdeveloping. I really would love to get a valuation on the house for now and prospective if I was to convert but am aware all the folks I can find offering valuation services are estate agents. Surely they will just want me to sell a house rather than move and therefore give a low valuation for the works, telling me its not worth it. Is there a way to get an accurate and honest valuation out there?
Thanks

 

[cdbe]

It's always subjective, and a lot of people don't like the extra traipse or the top heavyness. Just compare similar 3/4 bed prices in the area and err towards the bottom of the 4 bed range, unless you have something extra like a new bathroom up there. Most people do them because they like the house and saves on moving expenses.

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

Building material and labour costs have reached the point where "adding value" to your house often doesn't make sense.

If you really need that 4th bedroom then it may cost less to move to a 4-bed house.

The only way to develop profitably is usually to directly employ the staff or do the work yourself.

 

[^woody^]

A valuer, or more correctly a valuation surveyor (RICS) is the one who will value property. It does not mean he values it for estate agency purposes, even though he may work for or be an estate agent. It depends on the instruction given.

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

Estate agents tend to tell people what they want to hear, i.e. an over-inflated valuation. Then, after a month at this nonsense price with no viewings, they'll tell you to reduce it. So getting a realistic valuation isn't very easy. Plus you're knowingly wasting their time if you've no intention of selling.

If you're going to be making the biggest or best house on your street then this makes it more difficult to increase its value, as all the comparable sales will be for lower prices. Much better to have the worst house on a good street. We gave up on plans for a dormer extension on our last house. We'd have been creating a mansion in a tight plot with close neighbours and a shared driveway, mansion buyers would buy elsewhere without these issues.

We moved house instead.

 

[johnny2007]

In my experience, unless you are a property developer flipping houses after improving them and using your own team to do the work, an extension will not be profitable if you're selling soon after completion.
However, if you're staying in the house for a few good years, you will make a profit when you sell.
Of course this is subject to postcode.
House prices in central London increase a lot faster than in the suburbs of Preston for example.

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

You're paying the builder for a brand new immaculate room.

The person you're selling the house to is buying a second hand used room.

There's a premium for being the first owner, as there is with newbuild houses and cars.

 

[George_engineer]

In my experience, unless you are a property developer flipping houses after improving them and using your own team to do the work, an extension will not be profitable if you're selling soon after completion.
However, if you're staying in the house for a few good years, you will make a profit when you sell.
Of course this is subject to postcode.
House prices in central London increase a lot faster than in the suburbs of Preston for example.

Definitely this.

If you want a fourth bedroom then you get to use that for years then sell. Inflation will almost always overtake the initial capital investment and you've had the use of the room/extension since it was completed.

Extending only to increase value is a mugs game for most homeowners.

 

[Dylan T]

Thanks everyone, that's useful info!

 

[mikeey84]

If you want a valuation, as an estate agent, and be upfront.

You will probably have to pay them, but my dad is developing a plot of land, and paid £500 for a 4 page report from a local EA on the potential valuations of different arrangements

 

[Murdochcat]

Moving home costs much more than people think, especially when home prices are high

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

Moving home costs much more than people think, especially when home prices are high

I disagree. I used an online agent to sell ours for £150. As long as it's on Rightmove it doesn't matter who they are or whatever nonsense they spout.

I paid a conveyancing company about £300 to process the sale.

We packed boxes ourselves and got a removal company to move everything. Can't remember the price, but it wasn't horrendous.

We used the same conveyancing company to buy the new house.

Our biggest expense was stamp duty. But, thanks to the new higher limits, many don't need to pay it these days anyway.

House size aside, we now have a much nicer house in a nicer place that's "worth" less than the old one. So we're very happy we decided against extending the old one.