Anyone ever EXTENDED their current house?

[PinkPalace]

We are looking at property and ultimately the house we would like to buy and the house we can afford are 2 different homes lol!

I have found a house on a large block - it is very nice but on the small side. We could make it work (it is brick and tile), But wondering how hard and how much is costs to extend a house?

Ultimately i would like another bedroom and larger back patio area....

anyone done this?
how much did it set you back?

[Rach75]

we are currently extending our house, my husband is very handy and has done evrything except plumbing so far himself, from concreteing we hired a friend to help, he did alll the frame work, the internal gyprock, we got someone to do external cladding as we redid the old part of house too

when we looked at getting it done professionally it was going to cost us same $$ sq m wise as building a new home

we were lucky in the fact we pruchase our house for $36000 nearly 9 years ago we extended the mortgage to $100 000 when we started the extension, we have probably spent close on $50000 on concrete, plumbing, external cladding, gyprock, we still have to get waterproofer and plastere in ( this is happening this month) painters and carpet tiler in, so probably looking another $10000 I would imagine, but in saying that we basiclaly doubled the sq m of our house

HTH best thing to do is talk to builders or home improvement builders they can generally give you a rough idea of what you are looking at per sq mtr

[PinkPalace]

wow ok
So you have added what to your house.
I am talking only 1-2 rooms or 1 room and a larger patio.

At the moment you can get a 3 bed house for $100k less than a 4 bed home, and i am trying to work out if it is better to buy the 3 and live in it for a few years then extend when we have more money.

or get the 4 bed and struggle with $$ until i am back at work full time.....

[Rach75]

well we have added a 2nd bathroom/toilet, moved the laundry, 4th bedroom and large lounge rumpus

as I said make a few calls to local builders etc, see what they can give you approx as a sqr mte price then you will know if finacially it will be viable...

[PinkPalace]

thanks Rach.
Even if it cost $50000 for an extra room it would still be cheaper lol!

[Lulu]

I'd vote on the smaller house, extend later. BUT make sure you are allowed to extend - check for easements etc when you are looking at something.

[Rach75]

yeah I meant to say make sure the roof line is suitable for extension etc makes it cheaper as well if the existing roofline is a good one

also council regulation in regards to boundaries and how close you can build we would have gone a bit bigger but we had to stay 1.5mtr of the boundry on the side we extended

[Salsa]

pink palace I could have written your post myself. We are currently looking at buying but can probably only afford 3 bedroom, but I desparatly want 4-5! So we were thinking we might have to buy something that can be added onto later. I think the cost involved in selling and buying a new one 2 -5 years after the one we want to get into now would be more than extending, but I really dont know for sure? I do know that everyone who has ever had work like this done on there house says you only want to do it once! too much mess, noise, $ etc.

[Rach75]

see I'd do it again, but then Jase has done all the work its a work in progress, mind you ask me when we start doign the exisiting kitchen and revamp the exisiting laundry into a walk thru wiht storage an di may change my mind

[PinkPalace]

thanks girls
it is a tiled roof - but i guess i need to lookinto it - i called the RE - trying to organise an inspection to show DH through.

salsa as you said not worth the pain of buying and selling in such a short period if time - wouldnt get much profit after fees and interest paid - so would be one or the other

i know i woul prefer the cheaper house so we dont have financial struggles

[*Ali*]

I guess it also depends one what sort of an extension you are after. We looked at having an extension put onto the house we are buying- we just looked at a games room/ extra bedroom size room and it was going to cost us about $30,000- this was for a hardiplank exterior, gyprock interior, all electrics, concrete floor etc which I dont think is to bad, to have a patio down with this we were looking at about another $5-8 k depending on type size etc. For us it is a better choice to by the smaller house now (is still 4 bed but tiny living space) and get the extension put on in a couple of years, rather than struggle to buy a bigger house now.

[Salsa]

so, do people usually pay for the extension by saving the $ needed or will banks lend for extensions fairly easily? Or does it just depend on case by case?

[~Raven~]

PP don't look at the cladding of the roof, rather if it's a conventional pitched or truss roof. Anything is possible in regards to renovating but $$$$ come into it big time if you want to pull down a wall that happens to be a major roof support.

[Phteven]

We're thinking of getting a cape-cod extension so we get the extra space without losing any garden and our plan is to save for it.

[Rach75]

Salsa we had to get the bak out to do a re-valuation on ours, in our case we were lucky as we bought during a major slump and when we re-financed it was during boom period but yes generally case by case depends on valuatiosn in area, where you live etc

[PinkPalace]

Well - i spoke with DH and he said it is a possibilty! so ooooh i am excited now (excited to get out of renting haha!)....
called the RE and they are going to try organise an inspection for us.. but they didnt ring back... oh now i hate the waiting game.. in case someone else jumps in first! :P

PP don't look at the cladding of the roof, rather if it's a conventional pitched or truss roof. Anything is possible in regards to renovating but $$$$ come into it big time if you want to pull down a wall that happens to be a major roof support.

Oh Raven - i have no idea lol! will need to look at it. whats the difference (can you give me an idiots guide on the difference... is it something i can see myself or do it need to have a report to know? which is the better one (easier one) to renovate.

Ali - that sounds good on price! i have no idea on renos so i would have to pay a builder to come out with us i guess to see what our options are. I suppose i could do that during the 5 day cooling off period????

Salsa - we would probably save or redraw money off the loan before we borrowed on equity. When we would plan on renovating would be 4-5 years ahead when i am working full time again and on double incomes.

Bron - what is a cape cod extension?

[Phteven]

A cape cod is putting an extra storey on the top - usually a bit smaller than the bottom story. They're generally not much more than a normal extension.

Don't worry about someone jumping in first on your house. There are lots of places on the market and if you miss out on one perfect house another perfect house will turn up.

Lots of the people who do building inspections are retired builders so you could pick their brains then.

[PinkPalace]

oh good point! i didnt think of that!

Yeah it isnt our 'dream home ' lol! but it had a good block and looks nice to live in - in our price range .

Rather than buying something that needs to be renovated inside as well if you know what i mean, :P