If the lack of space in your house is becoming a major issue, but you don’t want to move, you’re certainly not alone. More and more people are looking for new ways to add extra living space instead of going through the stress and expense of relocating.
If your home improvement is done right, not only will you end up with a house that has enough space for all your family’s needs, your property will also have appreciated in value. And with the number of bedrooms being the first thing that determines your home’s value, this is a good place to start.
What’s more, you may not even have to build an extension. Start with the assumption that you already have the square footage in your property somewhere. All you have to do is to find the unused space and turn it into additional bedrooms.
Adding a Bedroom Extension
A frequent problem with first home buyers is that while the family grows, a home does not. Planning ahead and buying a larger home with more bedrooms is not usually an option because of the expense. A more viable option is to buy a home with a view to adding a bedroom extension later when your home equity and increased earnings make it more affordable. Adding a bedroom extension also adds value to your home, making it an investment that can potentially pay dividends.
Adding a bedroom extension is not just a matter of tacking on an extra room. If it’s going to be a bedroom you enjoy having and enhances the value of your home, it should fit seamlessly into your existing home design and modernise the home as well. In an ideal situation, you will have space for adding on a bedroom that is perfectly situated. Ideal situations rarely exist, though. That’s when a little lateral thinking comes in handy.
How much value will another bedroom bring?
Brisbane Real Estate experts unanimously agree that homes with more bedrooms, on average, sell for a higher price.
A study of median house prices by a property investment expert found an extra room could increase house prices by an average of $95,000. Other experts suggest that this figure could be even higher if you renovate efficiently. Finding the right duplex build is an important decision. Check out our range of the best home design constructions at Home Builders.
While it is difficult to determine exactly how much value another bedroom will bring, it’s clear that adding an extra bedroom will increase your property value.
But there are caveats to this, the main one being that you should research the demographic of your suburb and renovate accordingly. Get an idea of who will be buying or renting your property. Will it be families or first home buyers? If families populate your suburb, adding an extra room to a two-bedroom house will almost certainly add value. However, first home buyers have different priorities, making adding another room not as profitable for you.
How much will it cost to add another bedroom?
According to the Architecture Cost Guide, the average cost of adding a room to your home is $1900 – $3400 per square metre. This will depend on the level of construction and whether your home is timber or brick. There are also Brisbane City Council regulations and permit costs to consider.
You may also consider repurposing another room in your home, removing the need for expensive add-on construction. Converting a pre-existing room such as an attic or study may be a smarter, low-risk option if you’ve decided to add another bedroom.
Issues and Facts to Consider
If you’re thinking about creating an additional bedroom in your home, it’s imperative that you take your time and research all of the possible pros, cons, and options you have with each. In doing so, you’ll begin to see which options are practical and which ones don’t make a whole lot of sense for your situation. Here are some issues to consider:
Type of Bedroom Addition
Not all bedroom additions are created equal. There isn’t a standard way of doing things. So much depends on the home’s existing layout, local building codes, HOA restrictions, individual needs, costs, and other significant details. But in most cases, you can lump a bedroom addition into one of three categories:
- Existing space remodel. The easiest and most cost-conscious method is to take an existing space in your home and remodel it into a bedroom. This typically works best with unfinished space in a basement or attic. It can also work when you have a home office or additional “bonus” room that doesn’t get much use.
- Bump out addition. When there’s no existing space for a remodel to take place, the first thing to think about is a bump-out addition. This is where you choose your home area and push the wall out to create extra space. Some bump out additions is as small as four or five feet, while others extend 25 feet or more. The major benefit here is that you typically don’t need to run any extra HVAC.
- Detached addition. If there’s no practical way to create an additional bedroom, you might think about creating a detached addition that could serve as an in-law’s suite or apartment. If you live in a neighbourhood with an HOA, you’ll be limited in what you can do.
It’s possible that you’re severely limited in what you can do, and only one of these options will work. It’s also possible that you have unlimited creative freedom and a relaxed budget that allows you to pursue whichever method you’d like. Regardless of your situation, it’s important that you take time to consider the pros and cons of each and come up with a decisive plan of attack.
Cost factors
Cost is something that has to be carefully considered. A bedroom addition isn’t cheap but can usually be justified by the increase in value to the home.
If you’re simply finishing off a basement or attic space, you should be able to complete the renovation for a few thousand dollars. (Drywall, flooring, and some plumbing are the major expenses.) If you’re building a new addition, HomeAdvisor tells people to expect to pay anywhere from $80 to $200 per square foot. For a detached addition, the average runs around $24,658,
Legal Issues
You don’t want to put a lot of time and money into creating an additional bedroom, only to find out that it doesn’t qualify as a bedroom. Certain codes must be met – so don’t ignore them!
To meet building code, an egress window must be easy to open and big enough for escape or for a firefighter to climb into the house. Otherwise, the space isn’t safe and can’t be considered a bedroom for resale purposes.”
Tax Issues
Adding a bedroom to your house doesn’t just make room for a guest or another family member. It also usually makes your house more valuable. However, when you add value to your house, you’re not the only one that benefits from it. Many communities will also adjust your property tax upwards based on the new value you created.
Rarely will an increase in property taxes be enough to break the bank, but it is something to factor in when adding a bedroom. In order to avoid complications later on, make sure you pull the proper construction permits when building the addition. This will keep everything on the “up and up.
Practical Details
Make sure you think about all of the little things that make or break a bedroom addition. A failure to do so could leave you dissatisfied with the room and forever regretful about the addition.
For example, it’s really important to consider the flow of the house. You might have the space to turn an office on the main floor into a bedroom, but will it leave the floor plan looking segmented and closed off? Or you may have the ability to create an extra room upstairs, but is it going to be too taxing on your AC unit, creating uneven cooling and expensive repair bills? These are all things to consider.
Tips for Adding an Extra Bedroom to Your Home
Loft Conversions
The most obvious place to put a bedroom is upstairs with the rest of them. That’s why loft conversions are the most popular type of bedroom addition. However, you’ll have to think about accessibility – there will need to be some staircase or ladder leading up to the loft, and it will need to be secure. If the room is for a child, there are some safety considerations to take – if access is via a ladder, can the hatch open and close safely? Window safety is also another concern – see this web site for window opening products.
Bedroom Split
If it’s another room you need and not necessarily the extra space, you might be able to split a large bedroom into two. For example, if your master bedroom spans the whole of the front of the house, building a wall down the centre will split it into two separate, smaller rooms. This is a good idea for families with children who don’t need the extra room but want each child to have their own room.
Garage Conversion
If your garage isn’t used for much other than storing old stuff you never look at, it might serve a better purpose as a bedroom. Garage conversions are also great for accessible bedrooms, so if a resident in your home is a wheelchair user or you are moving in an elderly relative, converting the garage to a bedroom means that they have a space on the ground floor with no need to install a stairlift to get them upstairs. At Home Builders, we have the best dual occupancy selection to make your house a dream come true.
Extensions
Adding an extension to your home is another way of creating an extra bedroom. Rather than simply adding a ground floor extension, it could be more cost-effective to have a two-storey extension built so that you can not only have an extra bedroom space but another room downstairs as well.
Basement Conversions
If you have a basement that rarely gets used for much, you could convert it into a bedroom. Basement and cellar conversions are becoming more popular, especially in urban areas where it’s difficult to build onto your home to create extra space. However, if you’re thinking of converting your basement, it’s good to bear in mind that it’s often the most expensive option as there is a lot of work to be done to transform the space into a liveable room.
After adding the much needed additional space to your home, now is the time to get creative with bedroom design.
Brainstorming Your Bedroom Extension Options
Before deciding that attaching a new bedroom to your home is your only option, brainstorm your other options. Start by looking for existing rooms that could be converted into a bedroom. For example, if you live in an older home, the living room may be separate from the kitchen. Would convert the living room into a master bedroom work? This might be an ideal time to have that living room you’ve been dreaming about built. Have the children outgrown their bedrooms? Maybe knocking out the wall between the kids’ rooms and converting it into a master bedroom would work. One of the children could commandeer your existing master bedroom, and a bedroom extension could be built for the other.
If converting a room doesn’t seem to work and space is limited, look for ways to maximise your available space. Do you have a spare room you use as a home office? If you can find or make room for a pocket office somewhere else in your home, you may not have to go to the expense of adding on a bedroom extension.
Have you considered converting your garage into a bedroom? Doing this can save thousands of dollars in construction costs. You will need council approval for this and will need to add insulation, interior walls, and flooring, but the basic structure is already there. Plumbing and fit-outs for an ensuite bathroom, if needed, will be a major expense, but even if you include the carport in your costings, you will probably find it is still less expensive than adding on a bedroom of the same size.
If a Bedroom Extension is Your Only Option
If you decide a bedroom extension is your best option after brainstorming your other options, consider getting a building designer or architect to help you with your plans. Yes, they will cost money, but their expertise can help save you money on construction costs, and their ideas will help ensure your new bedroom is as you want it to be or even better.
Whatever you decide to do, our Get a Quote service can help you find the help you need with your bedroom extension. The service is free, and you are under no obligation to use the services of the professionals who get back to you with quotes.
How Much Value Does An Extra Bedroom Add To A House?
Many property investors take the first step to add a second, third, or even fourth bedroom to the house they are flipping. This move is, of course, dependent on the size of the property and the size of the budget the investor has available. But is this the right strategy to pursue?
Real estate experts estimate that adding a new bedroom to a property can add as much as 15% to the property’s overall value. This is a big ticket number that can make a huge difference to the final asking price. For every bedroom added to the property, the investor can see their property value increase by as much as $30,000 to $50,000.
When adding this additional bedroom, a great place to start is the loft if the home has one. Depending on the structure, converting a loft into a bedroom can be as easy as adding a staircase or as complicated as rebuilding walls. The key to this conversion is ensuring that the loft has the right ceiling height to create a livable space. If you have a home with a pitched ceiling, try and work with the angles. The investor can sweeten the deal with enough space even further by adding an ensuite bathroom to the loft bedroom. As long as a builder has checked the structure, the investor can easily add another room without full construction needed.
It’s important to keep in mind that this renovation project may require additional licenses or permissions from the local HOA. This is a step not to avoid because, without the right codes, the loft space won’t be allowed to be listed as a bedroom, and all that hard work won’t bring the results the investor needs. Looking for dual occupancy? Look no further! Home Builders has you covered.
Extra space is always a popular feature with buyers, but what about the cost to add it? The final amount will be largely dependent on the real estate market and the location, but the cost of a loft conversion will range between $12,000 and $50,000 depending on the location and project scope. Compared to the average cost of building an extra room from scratch (which only starts at $57,000), a loft bedroom would be more cost-effective. You could also consider a garage conversion into a bedroom, provided the house has additional parking areas.
It is also worth mentioning that an extra bedroom isn’t the only option an investor can add value to. An extra room can be added that can act as a home office or even additional storage space. These selections may be more suited to an area with many young professionals who haven’t established families yet. Setting up the room as a home office should cost the investor around $20,000 on average, a number that can go lower if the investor can avoid replacing the flooring.
Adding another bedroom to your house is easier than you think, and it’s far more cost-effective and convenient than having to go through the trouble of getting and moving into a new house. So, if you need another bedroom, try to take check which option best suits you, and it wouldn’t hurt to get a professional opinion from a contractor to help you out!