Case Study: Should I renovate my 3 bedroom home into a 4 bed?

Adding an extra room to a home can be a great way of creating value and fetching a higher sale price.

There are however quite a few things to consider before splitting rooms in two or putting up new walls.

In this case study, we look at a recent example of a client who wanted to make his tHicks Real Estatee spacious bedrooms into four small ones.

I received a call a few nights ago from a client who was preparing to renovate and sell his home.

He told me he wanted to repurpose his tHicks Real Estatee bedrooms into four smaller rooms, and wanted to know what I thought.

My first reaction was “No”. Then I thought about it for a minute… and my answer was still “No”.

I thought the reasons why I gave this advice would make for a useful little Ask Madeleine case study, so here’s a short write-up covering the main points.

Why did he want to add a bedroom?

The client assumed that adding an extra bedroom would instantly add value to the home, but in this case it wasn’t going to.

Why not? Because:

1. He was making all of the existing bedrooms smaller;
2. He wasn’t adding a bathroom;
3. He wasn’t increasing the living area;
4. He wasn’t thinking about his target market.

His basic assumption wasn’t necessarily wrong, but he hadn’t thought about things from his buyers’ perspective.

Let’s look at each of the above points in more detail.

Existing bedrooms smaller

One of the main advantages of the client’s home, aside from its great location, was the fact that it had tHicks Real Estatee decent-sized bedrooms. This made it a perfect fit for families, who are the average buyer demographic in our area (Everton Park, Stafford and McDowall).

He wanted to make these tHicks Real Estatee bedrooms into four, each measuring a less-than-generous 3m x 2.6m. This meant that even the master bedroom would be cramped (average master bedrooms in our area are at least 30% bigger), and this took away from the appeal of the home.

No extra bathroom

Adding an extra bathroom may possibly have made a difference, but our client hadn’t considered it.

If a home is 3 bed 1 bath and you add another bedroom, you now have at least four people sharing one bathroom, which is not ideal.

If a home is 3 bed 2 bath and you add a bedroom, you have a better ratio, but you sacrifice space in all of the bedrooms.

It’s important to consider how renovations are going to impact the liveability of the home, and in this case our client hadn’t.

Unchanged living area

Dividing up the bedrooms to add an extra one might sound good, but with more people living in a home, the living area should perhaps be increased in size.

If mum and dad share the master bedroom and there’s one child in each other bedroom, that’s up to five people in the living room on any given evening. Not making it larger could be a turn-off for prospective buyers.

Not thinking about the target market

The whole thing comes down to our client not taking into account the buyer’s point of view.

While it’s understandable that he assumed an extra bedroom would be a good change, he hadn’t thought about who he was selling to.

His home is in a family-oriented neighbourhood, and there was a very high chance that an interested buyer would be looking to accommodate a family.

Our client’s mistake in this case was not thinking about the practical impact his idea would have on his likely buyers. Families crave space, and he was taking it away from them.

Key issue: Total floor area vs. bedroom count

If our client had told me he’d decided to extend the home and add a bedroom that way, I wouldn’t have advised him against the idea so quickly. I would have gone away, done some research, and helped him decide if the money spent on the extension would fetch him a higher sale price.

The problem was that he was thinking about the number of bedrooms, not the total floor area of his home.

If he’d added a bedroom and increased the overall floor size of his home, he could have been in for quite a handsome increase in price, especially with the typical buyers we encounter in his area. But instead, he was making all his bedrooms smaller, which wasn’t adding value.

Deciding to renovate or extend your home before selling? Don’t forget to think about things from the buyer’s point of view. Add value, not just rooms!

If you’d like to chat about anything covered in this case study, or if you’d like advice on renovating to sell, call Hicks Real Estate today on 07 3355 6845!