Downsizing in order to buy a house with room to extend and add a granny flat?

JackPlanets · 08-04-2023 06:23PM #1

TL/DR Sell a 4 bed detached with small gardens and buy a 3 bed semi that is two streets over in need of renovation but with enormous garden and garage that could allow a granny flat for my wife’s elderly parents?

Hi all,

I'm looking to get people's views on whether this is a good idea or not.

I currently own a 4-bed detached house (1,500sq ft) in a leafy part of south Dublin with my wife. The house itself was built in the 70s but is well proportioned apart from the fact it has very small gardens (front is enough to fit a car, rear is enough for a small patio and a shed) We did it up shortly after we bought it about a decade ago so it has new windows, new doors, rewired, replumbed, new kitchen, new bathrooms, etc... You could move in straight away and all that you'd need to do would be internal decoration to taste.

Recently my wife's parents (who are approx 70) have had a few health scares. My wife is an only child and very close to them and they are retired. They live about a 15mind drive from us and currently provide us with some low-enough cost childcare by minding the kids in our house 3 days a week.

Anyway, my wife has expressed a desire to have a home with a granny flat so they have the option to move in with us if they ever need to.

Recently a home has come on the market two streets over. It is a 3 bed semi-detached (red brick built in the 60s style) approx 1,400sq ft in need of a full renovation and to add an extended kitchen. It has an attic conversion which is not counted as a bedroom and instead would be used as an office. It has a large garage on one side and a very, very large rear garden and would be perfect for a two-storey extension to put in a granny flat (2 bedrooms, kitchen/diner, sitting room and bathroom) as well as extending the kitchen in the original house while leaving tons of room for a garden, patio, greenhouse, shed and whatever else was needed.

We bought our house back a decade ago for €450,000 and currently still owe approx €200,000 on the mortgage. We had the estate agent around last week and he said he has a list of people waiting to buy in our estate and he'd be hoping to get north of €800,000 for our current home. The house we are looking to buy, he said, is expected to fetch €650,000 (It had been on the market at €700,000 and basically the estate agent said nobody was willing to pay that high because it needs a full renovation and building costs are still quite high).

Based on that I'm wondering if it's a good idea to buy, do up and extend this house?

If her parents didn't want to move in straight away I'd hope to rent the granny flat out under the rent a room scheme (it will be connected to ours internally and have its own entrance at the front).

If we got €800k for our house, along with our savings, we likely wouldn't need any money to buy the new house as long as it sold below €650k. I'd be taking out a mortgage of €350k though to use for the renovation, extended kitchen and to build the granny flat.

I'm planning on speaking to a builder and an architect whom I know next week to get their take, but would love to hear if others think this is a good idea or absolutely nuts.

Thanks!

alias no.9 · 08-04-2023 06:30PM

The obvious question, particularly since you say that your wife is an only child, is where are your in laws living now and would that property be a better candidate for the granny flat setup?

JackPlanets · 08-04-2023 06:33PM

They had already downsized a few years back and are currently in a small 3 bed terraced house. It wouldn’t be suitable at all unfortunately.

If they were to move into the granny flat I’d assume they’d rent out their current home

alias no.9 · 08-04-2023 08:43PM

The only other alternatives to what you're thinking of doing are to either do nothing or to look for a turnkey option where you would have either a house with a granny flat already in place or a part of the house that could be partitioned off as a granny flat.

08-04-2023 08:53PM

I'd be slow to move from a detached to a semi detached. Could you not adapt your current home to suffice?

herbalplants · 08-04-2023 09:21PM

I think it would be best to take them in your own home which is already 4 bedrooms. Is there any chance to put a bedroom downstairs? Don't forget the older people get they don't manage stairs well plus toilet downstairs is a must too.

Also where are you going to live between selling yours and buying the house that needs done up? You may need to live somewhere while the house is getting done up.

08-04-2023 11:42PM

You’d need to check the planning implications of the granny flat option. There are lots of conditions around this.

DownByTheGarden · 11-04-2023 03:57PM

We did what you are doing. We bought a house that we could stick a front door on one of the large living rooms and through the hall it goes into an existing bedroom with an en-suite. It was all very easily done for us. Just had to add a kitchenette to where a wardrobe used to be.

We than put a stud wall (could easily knock it down or put a door on it if we ever wanted to) in the hall of the main house to block it off, so the granny flat is just one end of the house now with its own front door, well side door to be more exact as its in the wall at the side of the house about 2 feet back from the front wall. A man needs a little seraration from the in laws and leaving the "granny flat" accessible to the rest of the house might as well have just gave them a room in the house.

Everyone is happy. Everyone can come and go as they please but has their own space.

My Dad used to say to me after he retired with a very bad back. Make sure that you are living in a bungalow when you retire - you will see when you are older :) He was right I think, though im not there yet.

But our costs were very low to convert this (€8000 to convert and its a good spec). If you are doing a full renovation plus building a granny flat from scratch you need to go and cost it before you go any further. That could be a lot.

Also when the in laws are gone, maybe that granny flat will come in handy for a grown up child at some point too. Used to be a time you could rent them, but too risky nowadays so i wouldnt even entertain that.

Some neighbors (a lot of them in fact) have built cabins in their gardens and either their adult children or in laws are in them. Ive been in some of these and they are better quality than houses. You could look into that too. But I think your idea about the granny flat is the best one.

One more thing. Do not, under any circumstances let your in laws rent out their existing house when they move into the granny flat. For various other reasons you will see on boards.

JackPlanets · 11-04-2023 04:30PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120465478#Comment_120465478

Hi, thanks for that.

Yes I'm speaking with an architect and a quantity surveyor this week.

Much of it will be down to how much we get for our house and how much we pay for the new place.

Realistically we have €350k for renovation and extension but I'm not sure if that'll be enough seeing as how crazy extension/building/renovation costs are at the moment. If not we're happy to stay where we are.

In terms of renting it out if they didn't want to move in straight away my understanding is it would be perfectly fine under the rent a room scheme but not as a proper rental? Maybe I'm wrong on that one. And yes, we'd like to have the option that it's there for one of our kids to use when they are a bit older.

wildwillow · 11-04-2023 05:27PM

Could the in-laws sell their house if they agree to live with you. Give you some of the proceeds to build the granny flat. Do you really need a bigger mortgage at a time when funds may be tight and children are school going.

As mentioned above, don't be tempted to let their existing house if they come to live with you and want to keep it.

You need financial advice to make the most tax efficient decision.

Downsizing in order to buy a house with room to extend and add a granny flat?

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