Adding value or the opposite

[racros]

I have a 4 bedroom housein Central Scotland but don't have an en-suite. I am thinking of converting the smallest bedroom into an en-suite but I am worried that this will reduce the value of the house. Or will it make it more saleable because it has an en-suite? Any property experts out there??

[Hgrove]

If I were house hunting, I personally would probably not choose a house with an en-suite bathroom over one with a bathroom off the landing.

[WoWo]

I'd say you would be losing value on the house. The first thing people evaluate when looking at a property is the number of bedrooms. An en-suite is a nice thing to have but not at the expense of a bedroom.

[Oneeyedvic]

WE moved to Yarmouth just over 2 years ago. We purchased a 6 bed house over 3 floors. Two double bedrooms and 4 single. We purchased for �82000. We then converted one of the singles into an ensuite and another single into a changing room with built in wardrobes - both built through from the master bedroom. The other double room was a guest room, the other two singles were used as offices.
We spent around �20,000 doing all the work, and I assumed that we would have devalued the house. We actually increased the value by turning into a "nice" family home. We sold last year (but obviously houses have increased in price) for �133,000.

We have done the same with this house. We decided that we were planning to stay here a while, and enjoying life was more important to us than adding value to the house.

If you want a proper response, I would suggest that you get in touch with your local friendly estate agent and ask there opinion.

En suites are a personal thing - persoanlly, I couldn't entertain buying a house wihtout an ensuite now but three years ago I had never lived with one!

[ianess]

I was in a similar position but would suggest that an extra toilet rather than an en-suite would make the house more attractive to would-be purchasers.  It was still a 4 bedroomed house and literally sold within an hour of going on the market. Only having one family sized bathroom was never a problem.  Any purchaser will have their own ideas so it could be best to leave options open for them. They can always change a small bedroom to an en-suite but it wouldn't be too easy to change it back again.

We moved to a 2 bedroomed house and still miss the second toilet.

[woofgang]

What is the standard for your area? If the majority have en suites then the answer may be yes, but if the majority sell without, then you may not recoup your costs and may lose money. Could you take a slice out of one of your larger bedrooms to add a loo with hand basin or an ensuite shower and loo? Agree with ianess that the extra loo probably more desireable than the extra bath if not room for both. Could you fit in an extra loo downstairs?