Which would you be more inclined to buy?

[JuniperTisane]

A 3-bed semi detached property with either:

A) Bedroom 3 4ft7 x 7ft6, bathroom 7ft7 x 8ft10 with normal toilet
or
B) Bedroom 3 7ft7 x 8ft10, bathroom 4ft7 x 7ft6 with saniflo toilet

In other words, would you prefer a reasonable size 3rd bedroom and tiny bathroom with macerator loo or tiny 3rd bedroom suitable for toddler bed only and reasonable size bathroom and normal loo?

Bedrooms 1 and 2 are decent sized doubles and there is a good sized shower & loo downstairs.

Our house is currently in configuration A, not sure if its worth converting to B or just putting the boys in together when DS2 outgrows a toddler bed and hoping someone else is happy with a very small 3rd bedroom.

If you don't have to have the saniflo, then convert the small room into a bathroom and have a decent bedroom 3.

If you've got a proper loo elsewhere in the house a Saniflo isn't the end of the world, although I agree they're unreliable (bitter personal experience).

The real disaster is when a Saniflo is the only option - friends of mine had theirs break down on them, at 5.30 in the evening on the Friday before a Bank Holiday, naturally - and it was the only loo! I lent them the camping Porta-Potti thing for emergency use only, and they were invited round for meals with loo-breaks by us and several other people too, but it was all very very grim!

I don't think anyone likes a tiny bathroom with 3 bedrooms. The implication as that you are a family of 4, and a tiny family bathroom isn't great. I would keep it as a 2 bed personally as it will never compete with a 3 bed that has a decent bathroom so you will have to price it under. But, I am not a housing expert! Save for the loft or remortgage in a couple of years.

She would have a 3 bed with a small upstairs bathroom and a downstairs shower room. I would pay more for that configuration assuming no Saniflo than a 2 bed with a large bathroom and a downstairs shower room but that might just be me. Perhaps an estate agent could advise?

I agree though that a 3 bed with a decent size upstairs bathroom and no downstairs shower room would probably sell for more.

The downstairs shower room is very very well appointed. We made sure of that. If we did the swap the bathroom would be small but perfectly formed. I would make sure of that too.

We were looking for 3 bedrooms as we needed 3 minimum.
Our finances were tight though.

We went with the only place we liked that we could afford, and it has the tiniest bathroom ever (just a bath and a sink, no loo) and only one loo.

One of the best things it had going for it is it's in catchment for the good school, and was a house not a flat that mattered to us much more than the bathroom.
Also it had too big bedrooms, which is unusual round here, well in our price range anyway!

That's not to say you should go for tiny bathroom.

But I would guess your house would be priced towards the bottom of 3 beds, or the top of 2 beds, were you to Market it as a 2 bed with study.

The question is, what us more in demand in your area?

Are you in catchment for a great school in an area with pressure in places? If so, 3 bed might be better, as you could get families like us who need the space, trying to move near the good school.

I'm not the expert in what sells near you, but your local agents are. Why not ask a couple what they reckons sells best where you are?

Or, you could do something cunning instead. How about going with what suits your family while you live in it best (but no Sanifliw!) and add value to your house by getting planning permission for a loft conversion. Planning permission adds value even if you don't do the work.

I agree with the others that at the moment, its a 2 bed, you can't really describe it as a 3 bed.

I think you need an EA to give you an objective view of a) who is your target market and b) what the price differential would be of a 2 bed + downstairs bathroom & larger upstairs shower room, in comparison to a small 3 bed with downstairs bathroom and smaller shower room.

As Wiggly has said, if you have the best primary school in the country at the bottom of your road, you might have families willing to compromise on some aspects in order to get into catchment and will probably want a house with 3 usable bedrooms. All other things being equal though, I think you'd need some guidance on whether its worth doing.

Personally, I don't think its an issue for siblings to share - I loved that as a child and your boys will love it and your DH keeps his shower room .

Ha! Its a rural hamlet. No school pressures at all.

I think we will just do what works for us when the time comes later this year and stuff the possible house prices in 3-4-5 years time. After all, we bought it so some other bugger will, I'm sure.

Its actually got a lot going for it apart from the bedroom issue.