Four of us in a two-bed house?

[WhatsGoingOnEh]

After my £&@%ing bitch of a seller just upped their asking price and I flounced off, another house has come up. It's in my favourite road, right by the kids' schools, with a huge 100' garden (long but narrow), two bathrooms and a beautiful eat-in kitchen. Victorian terrace. Cracking.

But two beds. We could almost certainly convert the loft down the line but not immediately as we'd need to save up.

There are two adults, and two boys (6 and 11). The youngest boy would get into a wonderful Junior school and it's right by my oldest son's secondary, where he starts in September.

It's right at the top of our budget. The seller's buyer had dropped out and she has to act fast or she'll lose the house she wants to buy.

We offered £5k over the asking price, and she's said £5k more and it's ours. There were 4 more viewings tonight, so this might be too late anyway. (Although I doubt many other buyers will be in as good a position as we are to proceed quickly - we've already sold and are in our parents' homes ready to go.)

Would we kill each other in a two-bed terrace? Is it simply too small?

Go for it. Sharing isn't that big of a deal and it builds character.

If you can convert the loft and extend at the rare it's fine. Location matters most

My DS's shared a room until this year, DS1 is at uni so is 20. It's not ideal but life rarely is and they still get on really well.

I wouldn't get it, you have a doubt for a reason, it could be a very expensive mistake if you get it and then realise you don't have enough living space downstairs.

Are there bigger houses on that street? Could you rent in your perfect area rather than buy?

I live in a 2 bed terrace with two kids. It's shit and we're currently in process of moving somewhere bigger. Reasons: we're constantly on top of each other and there's nowhere to escape, nowhere to put anything so living in constant clutter of bikes, scooters, bags, coats, shoes, tools, toys etc. Feels like the house is always untidy due to clutter, can't have guests to stay because no room, difficult to have friends round and entertain, inpractical layout, noise from neighbours and street, house is old with a few problems and is a bit of a money pit.

No - tempting tho' it is, I wouldn't. It's just too small for a family with children of your age.

The rooms really aren't very big and your boys will grow. Is there any built in storage in the bedrooms? It's going to feel very cramped in your living room. Where are you going to put the staircase for the loft extension? You'll have to lose upstairs space for that.

I think there must be many couples who bought a property that size when their kids were smaller who are now desperate for an extra bedroom.

Cross post with Stinky - who proves my point!

I wouldnt buy it even if you get an extra bedroom the living space downstairs is too small and you cant have everyone traipsing through your bedroom to use the bathroom.

We have a two bed flat for four. It's the shortage of reception space and outdoor space (and another loo!) that makes me want to move, not for an extra bedroom. Sounds a lot nicer than some soulless barn-sized new build on the outskirts!
Some attitudes on here never cease to amaze, compromise is needed somewhere on the list and not everyone can actually ever afford the "forever family home" with five beds and room for an alpaca that they go on about on Location.

I think the compromise here is between size and location. Nice road, close to town equals high price for a 2 bed. I think OP is right when she says it's more for a couple with occasional guests than a family. Access to the bathroom through the main bedroom would drive me mad.

I don't think anyone is assuming OP has unlimited funds, but it does sound as if she could afford a 3 bed - which generally have more downstairs living space - somewhere else. It does sound v small. No hall to dump coats and bags in.

I don't think it would be very long before you were wanting to move. You can see the problems now and they will only get worse as your boys get bigger.

Can you put a link up?

Is there precedent for extensions/loft conversions in the street? I'd be nervous of buying a house that rould only be right for us with these things if it didn't already have planning permission.,

But four people need room for coats, wellies, books, bikes, sheets, spare duvets... This hasn't even bit an airing cupboard. It's that annoying Victorian design where the stairs go steeply up between the front and back rooms. No landing.

Shed in the short term for the bikes. As long as stuff is wrapped properly, you'll also be able to store out of season bedding etc in there.

Most people don't have the luxury of having a house as big as they'd like and in the right place. This house sounds as close to perfect as could be, apart from you need an extra bedroom. Being in the right locations for schools and town etc is worth a lot in terms of quality of life.

Is there anything else within a few streets that is more suitable?

How long do you think you would need to save up for a loft conversion? Could you get a loan? Could you manage a year or two of very frugal living/overtime/second job/no or modest holidays to save up faster?

Or instead of the loft conversion you could get an extension to include more space downstairs for the coats, wellies and bikes etc, and even a bedroom and bathroom for the older boy?

Where are the two bathrooms now - are they both upstairs (ensuite?) Would it be possible to convert one of the bedrooms and one of the bathrooms to two bedrooms for the boys, leaving one family bathroom? That shouldn't cost too much and will put you on for a few years until you can afford a more permanent solution.

Sorry, I've just RTFT and note that one of the bathrooms are downstairs.

don't give her any more money. greedy imo.

could you hold out for somewhere with 3 bedrooms.

space is really important.

It sounds too small for me, sorry! No landing i can live with (but then a loft conversion would take A LOT of space from a bedroom for stairs) but no hallway for shoes, bags etc is a no no for me, especially with only 2 rooms downstairs, there will be no escape from all of the stuff!

also lack of hall will make it tricky.

Thank you for all your replies!

It's a long street. I'd say about 20% have had loft conversions. It makes me a bit nervous that none of the houses in this "block" have had it done yet. I'm worried there's a reason why not.

I can't get it out of my mind! We could have a loft conversion that stole space from the second bedroom and made a landing down to the bathroom. And then stairs going up. Is that possible? I've been googling and I think it's possible.

But yes, it's scary to buy a house that immediately needs converting. But then again, the garden is HUGE! There is a lot of room outside. We could extend.

It's big enough for us now - but not for long. But if we saved up, it'd be perfect.

The lack of hallway is a pain.

For £20k more (our absolute limit) there was a 3-bed with a utility room, office, and ok garden but we just didn't like it.

We wouldn't lose money on this house unless the market DIVE bombed.

I'd be so proud to live on this street. You know?

They had 3 or 4 viewings last night and nobody's made an offer. I'm dragging my sensible-but-persuadable fiancé there this afternoon. He knows it's my dream location and ideal character house. I'll get him up in the loft for a look.

I don't want to post a link in case someone else grabs it!!

The boiler is up in the loft, with a glow-worm thermostat in the kitchen. Would that be a pain short-term? It's not the easiest loft to access.

How much space does a loft conversion steal from the bedroom next to it? How much width do you lose to put stairs in? That room is 11' wide by 9'. We could lose 3' and still have enough space for it to be a bedroom for the youngest boy.

I think you need to ask the planning dept of your local council whether the loft is suitable for an extension - there may not be sufficient headspace - and if there are building regs for width of staircase and size of bedroom. V unwise to buy unless you know you can extend. And there are regs relating to the size of extensions in the garden, too, related to the size of the house. When my dd extended into the loft, she had to lose what had been a bathroom, converted from a boxroom.

Even if 3ft is wide enough for a staircase, wouldn't it depend on the position of the staircase? 8 x 9 or 6 x 11? Where are you going to put a chest of drawers or a wardrobe or a desk?

You could lose money on this house if you make changes that will put buyers off - as has already been done with the en suite bathroom. I'd ask yourself why no one else is rushing to make an offer.

I don't know the answers to that but a good architect can see things that us homeowners don't, so it should be possible to be creative to extend, maybe even into the garden for your elder son?
They're not children for ever - obviously and you're just in the prime years for a squeeze on space, but it can get easier if you're sensible about it.

I'd leave it in the lap of the gods, don't be pushed into being silly, make your sensible offer and see what happens. If it's to be, it'll be. If not, you never know what turns up out of the blue (as with this one)

I haven't gone through everyone's replies, but all I'd say to bear in mind is that as they get older they're likely to come back with 3/4 friends in tow. Obviously it wouldn't be fair for friends to pile into their joint bedroom, so do you feel you have some spare space available downstairs they could go? Our daughter has her own room, but sometimes they pile into our living/dining room to watch tv and we find ourselves messing about in other rooms to keep out of their way. This is one of the reasons we're moving next week for more individual space. Also, a second toilet really is needed even with only three of us.

It's great to live near the school (as we do), but they do get to know a lot of local children (which is great for them) but this in turn means you're a stop off point especially when they go to comp.

The kitchen is big - we could hang out there while kids' friends were over. We could build a summer house/cabin/guest house at the end of that huge garden.

I've driven myself mad googling loft conversions for 2 up/2 down terraced cottages.

I love the "lap of the gods" idea. It did just fall from the sky so if we're meant to have it, it'll be ours.

We've offered £5k over asking but I think £10k is pushing it. I know £5k is sod all in house teens but it's 1/4 of the loft (if we can do that) or a decent office/shed thing for outside.

I'll see it again with Himself this afternoon. Then we'll either leave the offer as it stands, drop out, or do the extra. I'm tempted to leave it as is. She knows we are in a good position and can act quickly so not losing her dream house might be worth £5k.

There are more viewings this weekend.

I know I should be doubtful because nobody offered last night. But instead of thinking "it must be a crap house", I'm romantically thinking, "this must mean it's destined for us!"