Would you live here?

[loutyre]

I currently live in a newly renovated small house. When I say small it was a comfortable two bedroom that has been converted into a large 1 bed. It is open plan and has a small living area, a new kitchen with built in appliances, a spiral staircase a large landing, a new 4 piece bathroom and a large bedroom with fitted wardrobes. Here's the problem. We are going to look at either renting or selling. Realistically....who would live here? It's not fit for children, or elderly. The only people I could see living here is a young couple who don't want children or a single occupant.

So just putting it out there....would you love here?

Depends entirely on where it is... if it’s in a good area of London or another big city I’m sure you won’t have a problem finding a single person or couple without children that would want to live there. It sounds like a great party pad if it’s in a lively spot!
Wouldn’t work for me now we’ve had children though. If it’s rural then I can see why you’re worried.

Yes it's rural in a quiet village not in a big city. My partner is not worried in the slightest but I can't see anyone wanting to live here.

Well, you do. So I guess it would be people like you?

Out of interest, how do you get large furniture up a spiral staircase?

The house was renovated with the bed built upstairs already. So I can't get the bed out or the mattress unless we physically cut it up and throw it

Plenty of people will live there if it's priced correctly.

The question isn't who would,live there, it's how much would someone pay to live there.

I'd not live anywhere with a spiral staircase, sorry. Wouldn't be able to get elderly DDog up or down easily, or useless Greyhound, and I'd be put off by not being able to get furniture up or down.

The rest of the layout wouldn't bother me at all.

I did, I lived in a very old one bedded house, a (what we call locally) Suffolk bedroom (the stairs came straight up from the living room into the bedroom), bathroom off the bedroom. You came straight into the one living room from the front door and I had a newly fitted kitchen. Outside was a small courtyard garden. I bloody loved it, I was a single woman who had just left her husband after 28 years of marriage. When I gave notice to end the tenancy they had no problem reletting the house, the day I moved out someone else moved in pretty much straight away.

That's a good point- it may let much more easily than sell, if it's rather lovely, as then people won't be so focussed on what they may need in future.

The market for the house is much reduced by changing two bedrooms to one and therefore it may have been devalued. A lot of people hate spiral staircases so that's another issue. The rest is unlikely to be a big deal. Whether you can more easily rent than sell depends on the local market.

Well your only market will be single people or couples, who don't have any intention of having children in the near future. So I would imagine it will be either someone's starter home or someone who has divorced etc. Probably ruling out elderly due to spiral staircase.

Have you asked an estate agent? We had someone round after renovating to ask their opinion. They will have good local knowledge.

It sounds lovely! DH and I rented a quirky one bed cottage when we first moved in together. We were only 20 and not planning on having children in the near future. We absolutely loved being able to use all of the space we were paying for - no empty bedrooms. Although we couldn't wait to buy a house, we look back on that place with great fondness. I can see why it wouldn't appeal to some, but in answer to your question, yes I absolutely would live there :) Could you try renting it out, and if no luck then go for the sale option?

Where in the country is it? If it has good transport links a single person working away from home might well rent it in preference to a hotel. There must be agents who specialise in this sort of thing. Not all single people are young urban socialites.

The house itself is finished beautifully. The small things like quirky radiators and effective lighting. I love how it's decorated it's very modern. I'm sure it would be ideal for a young couple or single occupant. The one huge problem is the bed. Sure we could cut it into pieces to remove it but that won't help the new tenants. Unless they get one of those mattresses that come in a box and a bed you assemble yourself. That's the only way they are going to get a new bed and mattress up there. Apart from a bed they don't need anything else it's got huge built in wardrobes with sliding mirror doors and all the kitchen appliances are built in. My partner is optimistic but I always see the negative

Just leave the bed - ours came with the bed, also because it would have been tricky to move large furniture up/down stairs. Having a furnished bedroom turned out to be ideal for us.

This is the stair case. The mattress is like new and it's a super king size memory foam mattress. I would get it cleaned before new tenants but the bed itself is abit worn. The television pops up from the bottom of the bed and my fella said we would leave them the tv aswell as bed and mattress but I think it needs a new bed frame.

I love the sound of it.... Except that staircase. That would rile it out completely for me. Sorry

No I would rather have people's honest opinions. I know it's not practical x

Hi OP - is that staircase to code? Worth checking out as I'm surprised that you are allowed the unguarded vertical drop. Any small child upstairs will need constant supervision.

Bed frames can be disassembled and reassembled, especially slatted bases. Divan bases are often in two parts. I seem to recall Ikea superkings are two slim mattresses side by side. Your existing bed sounds really large, but not everyone will need one the same. Would your mattress fit through the window? We've had a window frame out and back in again for a massive sofa!

Your house sounds really nice. Good luck!

@Zoowolla in all honesty I'm not sure but I asked the same to my fella. He renovated the house before we got together x

Sorry but the staircase looks so dangerous!

I’d check out your liability, as landlords if someone had an accident. It doesn’t look legal.

I agree. It's very dangerous. We have an 18 months old and we have safety gates at top and bottom but she is never allowed on the stairs without someone with her. And next question yes she is still in our room because it's only a 1 bed hence why we need to move....desperately

I think it looks lovely and will definitely appeal to younger people.

It's not so much galling down the stairs it is crawling round to the plant and falling down the unguarded hole!